Techno-economic analysis of waste-heat conversion

Physics-guided co-designing flexible thermoelectrics with techno-economic sustainability for low-grade heat harvesting

“…This formula can be simplified by applying λ = R L / R te , and the maximized PCE is obtained in the condition of ∂(PCE)/∂λ = 0normalPCEnormalmax=Tnormalh−TnormalcThnormalλPCEnormal_max−1normalλPCEnormal_max+Tnormalc/Tnormalh=ηnormalCarnotnormalλPCEnormal_max−1normalλnormalPCE_normalmax+Tnormalc/Tnormalhwhere η Carnot is the Carnot efficiency, and the irreversibility of TE generators (heat engines) is reported as the RCE that is given by the ratio between PCE and η Carnot ( 16 , 32 , 57 ), i.e., RCE = PCE/η Carnot . normalλnormalPCEnormal_max=1+ZTave>1=normalλnormalPnormal_max, where normalZTnormalave=1Tnormalh−Tnormalc∫…”

“…Accordingly, flexible TEs (f-TEs) have been sought by chemical doping (21)(22)(23), physical vapor deposition (24), free-standing substrates (25,26), and organic/inorganic hybridization (27)(28)(29). However, the issue of relatively low PCEs at room temperature still prevails, suggesting that much of the current research focused on the strategy of continuously increasing the peak ZT is not costeffective for ubiquitous, unusable, low-grade waste heat harvesting toward affordable and clean energy supply (18,(30)(31)(32). In other words, the concerns related to the output power enhancement, material cost reduction, and power-cost ratio (PCR) increase of f-TE devices for industry-oriented deployment via topology co-design could be equally important as those of ZT and PCE; however, they have been largely overlooked until now (fig.…”

Atomic Level Defect Structure Engineering for Unusually High Average Thermoelectric Figure of Merit in n‐Type PbSe Rivalling PbTe

“…[ 3 ] Thermoelectrics emerges as a renewable energy technology that can address aforementioned energy and environmental problems simultaneously. [ 4 ] Thermoelectric (TE) materials can generate electric energy spontaneously by Seebeck effect when subjected to a temperature gradient. [ 5 ] Because TE power generators are electronic devices simply comprising n‐ and p‐type TE semiconductors, recovering waste heat does not emit any environmentally hazardous chemicals such as greenhouse gases.…”

Enhanced Thermoelectric Properties of Bi2Te3‐Based Micro–Nano Fibers via Thermal Drawing and Interfacial Engineering

“…The capacities of direct conversion between heat energy and electricity have enabled TE devices to achieve power generation and solid-state cooling, in a zero-carbon and sustainable way. [1][2][3] The efficiency of TE materials is a key factor for the waste heat energy conversion, which is gauged by its dimensionless figure-of-merit value, ZT=S 2 σT/κ, where S is the Seebeck coefficient, σ is the electrical conductivity, T is the absolute temperature, and κ is the thermal conductivity. However, the ZT value of commercial Bi2Te3-based materials is restricted to ~1 at room temperature owing to the adverse interdependence of the Seebeck coefficient, electrical and thermal conductivity.…”

“…The capacities of direct conversion between heat energy and electricity have enabled thermoelectric (TE) devices to achieve power generation and solid-state cooling, in a zero-carbon and sustainable way. [1][2][3] The efficiency of TE materials is a key factor for the waste heat energy conversion, which is gauged by its dimensionless figure-of-merit value, ZT= S 2 σT/κ, where S is the Seebeck coefficient, σ is the electrical conductivity, T is the absolute temperature, and κ is the High-performance thermoelectric (TE) materials with great flexibility and stability are urgently needed to efficiently convert heat energy into electrical power. Recently, intrinsically crystalline, mechanically stable, and flexible inorganic TE fibers that show TE properties comparable to their bulk counterparts have been of interest to researchers.…”