Lecture 1

Introduction to DEC
 Direct Energy Conversion
• Transformation of one type of energy (such as sunlight) to
another (such as electricity) without passing through an
intermediate stage (such as steam to spin generator turbines).
• The fuel cell, another electrochemical producer of electricity,
was developed by William Robert Grove.
• Thermoelectric generators are devices that convert heat directly
into electricity.
• In a solar cell, radiant energy drives electrons across a potential
difference at a semiconductor junction in which the concentrations
of impurities are different on the two sides of the junction.
• Direct energy conversion (DEC) or simply direct
conversion converts a charged particle's kinetic energy into
a voltage.
• It is a scheme for power extraction from nuclear fusion
 NEED FOR DEC
• No conversion of energy into mechanical and to
electricity.
• Less losses in conversion process.
• More efficient process
• Cost also reduced
 CARNOT CYCLE
• In the early 19th century, steam engines
came to play an increasingly important role
in industry and transportation.
• However, a systematic set of theories of the
conversion of thermal energy to motive
power by steam engines had not yet been
developed.
• Nicolas Léonard Sadi Carnot (1796-1832), a
French military engineer, published
Reflections on the Motive Power of Fire in
1824.
 CARNOT CYCLE
• The book proposed a generalized theory of heat
engines, as well as an idealized model of a
thermodynamic system for a heat engine that is now
known as the Carnot cycle.
• Carnot developed the foundation of
• The Carnot cycle has the greatest efficiency possible
of an engine (although other cycles have the same
efficiency) based on the assumption of the absence
of incidental wasteful processes such as friction, and
• the assumption of no conduction of heat between
different parts of the engine at different
temperatures.
 PROCESSESS OF CARNOT CYCLE
• A reversible isothermal gas expansion process.
• In this process, the ideal gas in the system absorbs qin amount heat
from a heat source at a high temperature Th, expands and does work
on surroundings.
• A reversible adiabatic gas expansion process.
• In this process, the system is thermally insulated. The gas
continues to expand and do work on surroundings, which
causes the system to cool to a lower temperature, Tl.
• A reversible isothermal gas compression process.
• In this process, surroundings do work to the gas at Tl,
and causes a loss of heat, qout.
• A reversible adiabatic gas compression process.
• In this process, the system is thermally insulated. Surroundings
continue to do work to the gas, which causes the temperature to
rise back to Th
 P-V DIAGRM
In isothermal processes I and III, ∆U=0 because ∆T=0. In adiabatic
processes II and IV, q=0. Work, heat, ∆U, and ∆H of each process
 LIMITATION OF CARNOT CYCLE
• This equation shows that the wider the temperature range,
the more efficient is the cycle.(a) T3
• In practice T3 cannot be reduced below about 300 K (27ºC),
corresponding to a condenser pressure of 0.035 bar.
• This is due to two factors:
i. Condensation of steam requires a bulk supply of cooling water
and such a continuous natural supply below atmospheric
temperature of about 15°C is unavailable.
ii. If condenser is to be of a reasonable size and cost, the
temperature difference between thecondensing steam and the
cooling water must be at least 10°C.(b) TI
iii. The maximum cycle temperature T1 is also limited to about
900 K (627°C) by the strength of the materials available for
the highly
 TYPES OF DEC
• Thermo electric power generation
• Thermo ionic power generation
• Magneto hydro dynamic systems
• Photovoltaic power systems
• Fuel cells
• Thermo nuclear fusion power generation
 THERMO ELECTRIC POWER GENERATION
(TEG)
• The pioneer in thermoelectric was a German scientist Thomas
Johann Seebeck (1770-1831)
• Thermoelectricity refers to a class of phenomena in which a
temperature difference creates an electric potential or potential
creates a temperature difference.
• Thermoelectric power generator is a device that converts the
heat energy into electrical energy based on the Seebeck effect
• Later, In 1834, French scientist, Peltier and in 1851,Thomson
(later Lord Kelvin) described the thermal
effects on conductors
 Principle
• In the purer metallic conductors outer electrons, less
connected to others, can move freely around all the
material, as if they do not belong to any atom.
• These electrons transmit energy to one another through
temperature variation, and this energy intensity varies
depending on the nature of the material.
• If two distinct materials are placed in contact, free
electrons will be transferred from the more “loaded”
material to the other, so they equate themselves,
• Such transference creates a potential difference, called
contact potential.
• Since the result will be a pole negatively charged by
the received electrons and another positively charged
by the loss of electrons.
• The material A is maintained at T+∆T temperature.
• The material B is maintained at temperature ‘T’.
• Since the junctions are maintained at different
temperature, the emf ‘V’ flows across the circuit.
 Peltier Effect
• Whenever current passes through the circuit of two
dissimilar conductors, depending on the current
direction, either heat is absorbed or released at the
junction of the two conductors.
• This is known as Peltier Effect.
 Joule’s Effect
Irreversible conversion of electrical energy into
heat when a current I flows through a resistance R.

