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In summary, thermoelectric waste heat recovery is the process of recapturing this lost heat and converting it to electrical power. This is the primary focus of most DOE, DARPA and DoD research for new, more efficient power generator materials and devices. For any II-VI Coherent Thermal Solutions Thermoelectric power Generator (TEG), the voltage (V) generated by a TEG is directly proportional to the number of couples (N) and the temperature difference (ΔT) between the top and bottom sides of the TEG and the Seebeck coefficients of the n- and p-type materials (αp and αp, respectively). Power output from a TEG is a function of the temperatures, the materials (and device effective) figure of merit (ZT) and also a function of how well the generator resistance (R) matches the resistance of the attached electrical load (RLoad). To convert waste heat at reasonable efficiencies, one needs a) large temperature differences (hundreds of degrees C), b) high figure of merit (ZT) materials (ZT=1 or higher), and c) the ability to match the electrical loads with the thermoelectric resistance. In addition, any high ZT material must be capable of being incorporated into a device without significant losses that would degrade the device effective ZT in order to achieve the efficiencies described in the equations above. Heat flow must be extracted and conducted through the TEG in order to be converted. As depicted in figure 1, this heat must then be exhausted at a lower temperature to maintain the desired temperature difference across the TEG. While waste heat recovery is the driving force for much of the thermoelectric power generation research, other application areas could utilize many of the same material and device advancements, namely direct generation, co-generation and energy harvesting. If a standard product does not match desired performance, II-VI Coherent Thermal Solutions will custom design a solution to meet the need.

PTM Published on: 2018-05-31