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Superconducting thermoelectric generator [electronic resource].

Published
Washington, D.C. : United States. Dept. of Energy, 1996.
Oak Ridge, Tenn. : Distributed by the Office of Scientific and Technical Information, U.S. Dept. of Energy.
Physical Description
18 pages : digital, PDF file
Additional Creators
Westinghouse Savannah River Company, United States. Department of Energy, and United States. Department of Energy. Office of Scientific and Technical Information
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Summary
An apparatus and method for producing electricity from heat. The present invention is a thermoelectric generator that uses materials with substantially no electrical resistance, often called superconductors, to efficiently convert heat into electrical energy without resistive losses. Preferably, an array of superconducting elements is encased within a second material with a high thermal conductivity. The second material is preferably a semiconductor. Alternatively, the superconducting material can be doped on a base semiconducting material, or the superconducting material and the semiconducting material can exist as alternating, interleaved layers of waferlike materials. A temperature gradient imposed across the boundary of the two materials establishes an electrical potential related to the magnitude of the temperature gradient. The superconducting material carries the resulting electrical current at zero resistivity, thereby eliminating resistive losses. The elimination of resistive losses significantly increases the conversion efficiency of the thermoelectric device.
Report Numbers
E 1.99:patents-us--a8732945
patents-us--a8732945
Subject(s)
Other Subject(s)
Note
Published through SciTech Connect.
01/01/1996.
"patents-us--a8732945"
"DE98007411"
": US patent application 8-732,945"
El-Genk, M.S.; Metzger, J.D.
Funding Information
AC09-89SR18035
View MARC record | catkey: 14067287