Direct energy conversion and storage using nano-particle enhanced transport media

现代传感器、致动器、可穿戴电子设备、通信和生物医学设备的功耗迅速下降，为便携式自主系统开辟了新的可能性，这些系统由可用的环境能量供电，例如人的运动或热量、空气或水的运动、声音和振动。需要廉价、可靠的系统，将现有的环境能源转化为对这些技术有用的形式，这是发展这些技术的最大限制之一。 该研究计划旨在通过进一步开发直接能量转换（DEC）系统的两个新分支来帮助满足这一需求。重点将放在开发，表征和进一步推进新的热电（TE）和热声（TAC）DEC系统，包括纳米颗粒增强传输介质（NTM）（例如，纳米复合材料、纳米流体）。拟议的研究将专门着眼于环境能源（也称为低电位源或LPS）的DEC。然而，LPS通常是间歇性的。因此，实际的DEC系统需要集成的能量存储系统来确保连续地输送电力。潜热热能储存（LHTS）可以集成到DEC系统中，以提供连续的能量供应，也包括在本研究计划中。目前，常规TE、TAC和LHTS系统的能量转换和存储效率较低。然而，纳米技术的最新进展打开了通过结合NTM来提高这些系统的效率的可能性。 拟议的研究计划包括开发数学模型，描述质量，动量，能量和电荷转移过程中DEC和LHTS系统纳入新兴的NTM。这些模型将用于表征和优化集成NTM和LHTS的新DEC系统。模型开发将需要新的分析和数值求解技术。模型预测将通过原型DEC系统和实验表征性能来验证。 这项研究计划将显着提高我们的理解DEC和LHTS系统内的复杂的运输过程纳入NTM。这种理解将导致更实用和有效的TE和TAC系统集成LHTS。这些新颖的系统将在包括冷却（例如，电子冷却、远程空调、电动/混合动力车辆中的电池热管理），作为绿色建筑物的组件（例如，热活性壁）、医学成像和用于可穿戴/移动的电子设备的发电。 该研究计划还将培训HQP，他们将成为对DEC，LHTS和NTM有深入了解的工程师/研究人员，这些专业知识对于商业化和进一步开发包含NTM的新DEC系统至关重要。

The rapidly declining power usage of modern sensors, actuators, wearable electronics, communications and biomedical devices is opening new possibilities for portable autonomous systems that are powered by available ambient energy, such as the motion or heat from a person, motion of air or water, or sound and vibrations. The need for inexpensive, reliable systems that can convert available ambient energy into useful forms for these technologies is one of the biggest limitations in their development. This research program seeks to help fill this need by furthering the development of two novel branches of direct energy conversion (DEC) systems. The focus will be placed on developing, characterizing, and further advancing novel thermoelectric (TE) and thermoacoustic (TAC) DEC systems incorporating nano-particle enhanced transport media (NTM) (e.g., nano-composites, nanofluids). The proposed research will look specifically at DEC from ambient energy sources (also known as low potential sources or LPSs). However, LPSs are usually intermittent in nature. Therefore, practical DEC systems require integrated energy storage systems to ensure continuously delivering power. Latent heat thermal energy storage (LHTS) can be integrated into DEC systems to provide continuous energy supply and is also included in this research program. Currently, energy conversion and storage efficiencies of conventional TE, TAC, and LHTS systems are low. However, recent advancements in nanotechnology open the possibility of improving these systems' efficiencies by incorporating NTM. The proposed research program includes developing mathematical models that describe mass, momentum, energy, and electrical charge transfer processes in DEC and LHTS systems incorporating emerging NTM. These models will be applied to characterize and optimize new DEC systems that integrate NTM and LHTS. Model development will require new analytical and numerical solution techniques. Model predictions will be validated by prototyping DEC systems and experimentally characterizing performance. This research program will significantly improve our understanding of the complex transport processes inside DEC and LHTS systems incorporating NTM. This understanding will lead to more practical and efficient TE and TAC systems integrating LHTS. These novel systems will be commercializable in a range of applications including cooling (e.g., electronics cooling, remote air-conditioning, battery thermal management in electric/hybrid vehicles), as components of green buildings (e.g., thermally active walls), medical imaging, and power generation for wearable/mobile electronics. This research program will also train HQP who will become engineers/researchers with deep knowledge of DEC, LHTS, and NTM, expertise which will be essential to the commercialization and further development of new DEC systems incorporating NTM.