STTR Phase I: Advanced Thermophotovoltaic Generators for High-Value Remote Power

这个小企业技术转让（STTR）第一阶段项目的更广泛影响/商业潜力是使远程油气过程电气化，以减少甲烷排放，提高现场安全性，并提供泄漏检测和监测能力。这将通过开发一种能够将现场燃料转化为电力的强大、高效、小型发电机来实现。除了石油天然气行业的进入机会外，这项技术还在大型市场中有其他应用，如住宅和商业发电和供暖，运输和军事。例如，我们提出的发电机将允许中等/寒冷气候下的消费者使用天然气（可供7000万家庭使用）有效地满足其随时间变化的供暖和电力需求。对于这些地区的典型家庭，我们估计通过部署我们的发电机，一次能源使用和二氧化碳排放量减少了45%。能源减少意味着每户每年可节省约650美元。我们的技术的广泛部署将促进国内天然气经济的发展，加强美国在半导体制造业的技术领先地位，并通过提供可调度的供应来促进可再生能源的发展。拟议项目将研究基本的热电转换过程，并通过协同努力开发具有高性能的发电机和降低成本的制造工艺，解决有关技术稳定性和鲁棒性的关键问题。该项目将专注于器件优化和耐用性以及工艺可重复性。这涉及多个频率选择组件的制造和集成，包括热发射器、滤光器、光伏电池和背面反射器。每个组件以及集成系统都将经过严格的热测试，以证明其耐高温和耐温度波动。此外，还将开发新的制造技术，使设备相对于传统发电机具有成本竞争力。如果技术目标得以实现，该项目将展示热光伏器件破纪录的性能，并加速热光伏器件在许多不同市场的商业化。该奖项反映了NSF的法定使命，并被认为是值得通过使用基金会的知识价值和更广泛的影响审查标准进行评估的支持。

The broader impact / commercial potential of this Small Business Technology Transfer (STTR) Phase I project is to enable electrification of remote oil & gas processes to reduce methane emissions, improve on-site safety, and provide leak-detection and monitoring capabilities. This will be achieved by developing a robust, efficient, small-scale power generator capable of converting on-site fuel to electricity. Beyond the entry opportunity in the oil & gas sector, this technology has other applications in large markets such as residential and commercial power generation and heating, transportation, and military. For example, our proposed generators would allow consumers in moderate/cold climates to efficiently match their time-dependent heating and electrical demands using natural gas (accessible to 70 million households). For a typical household in those regions, we estimate a 45% reduction in primary energy use and CO2 emissions by deploying our generators. The energy reduction translates to an annual savings of about $650 per household. Widespread deployment of our technology would grow the domestic natural gas economy, strengthen the US technological lead in semiconductor manufacturing, and facilitate renewables by providing a dispatchable supply.?The proposed project will investigate the fundamental heat-to-electric conversion process and address key issues around the stability and robustness of the technology, through a synergistic effort to develop generators capable of high performance and a manufacturing process to reduce cost. The project will focus on device optimization and durability, and process repeatability. This involves the fabrication and integration of multiple frequency-selective components including a thermal emitter, optical filter, photovoltaic cell, and back surface reflector. Each component, as well as the integrated system, will undergo rigorous thermal testing to prove both resistance to elevated temperatures and temperature swings. Additionally, novel manufacturing techniques will be developed to enable cost-competitive devices relative to conventional generators. If the technical objectives are met, this project will demonstrate record-breaking performance for thermophotovoltaics and accelerate the commercialization of thermophotovoltaic devices in many different markets.?This award reflects NSF's statutory mission and has been deemed worthy of support through evaluation using the Foundation's intellectual merit and broader impacts review criteria.