DIRECT CONVERSION OF THERMAL
TO ELECTRICAL ENERGY
Dr.A.Manivannan
Associate Professor
Department of Mechanical Engineering
Anna University, Chennai – 600 025
• MHD
• Thermoelectric Converters
• Thermoelectric refrigerator
• Thermoelectric Generator
• Thermionic converters
• Ferro electric converter
• Nernst Effect Generator
• Thermo Magnetic Converter
MAGNETOHYDRODYNAMIC (MHD) POWER GENERATION
• A magnetohydrodynamic (MHD) power generation
technique is a nonconventional electric power
generation modality which generates the electricity
directly from a moving stream of ionised fluid flowing
through a magnetic field
• An ionized fluid moving under a magnetic field works as
a moving electrical conductor and hence it can generate
electrical energy according to the Faraday’s
electromagnetic principle
• The magneto hydrodynamic power generator or the
magneto hydrodynamic converter acts as a fluid
dynamo in which the flow (motion) of the
conducting fluid (conductor) under a magnetic field
causes a voltage to be generated across the fluid,
perpendicular to both the magnetic field and the
fluid flow and according to Fleming's Right Hand
Rule.
• MHD generator is a divergent channel or duct made of a
heat resistant alloy (e.g. Inconel)
• Magnetic field is applied at right angles to the channel
length and electrodes are provided at right angles to
both magnetic field and flow of gas.
• A conducting fluid (ionized gas) is forced into the MHD
channel at high speed and high temperature through a
nozzle. It expands as it moves forward and leaves the
duct at lower temperature and pressure
• The efficiency of MHD converter alone is about 20–25 per
cent. In practice, however, MHD converter is never made to
operate alone.
• The exhaust of MHD system is used to raise steam for
conventional steam plant. Thus by using MHD as topping cycle
for the conventional steam system, an overall efficiency of 50–
60 per cent should be possible.
• Several economical and physical factors have led to design
outputs of the order of 1000 MW or so
• The working fluid, a gas, itself is a nonconductor at ordinary
temperature. It is rendered conducting in two ways:
• (i) By inducing ionization in the working fluid Ionization by thermal
means alone would require a temperature of several tens of
thousands of degrees Celsius. More practical way is to inject a solid
seed material up to about 1 per cent of the total flow rate. The seed
material contains an element commonly potassium or cesium, which
ionizes relatively easily when heated.
• (ii) By incorporating a liquid metal into flowing carrier gas
• The power output of MHD generator is also proportional to
squares of magnetic flux density and gas speed.
• Due to limitations of enhancing conductivity beyond certain
limit, a strong magnetic field and high gas velocities are
required for large outputs. Conventional electromagnets are
not practical in the range of required flux density of above 2
tesla. Consequently, superconducting magnets are being
proposed
• The required gas velocities for large outputs are in the range
around 1000 m/s.
• There are two basic designs of MHD
generator, based on basic principle of
operation:
–(i) Faraday generator and
–(ii) Hall generator
Faraday Generator: Basic Principle
• Let a conducting gas, having conductivity, σ mho/m,
moves at a speed, u across magnetic field, B. The
speed, u and magnetic field, B are held mutually
perpendicular along x-axis and y-axis respectively.
• Two electrodes, each having area A, are held at a
distance, d along z-axis, thus perpendicular to both u
and B
• Magnitude of force acting on a charged particle having
charge q = q u B.
• This force, as per right hand rule, will be acting in
upward direction (on positively charged particle). The
positively charged particles will be collected by the
upper electrode and negatively charged particles by
lower electrode, causing a potential difference V across
them. The resulting electric filed between the plates is
given by:
• Due to this field, another force (qE) will be acting on the charged particle
in the downward direction. Net force acting on the charged particle:
• If no load is connected across the electrodes (i.e. open circuit condition), no
current will flow, and there will be no net movement of carriers between
electrodes. Therefore, no net force will be acting on the charged particles. A
voltage, Vo (open circuit voltage) appears across the electrodes (also the same
across the generator terminals). Thus:
Hall Generator: Basic Principle
• In a Faraday generator, the current flows in the z-
direction from lower electrode to upper electrode.
