Current Status of Thermoelectric Power Generation Technology

Thermoelectric Power Generation by Clathrates

Clathrate compounds combine aesthetic beauty of their crystal structures with promising thermoelectric properties that have made them one of the most explored family of compounds deemed as base for thermoelectric generators for midand hightemperature application. This chapter surveys crystal and electronic structure and structure-related transport properties of selected types of clathrates and ...

Heat Transfer Enhancement in Thermoelectric Power Generation

Heat transfer plays an important role in thermoelectric (TE) power generation because the higher the heat-transfer rate from the hot to the cold side of the TE material, the higher is the generation of electric power. However, high heat-transfer rate is difficult to achieve compactly when the hot and/or the cold sources are maintained by a flow of gas such as waste heat from the gas exhaust of ...

Fabrication and thermoelectric properties of eco-friendly silicides for thermoelectric power generation using waste heat

Portable Power Generation via Integrated Catalytic Microcombustion-thermoelectric Devices

U.S. Army systems increasingly require novel methods of high density, fast charging power sources. In this study, a novel alternative to traditional batteries, catalytic microcombustors utilizing hydrocarbon fuels, are fabricated and characterized. These devices are found to be robust, easy to start up, operable over a wide range of compositions and temperatures, and able to support complete co...

Thermoelectric Power Generation Using Large Area pn - Junctions

A new approach to thermoelectric power generation using large area pn-junctions is presented [1]. Thermally generated electron-hole pairs are separated by the built-in potential gradient of the pn-junction. A temperature gradient applied along this pn-junction causes a flux of both carrier types from the hot to the cold region. This principle allows us to use layer structures similar to solar c...