STTR Phase I: Sustainable Thermo-electric Conversion of Waste Heat

这个小企业技术转移第一阶段项目将演示和评估一种新型基于薄膜的概念验证热电能量转换（TEC）装置。这项研究将通过一项创新技术，将效率、功率密度和成本结合在一起，推动能源领域的发展。TEC设备代表了零排放和零运营成本技术。每年约有60-70千万亿英热单位（btu）的家庭热能被浪费。即使收集20%的废热，也将提供相当于10-20座新核电站的电力。通过清除来自住宅和工业部门（如化工、制造、石油和天然气、制冷、运输和发电厂）的废热，该技术将对能源部门和经济产生巨大影响。最后，这一努力将扩大目前3.5亿美元的TEC市场，使其在40亿美元的能源收集市场中占有更大的份额。与传统的热电器件相比，所提出的设计利用微米级薄膜产生数量级更高的温差，具有高度可扩展的制造工艺。这是一个革命性的转变，从目前的设计实践与大块（毫米级）的材料。即使ZT值较低（0.15，与0.5-1.0的整体数字相比），所提出的设计在200摄氏度下产生9.8%的效率，是传统设计的三倍。在600摄氏度（典型的发动机排气温度）时，效率（28%）变得可行，功率重量比性能优于竞争设备。与传统的TEC设备不同，不需要对冷端进行强制冷却来维持温差。最有希望的方面是，这种创新将用可扩展和高吞吐量的方法取代今天的串行和费力的制造过程。这将提高功率密度和降低产品成本，就像在半导体工业中发生的那样。

This Small Business Technology Transfer Phase I project will demonstrate and evaluate a novel film-based proof-of-concept Thermoelectric Energy Conversion (TEC) device. This research will advance the energy landscape through an innovative technology with a superior combination of efficiency, power density, and cost. TEC devices represent a zero emissions and zero operating cost technology. About 60-70 quadrillion British thermal units (BTUs) of domestic heat energy are wasted per year. Harvesting even 20% of this waste heat will supply as much power as 10-20 new nuclear power plants. By scavenging waste heat from residential and industrial sectors (such as chemicals, manufacturing, oil and gas, refrigeration, transportation, and power plants), the technology will have a resounding impact on the energy sector and the economy. Finally, this effort will expand the current TEC market of $350 million to encompass a much greater share of the total $4 billion energy harvesting market. Compared to traditional thermoelectric devices, the proposed design produces orders of magnitude higher temperature differentials utilizing micron-scale films, with a highly scalable manufacturing process. This is a transformative shift from the current design practice with bulk (millimeter-scale) materials. Even with inferior values of ZT (0.15, compared to the bulk figures of 0.5-1.0), the proposed design yields 9.8% efficiency at 200 degrees C, triple that of conventional designs. At 600 degrees C (the temperature of typical engine exhausts), the efficiency (28%) becomes viable and the power-to-weight performance is superior to competing devices. Unlike conventional TEC devices, no forced cooling of the cold end is needed to maintain the temperature differential. The most promising aspect is that this innovation will replace today's serial and laborious manufacturing process with a scalable and high-throughput method. This will increase power density and lower product cost in a similar fashion as has occurred in the semiconductor industry.