scholarly journals Critical review of thermoelectrics in modern power generation applications

2009 ◽  
Vol 13 (3) ◽  
pp. 165-174 ◽  
Author(s):  
Khalid Saqr ◽  
Mohd Musa
Keyword(s):  
Power Generation ◽  
Twentieth Century ◽  
Power Systems ◽  
Thermoelectric Materials ◽  
Critical Review ◽  
Space Exploration ◽  
Research Community ◽  
Thermoelectric Generators ◽  
The Past ◽  
Thermoelectric Systems

The thermoelectric complementary effects have been discovered in the nineteenth century. However, their role in engineering applications has been very limited until the first half of the twentieth century, the beginning of space exploration era. Radioisotope thermoelectric generators have been the actual motive for the research community to develop efficient, reliable and advanced thermoelectrics. The efficiency of thermoelectric materials has been doubled several times during the past three decades. Nevertheless, there are numerous challenges to be resolved in order to develop thermoelectric systems for our modern applications. This paper discusses the recent advances in thermoelectric power systems and sheds the light on the main problematic concerns which confront contemporary research efforts in that field.

Recent advances in thermoelectric materials and solar thermoelectric generators – a critical review

RSC Advances ◽  
2014 ◽  
Vol 4 (87) ◽  
pp. 46860-46874 ◽  
Author(s):  
Pradeepkumar Sundarraj ◽  
Dipak Maity ◽  
Susanta Sinha Roy ◽  
Robert A. Taylor
Keyword(s):  
Power Generation ◽  
Research And Development ◽  
Thermoelectric Materials ◽  
Critical Review ◽  
Large Scale ◽  
Systems Design ◽  
Thermoelectric Generators ◽  
Power Generators ◽  
Solar Thermoelectric Generators ◽  
Concentrated Systems

Thermoelectric materials have been extensively used in space satellites, automobiles, and, more recently, in solar thermal application as power generators. Solar thermoelectric generators (STEGs) have enjoyed rapidly improving efficiency in recent years in both concentrated and non-concentrated systems. However, there is still a critical need for further research and development of their materials and systems design before this technology can deployed for large-scale power generation.

High Temperature Thermoelectric Auxiliary Power Unit for Automotive Applications

2008 ◽  
Author(s):  
Leon M. Headings ◽  
Shawn Midlam-Mohler ◽  
Gregory N. Washington ◽  
Joseph P. Heremans
Keyword(s):  
Power Generation ◽  
Thermoelectric Power ◽  
Power Unit ◽  
Diesel Fuel ◽  
Thermoelectric Materials ◽  
Waste Heat ◽  
Thermoelectric Device ◽  
Thermoelectric Generators ◽  
Automotive Applications ◽  
Auxiliary Power

While the thermoelectric effects have been known for over 100 years, their traditionally low conversion efficiency for power generation has limited their use to highly specialized applications. With the rapid advancement of thermoelectric materials in recent years, their inherent reliability and power density is being augmented by improvements in efficiency. Recent increases in the figure of merit of materials suitable for operation around 500 °C make them candidates for waste heat recovery, as well as primary power using combustion heaters. The characteristic scalability of thermoelectric generators makes them best suited for low power applications where alternative generators become impractical. However, with the development of thermoelectric device technology in parallel with materials advancements, it may become viable to design thermoelectric generators for auxiliary power in automotive applications. The research presented here represents the initial stages of the development of a thermoelectric power unit (TEPU). While thermoelectric generator technology can be applied to any fuel, this research targets the use of diesel fuel which is readily available for both military and consumer applications and is more easily and safely transported than many alternatives. The use of diesel fuel for a TEPU is enabled by the use of an atomizer technology developed at The Ohio State University Center for Automotive Research. A baseline prototype incorporating this novel diesel fuel atomizer/combustor with conventional thermoelectric materials and heat exchange designs has been constructed and tested. Preliminary data highlights the viability of diesel fuel for thermoelectric power generation as well as the areas which demand further development. This prototype will serve as the baseline for evaluating future designs incorporating advanced materials and novel system designs.

scholarly journals Discovery of multivalley Fermi surface responsible for the high thermoelectric performance in Yb14MnSb11 and Yb14MgSb11

2021 ◽  
Vol 7 (4) ◽  
pp. eabe9439
Author(s):  
Christopher J. Perez ◽  
Maxwell Wood ◽  
Francesco Ricci ◽  
Guodong Yu ◽  
Trinh Vo ◽  
...  
Keyword(s):  
Solid Solution ◽  
Experimental Approach ◽  
Space Exploration ◽  
Thermoelectric Generators ◽  
Thermoelectric Efficiency ◽  
Zintl Phases ◽  
Deep Space Exploration ◽  
Thermoelectric Systems ◽  
P Type ◽  
Insight Into

