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器件的商业机会。在美国的工业过程中，每年总共产生约2600万亿BTU的废热，利用概述的高温热电设备，这些废热可以直接转化为16GWh的电力。按照目前的电价0.10美元/千瓦时，这些发电量的价值估计为140亿美元/年。在此项目过程中，团队将调查潜在市场，以确定客户S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。如果这个市场潜力有限，我们将探索其他潜在市场，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；合作伙伴战略；以及资源开发。要使用的基本知识包括：1)通过控制纳米结构的长度尺度来调节氮化物和氧化物的热电性能；2)开发成本效益高的纳米结构热电材料的材料加工技术。因此，可以开发一种市场专用的无毒且成本效益高的热电设备原型，以实现在高温条件下大规模收集废热。

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.