Operation Principles
In ATEGs, thermoelectric materials are packed between the hot-side and the cold-side heat exchangers. The thermoelectric materials are made up of p-type and n-type semiconductors, while the heat exchangers are metal plates with high thermal conductivity.
The temperature difference between the two surfaces of the thermoelectric module(s) generates electricity using the Seebeck Effect. When hot exhaust from the engine passes through an exhaust ATEG, the charge carriers of the semiconductors within the generator diffuse from the hot-side heat exchanger to the cold-side exchanger. The build-up of charge carriers results in a net charge, producing an electrostatic potential while the heat transfer drives a current. With exhaust temperatures of 700°C (~1300°F) or more, the temperature difference between exhaust gas on the hot side and coolant on the cold side is several hundred degrees. This temperature difference is capable of generating 500-750 W of electricity.
The compression assembly system aims to decrease the thermal contact resistance between the thermoelectric module and the heat exchanger surfaces. In coolant-based ATEGs, the cold side heat exchanger uses engine coolant as the cooling fluid, while in exhaust-based ATEGs, the cold-side heat exchanger uses ambient air as the cooling fluid.
Read more about this topic: Automotive Thermoelectric Generator
Famous quotes containing the words operation and/or principles:
“Waiting for the race to become official, he began to feel as if he had as much effect on the final outcome of the operation as a single piece of a jumbo jigsaw puzzle has to its predetermined final design. Only the addition of the missing fragments of the puzzle would reveal if the picture was as he guessed it would be.”
—Stanley Kubrick (b. 1928)
“Prohibition will work great injury to the cause of temperance. It is a species of intemperance within itself, for it goes beyond the bounds of reason in that it attempts to control a man’s appetite by legislation, and makes a crime out of things that are not crimes. A Prohibition law strikes a blow at the very principles upon which our government was founded.”
—Abraham Lincoln (1809–1865)