• The magnetic field ‘B’ acts on this Faraday-generated
current and produces a voltage in the flow direction of
the working fluid (i.e. x-direction), due to Hall Effect.
• This differential voltage in the flow direction short
through the electrode leads to power loss due to Hall
Effect current.
• There are two possible solutions: use segmented
electrodes (instead of single piece), and connect
each electrode pair across separate load
• Another possibility is to utilize Hall current only; each
electrode pair is short circuited outside the
generator and the load is connected between the
two ends of MHD generator
• The conducting slowly it is forced between the plate with a kinetic energy and pressure
differential sufficient to overcome the magnetic induction Force.
• An ionized gas is employed as the conducting fluid .
• Ionization is produced either by thermal means i.e by an elevator temperature or by seeding
with substance like cesium or potassium vapor which ionize at relatively low temperature.
• The atoms of seed element the presence of negatively charged electrons makes the carrier
gas and electrical conductor.
• The other way is to incorporate a liquid metal into a flowing carrier gas metal is a good
electrical conductor. The gas metal mixer can be used as a working fluid in an MHD generator.
Advantages
• Conversion efficiency of MHD – Steam hybrid plant may be as high
as around 50–60 per cent. The fuel is better utilized.
• MHD generation uses no moving parts and therefore, all problems/
limitations associated with it are also absent.
• MHD unit is capable of rapid starting (reaching full power level soon
after starting) and taking up peak loads in an interconnected system.
• Lower emission of pollutants due to better pollution control.
• MHD plant is compact and requires comparatively less space.
Disadvantages/Limitations
• Very high operating temperature restricts the choice of
material for various equipment.
• Life of equipment is short due to high temperature stresses.
• The output power is available as dc. Inversion is required for
integrating it into a grid.
• There are technical limitations on enhancing the fluid
conductivity and the strength of magnetic field
Open Cycle System
• Hot flue gases at about 2300–2700°C, obtained from burning of coal (or
other fuel) in combustor are used as working fluid, after mixing with seed
material.
• Aqueous potassium carbonate is generally sprayed for the purpose of
seeding.
• To attain such a high temperature, compressed air is preheated at least up to
1100 °C before supplying to combustor.
• The working fluid enters the MHD channel through a nozzle and produces dc
output. Inverter is used to obtain 50 Hz ac output for supply to consumers.
• The exhaust of MHD channel is first used to preheat the air intake
for combustor and then to raise the steam in waste heat steam
generator.
• The steam so produced is used to generate additional power
through conventional turbine – generator system.
• The flue gases are released to atmosphere through chimney after
seed recovery and removal of pollutants.
• The recovered seed material is recycled after mixing additional
quantity to make up for the loss of seed. Seed recovery is important
for prevention of atmospheric pollution and for economic reasons
Closed Cycle System
• The closed cycle works on Brayton cycle with inert carrier gas (Argon or
Helium).
• Two general types of closed loop systems
• (a) Seeded Inert Gas Carrier System. Complete system has three loops:
– (i) combustion loop (open),
– (ii) argon loop (closed) and
– (iii) steam loop (closed),
• In the first loop, coal is gasified and burnt in combustor. The flue gases are
passed through primary heat exchanger (HX1), air preheater and air purifier
(if required) and then discharge to atmosphere
• In argon loop or MHD loop, a seeded inert gas (argon or helium) is
compressed and then heated in primary heat exchanger.
• Small quantity of seed material is then added to make up for the loss
of seed through leakage, etc.
• The seed, Cesium metal is more expensive than potassium but
attains adequate conductivity at relatively lower temperature of
1900 °C.
• As little makeup seed is required due to closed loop operation, an
expensive but better seed material may be advisable.
• The lower temperature operation also permits wider choice of material for
various equipment. However, operation at lower temperature also reduces
the thermal efficiency of the cycle.
