Psuedo 3D printing of thermoelectric elements in an integrated steel plant

点击翻译按钮获取中文摘要

Background/ OverviewA recent report for DECC estimates around one sixth of overall industrial energy used is emitted as waste heat. The report identifies 48 TWh/yr of industrial waste heat sources with 7 TWhr/yr being economically viable for recovery.The steel industry is one of the UK's largest emitters of waste heat where a typical steel works emits ~20 PJ/yr in its cooling water alone. If say, 25 % of that heat was recoverable, even at 5 % efficiency, savings could be £10Million/year (based on an electricity price of £0.15/kWh). It can be seen therefore, that there is commercial as well as environmental impetus for recovering industrial waste heat, meaning that large area, flexible and printed thermoelectric generators could contribute to reducing demand on the National Grid, to reducing consumption of fossil fuels for power generation and subsequently reduce CO2 emissions. At Swansea we have recently broken the record for ZT value in a printed thermoelectric material. Our fabrication technique has led to printed thermoelectric elements with ZT = 1.66 which is an astonishing result given that the previous record for a printed thermoelectric material is just ZT = 1.02. These results bring the application of these materials a step closer to realisation. The Research Engineer will research and develop new printed thermoelectric generators based on the architecture of this recent breakthrough. The prototype thermoelectric elements can then be trialled using model rigs, and on-site at an operating steel plant to ascertain the capability of the new thermoelectric devices.Project Aims1. Review of literature on printed thermoelectric and identification of sources of waste heat in a typical steel plant.2. Development of a non-toxic n-type SnSe based material to pair with the already developed p-type material using non-traditional production techniques.3. Design and fabrication of n- & p-type leg pairs and integration into working prototype devices based on the developed n-type pair material.4. Integration of prototype modules into custom test rigs, designed to imitate process conditions and environments in the steel plant.5. Integration of developed modules into existing plant structure at Port Talbot Steel Works.This is a key challenge area for Tata Steel in Europe and is already the subject of significant work. The Research Engineer will be part of the team in reaching a solution to this problem.