WARREN M. ROHSENOW HEAT AND MASS TRANSFER LABORATORY, MIT WARREN M.

ROHSENOW HEAT AND MASS TRANSFER LABORATORY, MIT

Direct Energy Conversion
Gang Chen
Mechanical Engineering Department
Massachusetts Institute of Technology
Office: Room 3-260
Tel: 617-253-0006
Email: gchen2@mit.edu
URL: http://web.mit.edu/nanoengineering
WARREN M. ROHSENOW HEAT AND MASS TRANSFER LABORATORY, MIT WARREN M. ROHSENOW HEAT AND MASS TRANSFER LABORATORY, MIT
Direct Thermal-to-Electric
Energy Conversion Technologies
Thermoelectric Converter
Thermionic Converter
Thermophotovoltaic
Converter
WARREN M. ROHSENOW HEAT AND MASS TRANSFER LABORATORY, MIT WARREN M. ROHSENOW HEAT AND MASS TRANSFER LABORATORY, MIT
Thermionic Power Generation
Electron Distribution is
f(E) ~ exp(-E/k
B
T)
E
c
, E
a
are working functions
at cathode and anode
Only electrons with energy
larger than working function
or barrier height can flow
from one electrode to another
EXTERNAL LOAD
CATHODE
ANODE
E E
E
c
E
a
T
c
T
a
e
EXTERNAL LOAD
CATHODE
ANODE
E E
E
c
E
a
T
c
T
a
e
WARREN M. ROHSENOW HEAT AND MASS TRANSFER LABORATORY, MIT WARREN M. ROHSENOW HEAT AND MASS TRANSFER LABORATORY, MIT
Performance of Thermionic Converters
USSR TOPAZ
Hatsopoulos and Kaye, JAP, 1958
WARREN M. ROHSENOW HEAT AND MASS TRANSFER LABORATORY, MIT WARREN M. ROHSENOW HEAT AND MASS TRANSFER LABORATORY, MIT
Challenges and Opportunities
Space charge effects
Reliability
Low work function materials
Small gap devices
Field-emission enhancement
WARREN M. ROHSENOW HEAT AND MASS TRANSFER LABORATORY, MIT WARREN M. ROHSENOW HEAT AND MASS TRANSFER LABORATORY, MIT
THERMOPHOTOVOLTAICS
H
e
a
t

S
o
u
r
c
e
P
h
o
t
o
v
o
l
t
a
i
c

C
e
l
l
s
F
i
l
t
e
r
Frequency Selective Emitter
Frequency Selective Filters
Photon Recycling Structures
Evanescent Wave Structures
High Efficiency PV Cells
10
-1
10
0
10
1
10
2
10
3
10
4
0 2 4 6 8 10
E
M
I
S
S
I
V
E

P
O
W
E
R

(
W
/
c
m
2

m
)
WAVELENGTH (m)
5600 K
2800 K
1500 K
800 K
E
G
Useless
Useful
WARREN M. ROHSENOW HEAT AND MASS TRANSFER LABORATORY, MIT WARREN M. ROHSENOW HEAT AND MASS TRANSFER LABORATORY, MIT
Potential Performance
Badalsaro et al., JAP, 89, 3319 (2001)
Experimentally Demonstrated ~ 18%
WARREN M. ROHSENOW HEAT AND MASS TRANSFER LABORATORY, MIT WARREN M. ROHSENOW HEAT AND MASS TRANSFER LABORATORY, MIT
Challenges and Opportunities
Spectral control
Selective emitters
Selective reflectors
Selective filters
High efficiency cells
Thermal management
Near-field devices
WARREN M. ROHSENOW HEAT AND MASS TRANSFER LABORATORY, MIT WARREN M. ROHSENOW HEAT AND MASS TRANSFER LABORATORY, MIT
Photonic Crystal Selective Emitter
Si substrate
Alternating layers of
tungsten and alumina
A. Narayanaswamy and G. Chen, PRB 70,125101, 2004
WARREN M. ROHSENOW HEAT AND MASS TRANSFER LABORATORY, MIT WARREN M. ROHSENOW HEAT AND MASS TRANSFER LABORATORY, MIT
Near Field Energy Conversion
10
-1
10
0
10
1
10
2
10
3
0 100 200 300
P
o
w
e
r