• The DC output available from MHD generator is inverted to obtain grid
quality AC.
• The residual heat of used argon is utilized to generate additional power
through waste heat boiler (secondary heat exchanger, HX2), turbine and
generator.
• A part of the steam produced is also used to power argon cycle compressor
through a steam turbine
• (b) Liquid Metal-Inert Gas Carrier System
– In this system, instead of seeding, a liquid metal (such as Na, K
or Li) is incorporated in the inert carrier gas for conductivity
requirement.
– These metals are excellent electrical conductor in liquid state
but their vapors are poor conductor. Therefore, these are used
in the working fluid in liquid state only.
• The carrier gas is pressurized and heated by passage
through primary heat exchanger within the combustor.
• The hot gas is then incorporated into liquid metal
(usually sodium) to form working fluid.
• The working fluid thus consists of gas bubbles uniformly
dispersed in an approximately equal volume of liquid
sodium metal.
• After passing through the MHD duct, the liquid metal is
separated from carrier gas. The residual heat in the gas is
utilized in the same way as explained above for the case
of seeded inert gas carrier system.
• The boiling point of sodium is below 882.9 °C and therefore
working fluid temperature is usually kept around 815 °C.
• Lower operating temperature offers the benefit of wider
material choice but at the same time lowers the thermal
efficiency.
• The operating temperature and hence the efficiency can be
increased by replacing sodium by lithium that has a boiling
point of 1300 °C. However, lithium is much more expensive
than sodium
• MHD system can also be coupled to a fast breeder reactor.
• Liquid metals have both excellent electrical and thermal conduction
properties. Therefore, a liquid metal is used as coolant in the reactor
as well as working fluid in MHD duct.
• After receiving heat from the reactor, the liquid potassium is passed
through a nozzle to get high speed.
• The vapours formed due to nozzle action are separated, condensed
and returned to the reactor. The residual heat of working fluid is
utilized to generate additional power in steam plant in the same way
as discussed earlier
• MHD plant may also be operated by the heat obtained
from burning of hydrogen in pure oxygen.
• On combustion in pure oxygen, hydrogen produces
water (steam) at flame temperature above 3000 °C.
• The steam thus produced may be used as working fluid
in MHD duct after seeding and subsequently in steam
turbine for conventional power generation. In this way
the need for waste heat steam generator is avoided.
An MHD duct has the dimensions; length l = 2 m,
average vertical height, d = 0.35 m, average width,
w = 0.5 m. The magnetic flux density, B = 4.2 T along w,
and the gas velocity, u = 600 m/s along l. At a
performance coefficient of K = 0.65,
calculate: (a) generated voltage and its gradient (b)
load voltage
The ionized gas in previous problem has a conductivity
of 60 mho/m.
Calculate: (a) current density and current in the system
(b) short circuit current density and short circuit
current (c) power output (d) power density generated
in the duct (e) total power generated (f) heating losses
in the duct (g) maximum possible power delivered to
load
Thermoelectric Converters
Introduction
• A thermoelectric power converter converts heat directly to electricity through
thermoelectric effect.
• Its salient features compared to other methods are:
– compactness,
– lightweight,
– noiseless operation,
– no moving parts and highly reliable.
– It has the lowest maintenance of any commercial power source and can also be operated by
low grade waste heat (< 200 °C).
• It is ideally suited for remote and harsh environments. It is being intended for high
tech applications associated with aerospace, military, telecommunications and
control of unmanned vehicle monitored from remote location.
• It is designed for 20 years’ service life
• Basic principle behind thermoelectric power generator is
Seebeck effect, which was discovered in 1821 and is
stated as: “whenever there is a temperature difference
between the two junctions in a loop, made up of two
dissimilar conductors, thermal electromotive force is
produced in the loop”.
• The effect is more pronounced in thermocouples formed
with P type and N type semiconductor materials
• The emf produced is proportional to the
temperature gradient between the two junctions.
