Continuum Theory And Modeling Of Thermoelectric Elements

Sound knowledge of the latest research results in the thermodynamics and design of thermoelectric devices, providing a solid foundation for thermoelectric element and module design in the technical development process and thus serving as an indispensable tool for any application development. The text is aimed mainly at the project developer in the field of thermoelectric technology, both in academia and industry, as well as at graduate and advanced undergraduate students. Some core sections address the specialist in the field of thermoelectric energy conversion, providing detailed discussion of key points with regard to optimization. The international team of authors with experience in thermoelectrics research represents such institutes as EnsiCaen Universite de Paris, JPL, CalTech, and the German Aerospace Center.

This book provides a comprehensive overview on fully thermal and hybrid solar generators based on thermoelectric devices. The book fills a gap in the literature on solar conversion and thermoelectrics, because despite the growing number of papers dealing with the use of thermoelectrics in solar power conversion, no book exists for PV specialists or thermoelectricity experts to enter this field. The book is intended as a primer for scientists or engineers willing to complement their expertise in one of the two fields, and to get an updated, critical review of the state of the art in thermoelectric solar harvesting.

Thermoelectric Energy Conversion: Theories and Mechanisms, Materials, Devices, and Applications provides readers with foundational knowledge on key aspects of thermoelectric conversion and reviews future prospects. Sections cover the basic theories and mechanisms of thermoelectric physics, the chemical and physical aspects of classical to brand-new materials, measurement techniques of thermoelectric conversion properties from the materials to modules and current research, including the physics, crystallography and chemistry aspects of processing to produce thermoelectric devices. Finally, the book discusses thermoelectric conversion applications, including cooling, generation, energy harvesting, space, sensor and other emerging areas of applications. Reviews key applications of thermoelectric energy conversion, including cooling, power generation, energy harvesting, and applications for space and sensing Discusses a wide range of materials, including skutterudites, heusler materials, chalcogenides, oxides, low dimensional materials, and organic materials Provides the fundamentals of thermoelectric energy conversion, including the physics, phonon conduction, electronic correlation, magneto-seebeck theories, topological insulators and thermionics

Beyond its identification with the second law of thermodynamics, entropy is a formidable tool for describing systems in their relationship with their environment. This book proposes to go through some of these situations where the formulation of entropy, and more precisely, the production of entropy in out-of-equilibrium processes, makes it possible to forge an approach to the behavior of very different systems. Whether for dimensioning structures; influencing parameter variability; or optimizing power, efficiency, or waste heat reduction, simulations based on entropy production offer a tool that is both compact and reliable. In the case of systems marked by complexity, it appears to be the only way. In that sense, realistic optimization can be carried out, integrating within the same framework both the system and all the constraints and boundary conditions that define it. Simulations based on entropy give the researcher a powerful analytical framework that crosses the disciplines of physics and links them together.

This book presents and facilitates the interchange of new research and development results concerned with hot topics in thermoelectric generators (TEGs) research, development and production. Topics include prospective thermoelectric materials for manufacturing TEGs operating in low-, mid-, and high temperature ranges, thermal and mechanical degradation issues in prospective thermoelectric materials and TEG modules, theoretical study of novel inorganic and organic thermoelectric materials, novel methods and apparatus for measuring performance of thermoelectric materials and TEGs, and thermoelectric power generators simulation, modeling, design and practice.This book helps researchers tackle the challenges that still remain in creating cheap and effective TEGs and presents the latest trends and technologies in development and production of advanced thermoelectric generation devices. Provides a concentration of new research and development in the field of Thermoelectric energy generation; Facilitates the interchange of new ideas and results to react effectively to the challenges of Thermoelectric generators; Explains both the advancements and challenges in TEGs.

In the context of global warming and the energy transition, two essential questions arise: how to cool environments without major environmental impact and how to produce heat efficiently without combustion. These questions reveal a reversal of the energy paradigm that has prevailed since the Industrial Revolution, when the challenge was to produce work from heat. Reverse cycle thermal machines (refrigeration systems, heat pumps and thermofridges), operating in reverse of the thermomechanical conversion motor cycle, have a major role to play in answering these questions, which are at the heart of the energy challenges that humanity will have to face in the coming decades. This book first presents a state of the art on these systems, whose operating principle is sometimes old, but whose performance analysis and optimization have sometimes been neglected. Emerging technologies, which will certainly find their place in the future energy panorama, are also discussed.

The field of thermoelectricity has continued to develop rapidly in recent years and remains one of the most exciting areas of research for a materials physicist. The need for sustainable energy has added a technological momentum to the challenge of devising materials with exceptional properties such as low thermal conductivity, high electrical conductivity and a large Seebeck coefficient, and has triggered a global, interdisciplinary effort. More recently, research on thermoelectric materials has promoted and motivated a major research endeavor to clarify the factors affecting thermal conductivity in nanostructures as part of a more general effort to apply nanotechnology to enhance the performance of thermoelectric materials for use in thermoelectric generators and coolers. This book contains the lectures presented as Course 207 of the International School of Physics Enrico Fermi, Advances in Thermoelectricity: Foundational Issues, Materials, and Nanotechnology, held in Varenna, Italy from 15 – 20 July 2019. This comprehensive course aimed to provide students with a modern vision of the physics of thermoelectric phenomena, starting from the thermodynamics of thermoelectricity and from the physics of transport processes and demonstrating how material structure and nanostructure, together with defects, have been used to tailor the physical properties of advanced thermoelectrics. Special attention was also given to areas of current research – from spin-caloritronics to charge transport in polymers – and to a selected number of applications for heat recovery. Encompassing the full complexity of modern thermoelectricity and covering the most cogent themes relevant to current research, the book will be of interest to all those working in the field.

Piezoelectric and thermoelectric materials represent emerging cutting-edge technological materials for energy harvesting for high-value-added applications. Although these materials have been exhaustively exploited for decades, researchers around the world continue to find technological and scientific innovations that must be disseminated to the engineers of yesterday, today, and tomorrow. Piezoelectric materials, through mechanical stresses applied to them, are capable of generating electricity, while thermoelectric materials are capable of producing electricity thanks to the heat applied to them. Therefore, the direct application of these materials is in energy harvesting, which, together with the reduction of materials, leads them to portable and wearable functional applications. The purpose of this work is to disseminate some of the latest scientific and technological advances by different researchers around the world in the development of devices and applications based on these materials. The book compiles state-of-the-art fundamentals, current uses, as well as emerging applications of piezoelectric and thermoelectric materials. It is a source of inspiration for continued scientific research on the commercial, industrial, and military applications of these materials. Furthermore, it is a valuable and informative resource for undergraduate and graduate students, as well as experts and researchers in the field.