Renewable Sources of Energy

Unit 5 (c) Direct energy conversion

Prepared by
Mr. A. Shanmukh Sudhir,
Assistant Professor,
Department of Mechanical Engineering,
GVPCOE [A], Visakhapatnam.

Reference: G.D. Rai, Non-conventional Energy Sources,

Khanna Publishers, Delhi.
L44: Introduction to Direct energy conversion
 It is the method of transformation of one type of energy into another
without passing through the intermediate stage such as steam, generators
etc.
 Most of these energy converters, sometimes called static energy-
conversion devices, use electrons as their “working fluid” in place of the
vapour or gas employed by heat engines like IC engines, EC engines etc. Source: https://
link.springer.com/chapter/10.1007/
 In recent years, direct energy-conversion devices have received much 978-3-030-10477-1_4
attention because of the necessity to develop more efficient ways of
transforming available forms of primary energy into electric power.
 Direct energy-conversion devices are of interest for providing electric
power in spacecraft because of their reliability and their lack of moving
parts.
 At present, solar cells, fuel cells, and thermoelectric generators, thermionic
power converters have received considerable attention for space
applications. Source: https://
users.aber.ac.uk/ruw/teach/215/sec
ond-law.php
L44: Carnot cycle
 Carnot engine is a theoretical thermodynamic cycle proposed by Leonard
Carnot. It gives the estimate of the maximum possible efficiency that a
heat engine can convert heat into work.
 In (a), the process is reversible isothermal gas expansion. In this process,
the amount of heat absorbed by the ideal gas is qin from the heat source,
which is at a temperature of Th. The gas expands and does work on the
surroundings.
 In (b), the process is reversible adiabatic gas expansion. Here, the system
is thermally insulated, and the gas continues to expand and work is done
on the surroundings. Now the temperature is lower, Tl.
 In (c), the process is reversible isothermal gas compression process. Here,
the heat loss qout occurs when the surroundings do the work at
temperature Tl.
 In (d), the process is reversible adiabatic gas compression. Again the
system is thermally insulated. The temperature again rises back to Th as
the surrounding continue to do their work on the gas.

Source: https://byjus.com/physics/carnot-engine/
L44: Principles of DEC
The pioneer in thermos electrics 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 an electric potential
creates a temperature difference.
 Seebeck effect: When the junctions of two different metals are maintained at different temperature, the emf is
produced in the circuit. This is known as Seebeck effect.
 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.
 Thomson effect: Heat is absorbed or produced when current flows in material with a certain temperature
gradient. The heat is proportional to both the electric current and the temperature gradient. This is known as
Thomson effect.
 Thermoelectric effect: The thermoelectric effect, is the direct conversion of heat differentials to electric voltage
and vice versa The good thermoelectric materials should possess large Seebeck coefficients, high electrical
conductivity and low thermal conductivity

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L44: Thermoelectric power generator (TEPG)

 TEPG based on the principle of Seebeck effect that when

the junctions of two different metals are maintained at
different temperature, the emf is produced in the circuit.
 TEPG devices typically use special semiconductor
materials, which are optimized for the Seebeck effect.

 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.
 Heat is applied into one side of the couple and rejected from the opposite side. An electrical current
is produced, proportional to the temperature gradient between the hot and cold junctions.
 For any TEPG, there are four basic component required such as Heat source (fuel), P and N type
semiconductor stack ,Heat sink (cold side) and electrical load (output voltage)

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L45: Magneto-hydrodynamic Generator (MHD)
 The principal of MHD power generation is very simple and is
based on Faraday’s law of electromagnetic induction.
 It states that when a conductor and a magnetic field moves
relative to each other, then voltage is induced in the conductor,
which results in flow of current across the terminals.
 As the name implies, MHD generator is concerned with the
flow of a conducting fluid in the presence of magnetic and
electric fields.
 In conventional generator or alternator, the conductor consists of copper windings or strips while in an MHD
generator the hot ionized gas or conducting fluid replaces the solid conductor.
 A pressurized, electrically conducting fluid flows through a transverse magnetic field in a channel or duct. Pair of
electrodes are located on the channel walls at right angle to the magnetic field and connected through an external
circuit to deliver power to a load connected to it.
 Electrodes in the MHD generator perform the same function as brushes in a conventional DC generator. The MHD
generator develops DC power and the conversion to AC is done using an inverter.
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 Source: https://vardhaman.org/wp-content/uploads/2018/12/Renewable%20Energy%20Sources.pdf

L45: Open cycle MHD generator

 In open cycle MHD system, atmospheric air at very high temperature and pressure is passed through the strong
magnetic field. Coal is first processed and burnet in the combustor at a high temperature of about 2700C and
pressure about 12 ATP with pre-heated air from the plasma.
 Then a seeding material such as potassium carbonate is injected to the plasma (high temp gas) to increase the
electrical conductivity. The resulting mixture having an electrical conductivity of about 10 Siemens/m is expanded
through a nozzle, so as to have a high velocity and then passed through the magnetic field of MHD generator.
 During the expansion of the gas at high temperature, the positive and negative ions move to the electrodes and thus
constitute an electric current. The gas is then made to exhaust through the generator. Since the same air cannot be
reused again hence it forms an open cycle and thus is named as open cycle MHD.
 Source: https://vardhaman.org/wp-content/uploads/2018/12/Renewable%20Energy%20Sources.pdf

L45: Closed cycle MHD generator

 As the name suggests the working fluid in a closed cycle MHD is circulated in a closed loop. Hence, in this case
inert gas or liquid metal is used as the working fluid to transfer the heat.
 The liquid metal has typically the advantage of high electrical conductivity, hence the heat provided by the
combustion material need not be too high.
 Contrary to the open loop system there is no inlet and outlet for the atmospheric air. Hence, the process is simplified
to a great extent, as the same fluid is circulated time and again for effective heat transfer.
L45: Advantages of MHD Generation
The advantages of MHD generation over the other conventional methods of generation are given below.
Here only working fluid is circulated, and there are no moving mechanical parts. This reduces the
mechanical losses to nil and makes the operation more dependable.
The temperature of working fluid is maintained by the walls of MHD.
It has the ability to reach full power level almost directly.
The price of MHD generators is much lower than conventional generators.
MHD has very high efficiency, which is higher than most of the other conventional or non-
conventional method of generation.

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