The power produced, P is:
P = Qh – Qc = I2 RL
where Qh = heat flow rate into hot junction
Qc = dissipated heat flow rate from cold junction
• Material A and B have different carrier concentration. When a
junction is formed, a contact potential is produced due to transfer of
carriers across the junction from high concentration to low
concentration side.
• When both junctions are held at same temperature, contact
potentials are same and net voltage in the loop is zero.
• In case of differential temperature, more carriers at high
temperature junction will cross to other side of the junction as they
acquire higher energy, thus increasing the contact potential at this
junction.
LA AA and LB, AB are lengths and cross section areas of blocks of material A and B respectively
Peltier Effect
• An effect complementary to Seebeck effect, discovered in 1830, is known as
Peltier effect.
• According to this, “heat is absorbed or generated whenever a current passes
through a junction between different materials, depending on the direction
of current”.
• if a current is forced through a thermocouple by connecting an electrical
source, one junction will become cold and will thus absorb energy from
ambient and the other junction will become hot and dissipate heat to
surroundings.
• This principle can be used for evacuation of heat (i.e. cooling/refrigeration)
from one area and releasing it to another area (heating) through electrical
means.
Thomson Effect
• When an electric current flows through a material having
temperature gradient there is an evolution (or absorption) of heat.
This phenomenon is called Thompson effect. The Thomson effect is
reversible, as reversing the direction of current flow reverses the
direction of heat transfer without change in magnitude.
• The heat rate removed from the system:
Thermoelectric Power Generator
• The heat required at the hot junction may be supplied by: (i) burning
fossil fuel, (ii) solar thermal energy, (iii) decay of radioisotope or (iv)
nuclear fuel
• Metallic thermocouple elements are used where mechanical
considerations such as ductility are more important. The Seebeck
effect of metallic thermoelectric elements is however, low
• Extrinsic semiconductor materials (binary compounds) made from
bismuth (Bi), antimony (Sb), tellurium (Te), and selenium (Se) have
large figure of merit and are used either in refrigeration or in cold
parts of thermoelectric legs.
• Lead telluride (Pb Te) is most commonly used material at temperatures
below 600 °C.
• A highly efficient single pair of the thermoelectric element produces a net
voltage of about 300–500 μV per Kelvin.
• A module (thermopile) is formed by series connection of large number of
such elements. In a typical commercial module an electrical output of 10 W
at 6 V and with 100 °C at hot junction is obtained.
• The thermal efficiency of thermoelectric generator is generally very low
(typically around 8 per cent). Higher efficiencies of the order of 14 per cent
are being attempted to make it compete with solar PV system.
THERMIONIC POWER CONVERSION
Introduction
• A thermionic generator converts heat directly to electricity by using the
effect of thermionic emission.
• It has several advantages such as: (i) no moving parts, (ii) quiet operation, (iii)
reliable, (iv) long life, as there is no wear, (iv) high power density, (v) uses
temperature differentials up to 550 °C, (vi) scalable from milliwatts to
megawatts, (vii) withstands harsh environments, (viii) projected low
manufacturing cost and (ix) reasonable efficiency.
• Compared to thermoelectric converter, the thermionic converter is more
suitable for use at high temperature generated by combustion. It exhibits a
better figure of merit with increase of temperature, while for thermoelectric
converter the figure of merit deteriorates with rise of temperature.
Principle
• In principle, a thermionic converter consists of two metals
(electrodes) with different work functions sealed into an evacuated
vessel.
• The electrode with larger work function is maintained at higher
temperature than one with smaller work function.
• The hot electrode (emitter) emits electrons and acquires positive
charge whereas colder electrode (collector) collects electrons and
becomes negatively charged.
• A voltage is thus developed between the electrodes and a direct
current will flow in an external circuit connecting them
Vacuum type thermionic converter in operation
• The voltage, which may be around 1 V (or so), is determined primarily by
calculating the difference in work functions of the electrode materials.
• Current densities of few tens to few hundreds of amperes per square cm of
emitter area are achieved above 1000 °C emitter temperature.