a
b
s
o
r
b
e
d

(
W
c
m
-
2
)
Vacuum gap (nm)
Power absorbed
Blackbody
0
4 10
7
8 10
7
1.2 10
8
0.14 0.145 0.15 0.155 0.16
8 8.25 8.5 8.75 9
F
l
u
x

(
W
m
-
2
e
V
-
1
)
Frequency (eV)
Wavelength (m)
d = 0 nm
d = 1 nm
d = 5 nm
d = 10 nm
Source (BN, SiC) PV material
SiC
WARREN M. ROHSENOW HEAT AND MASS TRANSFER LABORATORY, MIT WARREN M. ROHSENOW HEAT AND MASS TRANSFER LABORATORY, MIT
Near-Field Effect on Efficiency
Laroche et al., JAP, 100, 063704 (2006)
WARREN M. ROHSENOW HEAT AND MASS TRANSFER LABORATORY, MIT WARREN M. ROHSENOW HEAT AND MASS TRANSFER LABORATORY, MIT
Radioisotope Powered
Thermoelectric Generators
Voyager 2
(1977)
Voyager 1
(1977)
Radioisotope Missions
Pioneer 11
(1973)
Cassini
(1997)
Pioneer 10
(1972)
Galileo
(1989)
Viking 1 & 2 (1975)
Mars Pathfinder (1996)
(RHUs only)
Ulysses
(1990)
Transit 4 A
(1961)
Transit 4 B
(1961)
Transit 5BN-1
(1963)
Transit 5BN-2
(1961)
Nimbus 3
(1969)
Transit
Triad-01-0X
(1972)
LES 8
(1976)
LES 9
(1975)
Apollo 11 (1969)
Apollo ALSEP (1969-1972)
10 Earth orbit (Transit, Nimbus, LES)
7 planetary (Pioneer, Voyager, Galileo, Ulysses, Cassini)
6 on lunar surface (Apollo ALESEP)
4 on Mars surface (Viking 1& 2)
3 RHUs on Mars Pathfinder
Voyager 2
(1977)
Voyager 1
(1977)
Radioisotope Missions
Pioneer 11
(1973)
Cassini
(1997)
Pioneer 10
(1972)
Galileo
(1989)
Viking 1 & 2 (1975)
Mars Pathfinder (1996)
(RHUs only)
Ulysses
(1990)
Transit 4 A
(1961)
Transit 4 B
(1961)
Transit 5BN-1
(1963)
Transit 5BN-2
(1961)
Nimbus 3
(1969)
Transit
Triad-01-0X
(1972)
LES 8
(1976)
LES 9
(1975)
Apollo 11 (1969)
Apollo ALSEP (1969-1972)
Voyager 2
(1977)
Voyager 1
(1977)
Radioisotope Missions
Pioneer 11
(1973)
Cassini
(1997)
Pioneer 10
(1972)
Galileo
(1989)
Viking 1 & 2 (1975)
Mars Pathfinder (1996)
(RHUs only)
Ulysses
(1990)
Transit 4 A
(1961)
Transit 4 B
(1961)
Transit 5BN-1
(1963)
Transit 5BN-2
(1961)
Nimbus 3
(1969)
Transit
Triad-01-0X
(1972)
LES 8
(1976)
LES 9
(1975)
Apollo 11 (1969)
Apollo ALSEP (1969-1972)
10 Earth orbit (Transit, Nimbus, LES)
7 planetary (Pioneer, Voyager, Galileo, Ulysses, Cassini)
6 on lunar surface (Apollo ALESEP)
4 on Mars surface (Viking 1& 2)
3 RHUs on Mars Pathfinder
GPHS Radioisotope
Thermoelectric Generator
WARREN M. ROHSENOW HEAT AND MASS TRANSFER LABORATORY, MIT WARREN M. ROHSENOW HEAT AND MASS TRANSFER LABORATORY, MIT
Thermoelectric Power Generation
-
+
I
N P
I I
COLD SIDE
HOT SIDE
Figure of Merit:
k
T S
ZT
2

