I-Corps: High Temperature Thermometric Materials for Power Generation

这个I-Corps项目的更广泛的影响/商业潜力是发现高温热电材料和设备的商业机会。在美国的工业过程中，每年产生约2600万亿BTU的废热能，使用概述的高温热电装置可以直接将其转化为16 GWh的电力。使用目前的电价（0.10美元/千瓦时），这种产生的能量的价值估计为140亿美元/年。在这个项目的过程中，团队将调查潜在的市场，以确定客户？的需求和可行解决方案的关键要求。我们的客户发现将从目标行业发电开始开始。如果这个市场提供的潜力有限，我们将探索其他潜在的市场，如便携式电子和化学加工，以探索他们的需求和要求。这个I-Corps项目使用结构化假设验证方法来开发高温热电材料和器件的商业翻译计划。这将包括确定：价值主张;客户/用户案例;需求创造;渠道开发;收入模式;伙伴关系战略;和资源开发。所使用的基础知识包括：1）通过控制纳米结构长度尺度来调节氮化物和氧化物的热电性能; 2）开发用于纳米结构热电材料的成本有效的材料加工技术。因此，可以开发无毒且成本有效的热电装置的市场特定原型，以使得能够在高温状态下进行大规模废热收集。

The broader impact/commercial potential of this I-Corps project is to discover the commercial opportunity for high temperature thermoelectric materials and devices. A total of ~2600 trillion BTU/year of wasted heat energy are generated during US industrial processes, which can be directly converted into 16GWh of electricity using the outlined high temperature thermoelectric device. The value of this generated energy is estimated to be $14 billion/year using current electricity pricing, $0.10/KWh. During the course of this program the team will investigate the potential market to determine customer?s needs and the key requirements for a viable solution. Our customer discovery will begin with the target industry power generation. If this market offers limited potential, we will explore other potential markets, such as portable electronics and chemical processing, to explore their needs and requirements.This I-Corps project uses structured hypothesis-validation approach to develop commercial translation plan of high temperature thermoelectric materials and devices. This will include determining: value proposition; customer/user-case; demand creation; channel development; revenue model; partnership strategy; and resource development. The fundamental knowledge to be used includes: 1) tuning the thermoelectric properties of nitrides and oxides through controlling nanostructure length-scale and 2) developing cost-effective materials processing technology for nanostructure thermoelectric materials. As a result, a market specific prototype of a non-toxic and cost effective thermoelectric device may be developed to enable large-scale waste heat harvesting in the high temperature regime.