• The output voltage is the Fermi potential difference between the emitter and
the collector (assuming thermoelectric effect in the converter to be
negligible).
• The output power depends on emitter temperature and work function
magnitude difference between emitter and collector. Thermal efficiencies in
range 5–25 per cent have been achieved
• The emission of electrons from emitter is inhibited by space charge (electron cloud)
resulting from accumulation of electrons in its vicinity.
• The electron cloud deters additional electrons from crossing the gap.
• This space charge can be greatly reduced: (i) by decreasing the gap between the
electrodes and (ii) by introducing small quantity of cesium to neutralize the space
charge.
• Cesium has low ionization potential and thus can be ionized relatively easily through
thermal means. At high temperature (above about 1000 °C), cesium ionizes to
produce +ve ions.
• By combining with electrons in the vicinity of the emitter, the +ve ions help to
decrease the space charge.
• That emitter work function and temperature are two critical parameters for
large thermionic current.
• Low emitter work function is needed for high emission at low temperature.
• For significant emission an emitter temperature of at least 1000 °C is
generally needed and still higher temperatures are better.
• Also large work function difference between emitter and collector is
desirable for large output voltage.
• Although temperature has little effect on the generated voltage, the current
(per unit emitter area) increases with temperature, resulting in the increase
in the power output
• A common thermionic combination is a tungsten emitter and
a cesium coated copper, nickel or silver collector.
• Cesium is coated on collector in such a way that final work
function potential of the collector becomes that of cesium.
• Cesium has one of the lowest work function of about 1.75 eV
• The biggest problem with thermos-electrics is that while heat
pushes electrons in one direction, the material itself
redistributes most of that heat through simple conduction.
• This means that most of the heat is not usefully harnessed, and instead flows
through the system in all directions, drastically reducing the efficiency.
• In addition, fabrication and operation of TEC’s has been difficult and
expensive.
• Thermionic converters are special because the electrons move across a gap -
and that gap, since it is not a solid, is an excellent insulator.
• The heat is trapped on one side, leaving the other side ready to accept a
steady flow of excited electrons. This means the heat is utilized more
efficiently.
• Themionic emission can be further enhanced by lowering the work function of the
cathode by optimizing the “Avto effect”.
• The method involves precise texturing of cathode surface at the nanoscale level.
This causes a marked reduction in the material’s work function, allowing electrons to
flow more freely into the vacuum.
• “Power Chips plc (US OTC: PWCHF)” is working on developing “Power Chips™” which
are projected to be the most effective heat-energy converters. Power Chips will
operate up to 70–80 per cent of the maximum (Carnot) theoretical efficiency.
• This may be one of the first industrial applications of nanotechnology. “Power Chips
plc” also proposes to use this device in a hybrid electric car to harness additional
power from the waste heat of the exhaust
Application
• In the past, application of thermionic converters has been
limited to space power systems, because of their high
operating temperature and relatively low efficiency. Several
recent advances in thermionic energy conversion technology
have greatly improved the efficiency of these device
• Potential areas of applications identified for thermionic
converter are: (i) centralized and distributed power
generation, (ii) residential and commercial site applications,
(iii) land, sea and air vehicles, (iv) aerospace and military
systems and (v) electronics and data communications
• Applications can be divided into two categories according to their heat source: (a)
primary heat, the system is called topping cycle or (b) waste heat, the system is
called bottoming cycle. Bottoming cycle consumes no fuel hence they are some of
the most cost-effective applications
• Concentrating solar power collectors currently harvesting thermal energy in
residential and commercial venues could be retrofitted with a topping cycle based
thermionic converter.
• Compared to photovoltaic system, which produces only high cost electricity,
thermionic-based system could convert one fifth of the captured energy into
electricity and rest into thermal energy for water and/or space heating.