=
Thermal Conductivity
Electrical
Conductivity
Seebeck
Coefficient
COLD SIDE
HOT SIDE
WARREN M. ROHSENOW HEAT AND MASS TRANSFER LABORATORY, MIT WARREN M. ROHSENOW HEAT AND MASS TRANSFER LABORATORY, MIT
ZT DILEMMA
S
k

ZT
INSULATOR
SEMICONDUCTOR
SEMIMETAL
METAL
k
T S
ZT
2

=
Wanted:
Phonon Glass / Electron Crystal
Methods of Reducing k
In Bulk Materials:
Alloy, 1950s (Ioffe)
Rattlers, 1990 (Slack)
T vacant
square array of Pn
(not to scale)
WARREN M. ROHSENOW HEAT AND MASS TRANSFER LABORATORY, MIT WARREN M. ROHSENOW HEAT AND MASS TRANSFER LABORATORY, MIT
State-of-the-Art in Thermoelectrics
0.0
0.5
1.0
1.5
2.0
2.5
3.0
1940 1960 1980 2000 2020
F
I
G
U
R
E

O
F

M
E
R
I
T

(
Z
T
)
m
a
x
YEAR
Bi
2
Te
3
alloy
PbTe alloy
Si
0.8
Ge
0.2
alloy
Skutterudites
(Fleurial)
PbSeTe/PbTe
Quantum-dot
Superlattices
(Lincoln Lab)
Bi
2
Te
3
/Se
2
Te
3
Superlattices
(RTI)
AgPb
m
SbTe
2+m
(Kanatzadis)
Dresselhaus
WARREN M. ROHSENOW HEAT AND MASS TRANSFER LABORATORY, MIT WARREN M. ROHSENOW HEAT AND MASS TRANSFER LABORATORY, MIT
Nanocomposites Approach
Increase interfacial
scattering by mixing
nano-sized particles.
Enable low-cost, large scale
application.
WARREN M. ROHSENOW HEAT AND MASS TRANSFER LABORATORY, MIT WARREN M. ROHSENOW HEAT AND MASS TRANSFER LABORATORY, MIT
Nanocomposite Synthesis
50 nm
Si
Ge
WARREN M. ROHSENOW HEAT AND MASS TRANSFER LABORATORY, MIT WARREN M. ROHSENOW HEAT AND MASS TRANSFER LABORATORY, MIT
Electron Transport Over Potential Barriers
5 nm
WARREN M. ROHSENOW HEAT AND MASS TRANSFER LABORATORY, MIT WARREN M. ROHSENOW HEAT AND MASS TRANSFER LABORATORY, MIT
Thermal Conductivity of Si
0.8
Ge
0.2
WARREN M. ROHSENOW HEAT AND MASS TRANSFER LABORATORY, MIT WARREN M. ROHSENOW HEAT AND MASS TRANSFER LABORATORY, MIT
Challenges and Opportunities
Further improving ZT
System and device developments
WARREN M. ROHSENOW HEAT AND MASS TRANSFER LABORATORY, MIT WARREN M. ROHSENOW HEAT AND MASS TRANSFER LABORATORY, MIT
Comparison of Technologies
THERMAL
POWER
PLANT
AUTOMOTIVE
ENGINES
0
0.1
0.2
0.3
0.4
0.5
0.6
1 10
P
O
W
E
R

