SBIR Phase I: High Efficiency, Compact Thermoelectric Generator (TEG)

该小型企业创新研究（SBIR）第一阶段项目将致力于开发一种新颖的设计架构，通过将热量转化为电力来回收内燃机的废气废热能。 随着车辆变得越来越电气化，通过产生显著的电力来回收一部分这样的热量将卸载车辆交流发电机并显著提高燃料经济性。 拟议的创新独特地结合了热管理和能量转换领域组件技术的最新进展，从而产生了一个热机械系统，该系统有望成为可靠，紧凑和可扩展的，同时？拾荒强大的力量有效。 研究目标包括全尺寸系统的初步设计和部分概念验证原型的设计，制造，测试和评估。 根据结果，将确定TEG系统设计的可行性，并对其商业可行性进行更全面的评估。该项目更广泛的影响/商业潜力是回收大量能源中的很大一部分，这些能源在我们的社会中没有被利用，而是以能源/电力系统废热的形式被丢弃。 从内燃机排放到环境中的废热仍然是一种重要的未开发的能源，占这些发动机中可用能量的40%以上。 大多数使用IC发动机的市场都涉及移动的或便携式电源，如汽车和军用便携式发电机，需要在更紧凑和更轻便的设计中实现越来越高的性能、效率和可靠性。拟议创新解决了关键指标。 在减少这些应用中的能源消耗的同时，这项创新还减少了排放，因为消耗的燃料更少，帮助公司达到更严格的排放标准-最值得注意的是企业平均燃油经济性（CAFEE）标准，该标准对违规行为处以高额罚款。 其他邻近的市场包括固定发电，固体氧化物燃料电池和潜在的飞机推进系统。 除了满足市场需求，拟议的设计方法有助于技术上对新的或改进的系统设计方法和催化系统级创新？在汽车废气废热回收领域中有特别的需要。

This Small Business Innovation Research (SBIR) Phase I project will pursue the development of a novel design architecture for recovering exhaust waste heat energy from an internal combustion engine by converting heat into electricity. As vehicles become increasingly electrified, recovering a fraction of such heat by generating significant electrical power would off-load the vehicle alternator and substantially increase fuel economy. The proposed innovation uniquely combines the latest advances in component technologies from fields in thermal management and energy conversion, resulting in a thermo-mechanical system that promises to be reliable, compact, and scalable while ?scavenging? significant power efficiently. The research objectives include the preliminary design of a full-scale system and the design, fabrication, testing, and evaluation of a fractional proof-of-concept prototype. Based upon results, the feasibility of the TEG system design will be ascertained, and its commercial viability evaluated more fully.The broader impact/commercial potential of this project is to recover a significant portion of the massive amounts of energy that is not utilized in our society but rejected in the form of waste heat from energy/power systems. Exhaust heat rejected to the environment from internal combustion engines continues to be a significant untapped source of energy, representing over 40 percent of the available energy in these engines. Most markets which utilize IC engines involve mobile or portable power such as automotive vehicles and military portable generators, requiring increasingly higher performance, efficiency, and reliability within a more compact and lightweight design ? key metrics addressed by the proposed innovation. While reducing energy consumption in these applications, the innovation also reduces emissions since less fuel is consumed, helping companies meet stricter emission standards -- most notably the Corporate Average Fuel Economy (CAFÉ) standards which impose high financial penalties for non-compliance. Other adjacent markets include stationary power generation, solid-oxide fuel cells, and potentially aircraft propulsion systems. In addition to meeting market need, the proposed design approach contributes technically towards new or improved system design methodologies and catalyzing system-level innovation ? a particular need in the area of automotive exhaust waste heat recovery.