Qj=I2R
Thermo Electric Generator
 Construction
o Thermoelectric power generation (TEG) devices
typically use special semiconductor materials,
which are optimized for the Seebeck effect.
o The simplest thermoelectric power generator
consists of a thermocouple, comprising a p-type
and n-type material connected electrically in
series and thermally in parallel.
o Heat is applied into one side of the couple and
rejected from the opposite side.
o An electrical current is produced, proportional to
the temperature gradient between the hot and
cold junctions.
Therefore, for any TEPG, there are four basic component
required such as
1.Heat source (fuel)
2.P and N type semiconductor stack (TE module)
3.Heat sink (cold side)
4.Electrical load (output voltage)
• As the heat moves from Hot side to the Co;d side, the charge
carriers move in the semiconductor, creating a potential
difference.
• Electrons are the charge carriers in the N-type material and
Holes are the charge carriers in the P-type materials.
• In a stack, a number of P-type and N-type materials is
connected.
• A single PN-junction can create upto 40 mV
• Fuels like natural gas or propane is used for the remote power
generation.
FIGURE OF MERIT
 Material Selection Criteria
• A high electrical conductivity is necessary to minimize
Joule heating and low thermal conductivity helps to retain
heat at the junctions and maintain a large temperature
gradient.
• A large Seebeck coefficient is advicable.
• These three properties were later put together and it is
called figure-of-merit (Z).
 Material Selection Criteria
• The good thermoelectric materials should possess
1. Large Seebeck coefficients
2. High electrical conductivity
3. Low thermal conductivity
• The example for thermoelectric materials
1. BismuthTelluride (Bi2Te3),
2. Lead Telluride (PbTe),
3. SiliconGermanium (SiGe),
4. Bismuth-Antimony (Bi-Sb)
 Advantages
• Easy maintenance: They works electrically without any
moving parts so they are virtually maintenance free
• Environment friendly: Thermoelectric generators produce no
pollution. Therefore they are eco friendly generators.

• Compact and less weight: The overall thermoelectric cooling

Si bench

TE

Electronic Cooling

Laser/OE Cooling

Cooled 31
Car Seat
 Miscellaneous…..
• The standard material we work with is BiTe. The best
efficiency that can be achieved with this material is
approximately 6%.
• But once the material is constructed into a module,
efficiency drops to 3 to 4% because of thermal and
electrical impedance. No other semiconductor material
can perform as well as BiTe as far as efficiency is
concerned.
• Other material such as PbTe are used but are far less
efficient, and must be used at significantly higher
temperatures (450°C- 600°C) hot side and are not
commercially available!
• Thermoelectric Seebeck effect modules are designed for
very high power densities, on the order of 50 times
greater than Solar PV!
 Miscellaneous…..
 Bismuth telluride is the best bulk TE material with ZT=1
 Trends in TE devices:
• Superlattices and nanowires: Increase in S, reduction in k
• Nonequilibrium effects: decoupling of electron and
phonon transport
• Bulk nanomaterial synthesis
 Trends in TE systems
• Microrefrigeration based on thin film technologies
• Automobile refrigeration
• TE combined with fluidics for better heat exchangers
 To match a refrigerator, an effective ZT= 4 is needed
 To efficiently recover waste heat from car, ZT = 2
is needed
Questions…….?