The Zintl phases, Yb14MSb11 (M = Mn, Mg, Al, Zn), are now some of the highest thermoelectric efficiency p-type materials with stability above 873 K. Yb14MnSb11 gained prominence as the first p-type thermoelectric material to double the efficiency of SiGe alloy, the heritage material in radioisotope thermoelectric generators used to power NASA’s deep space exploration. This study investigates the solid solution of Yb14Mg1−xAlxSb11 (0 ≤ x ≤ 1), which enables a full mapping of the metal-to-semiconductor transition. Using a combined theoretical and experimental approach, we show that a second, high valley degeneracy (Nv = 8) band is responsible for the groundbreaking performance of Yb14MSb11. This multiband understanding of the properties provides insight into other thermoelectric systems (La3−xTe4, SnTe, Ag9AlSe6, and Eu9CdSb9), and the model predicts that an increase in carrier concentration can lead to zT > 1.5 in Yb14MSb11 systems.

scholarly journals Feeling Bad about Emotional History

2021 ◽  
Vol 29 (1) ◽  
Author(s):  
Alejandro García-Sanjuán
Keyword(s):  
Twentieth Century ◽  
Recent Work ◽  
Middle Ages ◽  
Critical Review ◽  
Critical Appraisal ◽  
Political Movement ◽  
American Anthropologist ◽  
Medieval Studies ◽  
Positive View ◽  
The Past

This article presents a critical review of The Feeling of History, a recent work by the American anthropologist Charles Hirschkind. In this book, the author treats Andalucismo, a political movement that arose in modern Andalusia early in the twentieth century and was chiefly characterized by an extremely positive view of the Islamic Iberian past (al-Andalus)—a tendency that is certainly unusual in Spain and goes against the prevalent Spanish nationalism. In his book, Hirschkind not only develops an uncritical view of Andalucismo and its intrinsically emotional reading of the past but also legitimizes a rather farfetched conflation of modern Andalusia and al-Andalus. Moreover, he offers an extremely shallow and unnuanced reading of current Spanish scholarship on the Middle Ages, branding it wholesale as an heir to Francoism. He also lends legitimacy to those who call into question the origin of al-Andalus in the Islamic conquest of 711 CE—representatives of an unscholarly approach that has been largely dismissed by academic outlets since the 1970s. Burdened by heavy ideological prejudices and hampered by the author’s limited knowledge of the most recent academic historiographic debates in the field of Iberian medieval studies, the book represents a failed attempt to present the Anglophone readership with a consistent introduction to Andalusian nationalism together with a critical appraisal of the Andalusian nationalist interpretation of the medieval Iberian past.

scholarly journals Overview on Grid-Forming Inverter Control Methods

Energies ◽  
2020 ◽  
Vol 13 (10) ◽  
pp. 2589 ◽  
Author(s):  
Peter Unruh ◽  
Maria Nuschke ◽  
Philipp Strauß ◽  
Friedrich Welck
Keyword(s):  
Power Generation ◽  
Power Systems ◽  
Electrical Power Generation ◽  
Power Supply ◽  
Electrical Power ◽  
Synchronous Machines ◽  
Control Methods ◽  
Rotating Machines ◽  
The Past ◽  
Interconnected Power Systems

In this paper, different control approaches for grid-forming inverters are discussed and compared with the grid-forming properties of synchronous machines. Grid-forming inverters are able to operate AC grids with or without rotating machines. In the past, they have been successfully deployed in inverter dominated island grids or in uninterruptable power supply (UPS) systems. It is expected that with increasing shares of inverter-based electrical power generation, grid-forming inverters will also become relevant for interconnected power systems. In contrast to conventional current-controlled inverters, grid-forming inverters do not immediately follow the grid voltage. They form voltage phasors that have an inertial behavior. In consequence, they can inherently deliver momentary reserve and increase power grid resilience.

scholarly journals Thermoelectric Transport Effects Beyond Single Parabolic Band and Acoustic Phonon Scattering

2021 ◽  
Author(s):  
Heng Wang ◽  
Ramya L Gurunathan ◽  
Chenguang Fu ◽  
Runzi Cui ◽  
Tiejun Zhu ◽  
...  
Keyword(s):  
Power Generation ◽  
Solid State ◽  
Thermoelectric Materials ◽  
Acoustic Phonon ◽  
Phonon Scattering ◽  
State Power ◽  
Thermoelectric Transport ◽  
The Past ◽  
Transport Effects ◽  
Multiple Materials

Thermoelectric materials have been extensively studied for applications in solid-state power generation and cooling. Progress has been made over the past decade in multiple materials systems, hence, it becomes increasingly...

Looking for the Past: History and Change in Traditional Music Studies in Chile (1990–2020)

2020 ◽  
Vol 52 ◽  
pp. 187-206
Author(s):  
CHRISTIAN SPENCER-ESPINOSA
Keyword(s):  
Twentieth Century ◽  
Critical Review ◽  
Past History ◽  
Traditional Music ◽  
Historical Overview ◽  
The Past ◽  
Humanistic Approach

AbstractThis article presents a historical overview of traditional music studies in Chile, pointing out some of the main achievements and problems. It describes the origins of traditional music studies through the establishment of the Chilean Folk Society in 1909 and then offers a periodisation of studies during the twentieth century, followed by a critical review of the preference for facts over processes. Finally, it explores the renaissance of traditional music studies during the last 30 years (1990–2020), analysing 123 dissertations about traditional music and the concepts of “tradition” they employ. It concludes that Chilean folk studies have changed from a scientific to a humanistic approach, using the idea of tradition as a comprehensive concept and the idea of folklore as behaviour or performance.

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