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

背景/概述DECC最近的一份报告估计，大约六分之一的工业能源使用是作为废热排放的。该报告确定了48 TWh/年的工业废热源，其中7 TWhr/年的回收在经济上是可行的。钢铁行业是英国最大的废热排放者之一，典型的钢铁厂仅在其冷却水中就排放约20 PJ/年。如果说，25%的热量是可回收的，即使在5%的效率下，每年也可以节省1亿英镑（基于0. 15英镑/千瓦时的电价）。因此，可以看出，回收工业废热具有商业和环境动力，这意味着大面积、灵活和印刷的热电发电机可以有助于减少对国家电网的需求，减少用于发电的化石燃料的消耗，并随后减少CO2排放。在斯旺西，我们最近打破了印刷热电材料的ZT值记录。我们的制造技术已经产生了ZT = 1.66的印刷热电元件，这是一个令人惊讶的结果，因为印刷热电材料的先前记录仅为ZT = 1.02。这些结果使这些材料的应用更接近实现。研究工程师将研究和开发新的印刷热电发电机的基础上，这一最近的突破架构。然后，可以使用模型钻机对热电元件原型进行试验，并在运营的钢铁厂现场进行试验，以确定新热电设备的能力。印刷热电材料的文献综述和典型钢铁厂废热源的识别.开发一种无毒的n型SnSe基材料，以与使用非传统生产技术开发的p型材料配对。基于所开发的n型对材料，设计和制造n型和p型腿对，并集成到工作原型器件中.将原型模块集成到定制测试台中，旨在模拟钢铁厂的工艺条件和环境。5.将开发的模块集成到塔尔博特港钢铁厂的现有工厂结构中。这是塔塔钢铁在欧洲的一个关键挑战领域，已经成为重要工作的主题。研究工程师将是团队的一部分，以解决这个问题。

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.