SBIR Phase I: Integrated Thermoelectric Heat Exchanger (iTEG-HX) for Carbon Neutral Electricity Production through Recovery of Cold Energy from Regasification of LNG

该小型企业创新研究（SBIR）项目的更广泛影响/商业潜力是展示一种可靠，低成本的固态设备，用于收集全球天然气终端液化天然气再气化过程中释放的废热能。所提出的装置将包括直接并入LNG气化热交换器中的热电元件，以便收集低温液体和气化天然气之间的温差。如今，全球每年约有1800亿千瓦时的能源（约相当于美国年总用电量的5%）在再气化终端浪费，这代表了该技术的巨大潜在市场。此外，该技术将使美国LNG在出口市场上更具成本竞争力，从而使美国经济受益。STTR第一阶段项目旨在评估和论证将热电发电机直接集成到LNG再气化热交换器中的可行性，以有效回收LNG再气化过程中释放的潜在能量并将其转化为电能。目前的技术水平是基于依赖于朗肯循环和布雷顿循环的组合的燃气涡轮机和膨胀机。这些技术复杂，资本密集，维护成本高。因此，它们很少部署在再气化终端，导致大量的能源浪费。直接将废热能转化为电能通过？冷冻？热电是一种实用且具有成本效益的选择。拟议的研究将开发和演示一个实验室原型装置集成在一个模型板式LNG再气化热交换器。主要任务包括系统架构的设计，热电材料在低温下的特性，传热建模，原型制造和测试。研究将以设计和工艺强化为目标，以最大限度地降低设备成本。

The broader impact/commercial potential of this Small Business Innovation Research (SBIR) project is to demonstrate a reliable, low cost solid-state device for harvesting the wasted thermal energy released during regasification of LNG at gas terminals around the world. The proposed device will include thermoelectric elements incorporated directly into the LNG gasification heat exchanger, in order to harvest the temperature difference between cryogenic liquid and vaporized natural gas. Today, approximately 180 Billion kWh of energy (roughly equivalent to 5% of the total annual electricity consumption of the United States) is wasted annually at regasification terminals around the world, representing a huge addressable market for the proposed technology. Additionally, the proposed technology will benefit the US economy by making American LNG more cost-competitive in export markets.This STTR Phase I project proposes to evaluate and demonstrate the feasibility of a thermoelectric generator integrated directly into an LNG regasification heat exchanger in order to effectively recover the latent energy released during regasification of LNG and convert it to electricity. The current state-of-the-art is based on gas turbines and expanders that rely on a combination of Rankine cycle and Brayton cycle. These technologies are complex, capital intensive, and costly to maintain. Consequently, they are seldom deployed at regasification terminals, resulting in massive energy waste. Direct conversion of the waste thermal energy to electricity through ?cryogenic? thermoelectrics is a practical and cost effective option. The proposed research will develop and demonstrate a laboratory prototype device integrated within a model plate-type LNG regasification heat exchanger. The main tasks include design of the system architecture, characterization of thermoelectric materials in cryogenic temperatures, modeling of heat transfer, prototype fabrication, and testing. Research will target design and process intensification, in order to minimize device cost.