Utilizing Thermal Waste Energy

Jason Chiu

Need1990 1996 1990-96

Sector MTCE MTCE MTCE Increase Increase

Residential 556,441 

697,861 

141,420 25%

Commercial 368,972 482,846 

113,874 31%

Industrial 152,399 190,948 

38,549 25%

Transportation 1,020,868 1,071,085 50,217 5%

Electric Utility 120,829 1,430,669 1,309,840 1084%

Total 2,219,509 

3,873,409 1,653,900 75%

Generated by Brown University

Thermoelectricity

http://www.arborsci.com/detail.aspx?ID=430

Seebeck Effect

Generated by Cornell University

Peltier Effect

Generated by Cornell University

Thomson Effect

Generated by Cornell University

Figure of Merit and Amount of Heat Wasted

• Terry Tritt, 2007• 60% wasted• Low efficiency still

saves a lot

Formula for TE figure of merit

Literature Review

• Bottner et al 2006• Dresselhaus et al, 2007• Yang and Caillat, 2006• Subramanian, 2006

Bibliography• Bottner, Harald, Gang Chen, and Rama Venkatasubramanian. "Aspects of Thin-Film Superlattice

Thermoelectric Materials, Devices, and Applications." MRS Bulletin 31 (2006): 211-17. • Brown University Center for Environmental Studies. "Fossil Fuels." Brown University.

<http://www.brown.edu/Research/EnvStudies_Theses/GHG/Sections/Fossil_Fuel.htm>. • Dresselhaus, Mildred S., Gang Chen, Ming Y. Tang, Ronggui Yang, Hohyun Lee, Dezhi Wang,

Zhifeng Ren, Jean-Pierre Fleurial, and Pawan Gogna. "New Directions for Low-Dimensional Thermoelectric Materials." Advanced Materials 19 (2007): 1-12.

• "History." Thermoelectrics. Caltech. <http://www.thermoelectrics.caltech.edu/history_page.htm>.• "Peltier Effect." Encyclopedia Britannica. 15th ed. Chicago: Encyclopedia Britannica Inc, 2007. • "Seebeck." Chemistry. Institute of Chemistry at The Hebrew University of Jerusalem.

<http://chem.ch.huji.ac.il/history/seebeck.html>.• "Seebeck Effect." Encyclopedia Britannica. 15th ed. Chicago: Encyclopedia Britannica Inc, 2007. • "Thermoelectrics (Intro to TE)." Cornell Chemistry. Cornell University.

<http://www.chem.cornell.edu/fjd3/thermo/intro.html>. • Tritt, Terry M., and M.A. Subramanian. "Thermoelectric Materials, Phenomena, and Applications:

A Bird's Eye View." MRS Bulletin 31 (2006): 188-98. • Tritt, Terry M., Harald Bottner, and Lidong Chen. "Thermoelectrics: Direct Solar Thermal Energy

Conversion." MRS Bulletin 33 (38): 366-68. • Yang, Jihui, and Thierry Caillat. "Thermoelectric Materials for Space and Automative Power

Generation." MRS Bulletin 31 (2006): 224-29. • Zhang et al. “How to recuperate industrial waste heat beyond time and space.” International

Journal of Exergy, 2009; 6 (2): 214