Improved Thermoelectric Generator Performance Using High Temperature Thermoelectric Materials

Approximate models for the lattice thermal conductivity of alloy thermoelectrics

“…The electronic wavefunctions were optimised to a tight tolerance of 10 -8 eV on the total energy. The precision of the charge-density grids was set automatically to avoid aliasing errors, and a support grid with 8 the number of points × was used to evaluate the augmentation chares. The PAW projection was performed in reciprocal space, and non-spherical contributions to the gradient corrections inside the PAW spheres were accounted for.…”

“…2 Thermoelectric generators (TEGs), which harness the Seebeck effect in a thermoelectric material to extract electrical energy from a temperature gradient, are among the most promising solutions. TEGs are widely used in the aerospace industry 3,4 and have potential applications at scales from low-power Internet of Things (IoT) devices such as wireless sensors, 5,6 to heat recovery in automobile engines, 7,8 to augmenting the power output of nuclear reactors and repurposing decommissioned offshore oil platforms for geothermal power. 1 The performance of a thermoelectric material is typically expressed by the dimensionless figure of merit : 2 = 2 latt + el (1) where is the Seebeck coefficient, is the electrical conductivity, is the power factor, and = -2 and are the lattice (phonon) and electronic components of the thermal conductivity .…”

Realising the potential of thermoelectric technology: a Roadmap

“…The result of this work included n and p forms of material well matched to the exhaust temperatures of a small passenger car engine. 55 Power output predictions over formal test cycles suggest average outputs of 300-500 W with a heat exchange architecture that still has the potential for significant improvement.…”

Approximate Models for the Lattice Thermal Conductivity of Alloy Thermoelectrics

“…2 Thermoelectric generators (TEGs), which harness the Seebeck effect in a thermoelectric material to extract electrical energy from a temperature gradient, are among the most promising solutions. TEGs are widely used in the aerospace industry 3,4 and have potential applications at scales from low-power Internet of Things (IoT) devices such as wireless sensors, 5,6 to heat recovery in automobile engines, 7,8 to augmenting the power output of nuclear reactors and repurposing decommissioned offshore oil platforms for geothermal power. 1 The performance of a thermoelectric material is typically expressed by the dimensionless figure of merit : 2 = 2 latt + el (1) where = − is the Seebeck coefficient, is the electrical conductivity, 2 is the power factor, and latt and el are the lattice (phonon) and electronic components of the thermal conductivity .…”