Breaking the thermo-mechanical coupling of thermoelectric materials : determining the viability of a thermoelectric generator

Thermoelectric power generators (TEGs) convert a temperature difference into electricity. This temperature difference can be created from waste heat. Since up to 50% [1] of US industrial energy input is lost as waste heat, an economical means of recovering waste heat and converting it into useful electricity could represent significant energy savings. Coupled with our integrative system design which involves creating application specific thermoelectric arrays, this technology can also help enable low power generation for off-grid needs in the developing world. Although conversion efficiencies as high as 20.9% [2] (heat to electrical energy) have been predicted from simulations of TEGs systems, in practice the efficiencies are typically only a few percent. Moreover, conventional systems often require expensive components to manage heat flow through the system.

Name thesis:degree_name

Master

Department dc:contributor.department

Massachusetts Institute of Technology. Engineering and Management Program

Grantor dc:publisher

Massachusetts Institute of Technology

Year dc:date.issued

2019

Author dc:creator

• Christian, Corey D.(Corey Dwight)

Advisor dc:contributor.advisor

• Kasey J. Russell and Steven J. Spear.

• Engineering and Management Program.
• System Design and Management Program.

Statement dc:rights

• MIT theses are protected by copyright. They may be viewed, downloaded, or printed from this source but further reproduction or distribution in any format is prohibited without written permission.

Licence dc:rights.uri

• http://dspace.mit.edu/handle/1721.1/7582

Language dc:language.iso

eng

Handle dc:identifier.uri

https://hdl.handle.net/1721.1/121790

OAI identifier oai:identifier

oai:dspace.mit.edu:1721.1/121790