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Practical limits to the thermoelectric figure of merit—II
ENERGYCONVERSION Summaries for Card Indexes H. Y. WONG and W. SHAKUN, Department University of Glasgow, Glasgow W.2, Scotland.
of Aeronautics
and Fluid Mechanics,
A technique for determinin g the operational characteristics of a thermoelectric module: Energy Conversion 12,41-44 (1972). Summary-An experimental technique for determining various operational characteristics of a single-stage thermoelectric Peltier module has been developed. With this technique it is possible to measure directly the heat pump rate, the heat rejection rate and the source and sink temperatures of the module. By regulating the heat input rate and the power supply to the module at a given mean junction temperature, the effective values of operational characteristics such as the thermal conductance, the electrical resistance, the Seebeck coefficient, the figure of merit and the coefficient of performance with reference to the same temperature, can be determined. The technique has been tested and found reliable and results reproducible. Key words: technique
thermoelectric
module
operational
characteristics
R. W. URE, JR., Division of Materials Science and Engineering and Department Electrical Engineering, University of Utah, Salt Lake City, Utah 84112. Practical lilts
to the thermoelectric figure of merit-II:
of
Energy Conversion 12,45-52 (1972).
Summary-The maximum figure of merit for materials used in thermoelectric devices based on the Peltier and Seebeck effects has been estimated by using theoretical expressions for the mobility. The coefficients have been evaluated by examining experimental data on a wide variety of semiconductors. The maximum varies from ZT = 1.9 at 300°K to 3-6 at 12OO’K. It is believed that scattering mechanisms not considered will limit ZT at the high temperature end to lower values than this. Although the development of materials with ZT from 10 to 20 per cent higher than that of known materials may be expected with sufficient effort, it appears that materials having a ZZ’ twice as large as that of presently available materials will not be found. Key words: thermoelectric materials figure of merit semiconductors thermal conductivity elastic constant deformation potential coefficient effective mass dielectric constant theory
M. ALTMAN, MARIA TELKES and M. WOLF, Institute for Direct Energy Conversion, University of Pennsylvania, Philadelphia, Pennsylvania. The energy resources and electric power situation in the United States: Energy Conversion 12, 53-64 (1972). Summary-The historical development of energy consumption in the United States is reviewed and analyzed with respect to sources and uses. After investigating the remaining reserves of the energy resources, the potential of the development of new large sources of energy is discussed which would not include the problems of chemical, radioactive and thermal pollution associated with the present sources. The new sources discussed include solar thermal, solar photosynthetic and geothermal energy utilization. electric power consumption Key words: energy consumption solar house cooling solar house heating solar energy solar-biological energy utilization
energy resources geothermal energy
of Aeronautics
and Fluid Mechanics,
A technique for determinin g the operational characteristics of a thermoelectric module: Energy Conversion 12,41-44 (1972). Summary-An experimental technique for determining various operational characteristics of a single-stage thermoelectric Peltier module has been developed. With this technique it is possible to measure directly the heat pump rate, the heat rejection rate and the source and sink temperatures of the module. By regulating the heat input rate and the power supply to the module at a given mean junction temperature, the effective values of operational characteristics such as the thermal conductance, the electrical resistance, the Seebeck coefficient, the figure of merit and the coefficient of performance with reference to the same temperature, can be determined. The technique has been tested and found reliable and results reproducible. Key words: technique
thermoelectric
module
operational
characteristics
R. W. URE, JR., Division of Materials Science and Engineering and Department Electrical Engineering, University of Utah, Salt Lake City, Utah 84112. Practical lilts
to the thermoelectric figure of merit-II:
of
Energy Conversion 12,45-52 (1972).
Summary-The maximum figure of merit for materials used in thermoelectric devices based on the Peltier and Seebeck effects has been estimated by using theoretical expressions for the mobility. The coefficients have been evaluated by examining experimental data on a wide variety of semiconductors. The maximum varies from ZT = 1.9 at 300°K to 3-6 at 12OO’K. It is believed that scattering mechanisms not considered will limit ZT at the high temperature end to lower values than this. Although the development of materials with ZT from 10 to 20 per cent higher than that of known materials may be expected with sufficient effort, it appears that materials having a ZZ’ twice as large as that of presently available materials will not be found. Key words: thermoelectric materials figure of merit semiconductors thermal conductivity elastic constant deformation potential coefficient effective mass dielectric constant theory
M. ALTMAN, MARIA TELKES and M. WOLF, Institute for Direct Energy Conversion, University of Pennsylvania, Philadelphia, Pennsylvania. The energy resources and electric power situation in the United States: Energy Conversion 12, 53-64 (1972). Summary-The historical development of energy consumption in the United States is reviewed and analyzed with respect to sources and uses. After investigating the remaining reserves of the energy resources, the potential of the development of new large sources of energy is discussed which would not include the problems of chemical, radioactive and thermal pollution associated with the present sources. The new sources discussed include solar thermal, solar photosynthetic and geothermal energy utilization. electric power consumption Key words: energy consumption solar house cooling solar house heating solar energy solar-biological energy utilization
energy resources geothermal energy