• Heating system fired by gas, oil or other fuel could also be used to provide electrical
supply through thermionic converter during power grid outage periods
• High power-to-weight ratio, low noise and broad scalability, offers
great potential in aerospace and military systems. Applications range
from portable power generators for tactical systems, solar energy
arrays to waste heat recovery from exhaust of a variety of land, sea
and air propulsion systems
• In fossil fuel based conventional plants, part of waste heat may be
recovered as useful electricity using thermionic converter in
bottoming cycle. It increases over all generating efficiency, by
reducing fuel consumption. Also it releases no additional chemical
emissions into atmosphere or water supplies.
Ferroelectric Converter
• Ferroelectric conversion makes use of the peculiar properties
of dielectric materials.
• Barium titanate, for example, has good dielectric properties at
low temperatures, but, when its temperature is raised to
more than 120°C, the properties get worse rapidly.
• When this is charged and then heated to the Curie point, the
resulting change in capacitance forces an electric current
through an external load at high potential.
• If we now place a slab of barium titanate between the two plates of an electrical
condenser and charge the condenser
• When the barium titanate is heated above its Curie point of 120°C, the
condenser’s capacitance is radically reduced as the dielectric constant falls.
• The condenser is forced to discharge and move electrons through an external
circuit consisting of the load and the original source of charge.
• Useful electrical energy is delivered during this step.
• A battery can charge the capacitor at low
voltage, and a diode will prevent reversal of the
current during discharge.
• Limitations on rates of heating and cooling also
restrict the performance of this device
• The ferroelectric converter is really an electrical capacitor whose capacitance is changed by temperature.
When heat is added, capacitance drops, voltage rises, and the capacitor is made to discharge through the
load.
• CYCLE: ① Switch #1 closed, #2 open. Condenser charges from battery to charge Q₂ at voltage V₁ with
capacity C₁.
• ② All switches open. Heat added, capacity changes from C₁ to C₂, charge remains constant, so voltage
changes from V₁ to V₂.
• ③ Switch #2 closed, #1 open. Condenser discharges through load and battery to charge Q₁ at voltage V₁ with
capacity C₂.
• ④ All switches open. Heat rejected, capacity changes from C₂ to C₁, charge remains constant, so voltage
changes from V₁ to V₀. CYCLE THEN REPEATS. Energy supplied from battery each cycle is E₁. Energy delivered
to load and battery each cycle is E₂. Net energy converted is then E₂ - E₁, the difference in the shaded areas
THERMOMAGNETIC GENERATOR
THERMOMAGNETIC GENERATOR
• Its simplest form, a thermomagnetic generator consists of a C- shaped permanent
magnet or an electro-magnet, a ferromagnetic material placed as a shunt between
the poles of permanent magnet, and a winding around the shunt material.
• The shunt is alternately heated and cooled through the Curie temperature using a
heat source and a heat sink
• Increase in shunt temperature reduces the magnetization and therefore magnetic
flux through the shunt decreases.
• Decrease in temperature produces the reverse effect.
• The continuously changing magnetic flux induces a voltage across the two ends of
winding and electrical power is produced by cycling the shunt temperature
• When iron is in a weak magnetic field, the magnetic
properties first increase with increasing temperature, and
after passing through a maximum, drop suddenly to a small
value. This point for iron is 1418 °F.
• Certain of the rare earth metals lose their magnetic properties
at room temperature, while for some materials the Curie
point is near absolute zero in temperature. Since the rate of
flux change in a thermomagnetic generator depends upon the
rate of temperature change
Nernst Effect Generator
• In 1934 Bridgeman suggested using the Nernst effect as
a means of direct conversion of heat to electricity.
• If one considers the heat carriers in a substance to also
be the charge carriers, then it is apparent that if a block
which is subjected to a longitudinal heat flux
simultaneously experiences a magnetic field at right
angles to the heat flow, the resulting Lorentz force will
cause a charge accumulation perpendicular to the
applied field and flux
• The extent to which a material will produce a voltage
in this way is measured by its Nernst coefficient.
• Conversely, an element subjected to a longitudinal
electrical current and a transverse magnetic field will
experience a temperature gradient in a direction
perpendicular to both the field and the current
because of the Ettingshausen effect
