STTR Phase I: Sustainable Thermo-electric Conversion of Waste Heat

这个小型企业技术转移第一阶段项目将演示和评估一种基于薄膜的新型概念验证热电能量转换(TEC)设备。这项研究将通过一种将效率、功率密度和成本完美结合的创新技术来推动能源格局的发展。TEC设备代表着零排放和零运营成本的技术。每年大约有60-70万亿英热单位(BTU)的家用热能被浪费。即使收集20%的废热，也可以提供相当于10-20座新核电站的电力。通过收集居民和工业部门(如化工、制造业、石油和天然气、制冷、交通和发电厂)的废热，该技术将对能源部门和经济产生深远影响。最后，这一努力将扩大目前3.5亿美元的TEC市场，使其在总价值40亿美元的能源收集市场中占据更大的份额。与传统的热电器件相比，所提出的设计利用微米级薄膜产生高数量级的温差，具有高度可扩展的制造工艺。这与目前使用块状(毫米级)材料的设计实践相比，是一个变革性的转变。即使ZT值较低(0.15，与体积数字0.5-1.0相比)，建议的设计在200摄氏度时仍可产生9.8%的效率，是传统设计的三倍。在600摄氏度(典型发动机排气温度)下，效率(28%)变得可行，功率重量比性能优于竞争对手的设备。与传统的TEC设备不同，不需要强制冷却冷端来保持温差。最有希望的方面是，这一创新将用一种可扩展的高通量方法取代今天连续且费力的制造过程。这将以与半导体行业类似的方式提高功率密度和降低产品成本。

This Small Business Technology Transfer Phase I project will demonstrate and evaluate a novel film-based proof-of-concept Thermoelectric Energy Conversion (TEC) device. This research will advance the energy landscape through an innovative technology with a superior combination of efficiency, power density, and cost. TEC devices represent a zero emissions and zero operating cost technology. About 60-70 quadrillion British thermal units (BTUs) of domestic heat energy are wasted per year. Harvesting even 20% of this waste heat will supply as much power as 10-20 new nuclear power plants. By scavenging waste heat from residential and industrial sectors (such as chemicals, manufacturing, oil and gas, refrigeration, transportation, and power plants), the technology will have a resounding impact on the energy sector and the economy. Finally, this effort will expand the current TEC market of $350 million to encompass a much greater share of the total $4 billion energy harvesting market. Compared to traditional thermoelectric devices, the proposed design produces orders of magnitude higher temperature differentials utilizing micron-scale films, with a highly scalable manufacturing process. This is a transformative shift from the current design practice with bulk (millimeter-scale) materials. Even with inferior values of ZT (0.15, compared to the bulk figures of 0.5-1.0), the proposed design yields 9.8% efficiency at 200 degrees C, triple that of conventional designs. At 600 degrees C (the temperature of typical engine exhausts), the efficiency (28%) becomes viable and the power-to-weight performance is superior to competing devices. Unlike conventional TEC devices, no forced cooling of the cold end is needed to maintain the temperature differential. The most promising aspect is that this innovation will replace today's serial and laborious manufacturing process with a scalable and high-throughput method. This will increase power density and lower product cost in a similar fashion as has occurred in the semiconductor industry.