G
E
N
E
R
A
T
I
O
N

E
F
F
I
C
I
E
N
C
Y
TEMPERATURE RATIO (T
hot
/T
cold
)
2 3 4 5 6 7 8 9
CARNOT CYCLE
10
7
4
2
1
0.5
ZT
m
THERMOELECTRIC
POWER GENERATORS
STIRLING
GENERATOR
THERMIONIC
GENERATORS
THERMAL
POWER
PLANT
AUTOMOTIVE
ENGINES
THERMAL
POWER
PLANT
0
0.1
0.2
0.3
0.4
0.5
0.6
1 10
0
0.1
0.2
0.3
0.4
0.5
0.6
0
0.1
0.2
0.3
0.4
0.5
0.6
1 10 1 10
TEMPERATURE RATIO (T
hot
/T
cold
)
2 3 4 5 6 7 8 9
CARNOT CYCLE
10
7
4
2
1
0.5
ZT
m
STIRLING
GENERATOR
Thermoelectric
Converter
IC
Engine
Thermionic
Converter
Diesel
Plant
Power
Plant
TPV
WARREN M. ROHSENOW HEAT AND MASS TRANSFER LABORATORY, MIT WARREN M. ROHSENOW HEAT AND MASS TRANSFER LABORATORY, MIT
Potential Applications in
Nuclear Power Generation
In combination with mechanical
power generation
Combinations of direct conversion
technologies for high efficiency
WARREN M. ROHSENOW HEAT AND MASS TRANSFER LABORATORY, MIT WARREN M. ROHSENOW HEAT AND MASS TRANSFER LABORATORY, MIT
ACKNOWLEDGMENTS
Current Members
H. Asegun (Molecular Dynamics)
V. Berube (hydrogen storage)
J.W. Gao (nanofluids)
S. Goh (nanowires and polymers)
T. Harris (Thermoelectrics&Nanomaterials)
Q. Hao (Thermoelectrics)
D. Kramer (Solar thermoelectrics)
H. Lee (Thermoelectric Materials)
H. Lu (TPV and PV)
A. Minnich (thermoelectrics)
A. Muto (nanowires and thermoelectrics)
A. Schmidt (ps pump-and-probe)
S. Shen (near field transfer)
Dr. M. Chieso (nanofluids)
Dr. X. Chen (optics, Pump-and-Probe)
Collaborators (partial list)
M.S. & G. Dresselhaus (MIT, NW&CNT, Theory)
J.-P. Fleurial (JPL, Thermoelectric Devices)
J. Joannopoulos (MIT, Photonic Crystals)
Z.F. Ren (BC, Thermoelectric Materials, CNT)
X. Zhang (Berkeley, Metamaterials)
Past Members (Partial List)
Prof. A. Narayanaswamy (Columbia Univ)
Dr. Zony Chen (McKinsey)
Prof. C. Dames (Nanowires, UC Riverside)
Prof. D. Borca-Tasciuc (Nanowires, RPI)
Prof. T. Borca-Tasciuc (Thermoelectrics,RPI)
Dr. F. Hashemi (Nano-Device Fabrication)
Dr. A. Jacquot (TE Device Fabrication)
Dr. M.S. Jeng (Nanocomposites, ITRI)
Dr. R. Kumar (Thermoelectric Device Modeling)
Dr. W.L. Liu (superlattice)
Dr. D. Song (TE and Monte Carlo, Intel)
Dr. S.G. Volz (MD, Ecole Centrale de Paris)
Prof. B. Yang (TE and Phonons, U. Maryland)
Prof. R.G. Yang (Nanocomposites, U. Colorado)
Prof. D.-J. Yao (TE Devices, Tsinghua Univ.)
Prof. T. Zeng (Thermionics, NCSU)
Sponsors: DTRA, DOE, NASA,
NSF, ONR, Ford, Seagate, and
others