Low-grade heat, either in the form of waste heat or natural heat, represents an extremely promising source of renewable energy. A cost-effective method for recovering the low-grade heat will have a transformative impact on the overall energy scenario. Efficiency of heat engines deteriorates with decrease in hot-side temperature, making low-grade heat recovery complex and economically unviable using the current state-of-the-art technologies, such as Organic Rankine cycle, Kalina cycle and Stirling engine. In this thesis, a fundamental breakthrough is achieved in low-grade thermal energy harvesting using thermomagnetic and thermoelectric effects. This thesis systematically investigates two different mechanisms: thermomagnetic effect and thermoelectric effect to generate electricity from the low-grade heat sources available near ambient temperature to 200°C. Using thermomagnetic effect, we demonstrate a novel ultra-low thermal gradient energy recovery mechanism, termed as PoWER (Power from Waste Energy Recovery), with ambient acting as the heat sink. PoWER devices do not require an external heat sink, bulky fins or thermal fluid circulation and generate electricity on the order of 100s μW/cm3 from heat sources at temperatures as low as 24°C (i.e. just 2°C above the ambient) to 50°C. For the high temperature range of 50-200°C, we developed the unique low fill fraction thermoelectric generators that exhibit a much better performance than the commercial modules when operated under realistic conditions such as constant heat flux boundary condition and high thermally resistive environment. These advancements in thermal energy harvesting and waste heat recovery technology will have a transformative impact on renewable energy generation and in reducing global warming. / PHD / Energy is essential to life. While most living organisms utilize natural resources directly to meet their energy requirements, humans need electricity. Unarguably, electricity has made our lives easy; however, it is an expensive form of energy. Every year, a tremendous amount of fossil fuels is burnt to meet the ever-growing energy demand. While we are concerned due to the escalating energy prices, depleting fossil resources, and negative environmental impact, it is devastating to know that more than half of the useable energy generated from various renewable and non-renewable sources are ultimately discarded to atmosphere as byproduct, mostly in form of wasted heat. Utilizing waste heat, particularly when it occurs at low temperature, is usually complex and cost-ineffective. A cost-effective method for recovering the low-grade heat will have a transformative impact on the overall energy scenario. In this thesis, a fundamental breakthrough is achieved in developing the new/improved thermal energy harvesting methods to generate electricity from low-grade heat.
| Identifer | oai:union.ndltd.org:VTETD/oai:vtechworks.lib.vt.edu:10919/103650 |
| Date | 14 December 2018 |
| Creators | Kishore, Ravi Anant |
| Contributors | Mechanical Engineering, Priya, Shashank, Stokes, David, Mahajan, Roop L, Vick, Brian L. |
| Publisher | Virginia Tech |
| Source Sets | Virginia Tech Theses and Dissertation |
| Detected Language | English |
| Type | Dissertation |
| Format | ETD, application/pdf |
| Rights | In Copyright, http://rightsstatements.org/vocab/InC/1.0/ |
Page generated in 0.0022 seconds