High temperature thermoelectric generators

Submitted by Nicholas on Tue, 2006-10-24 10:18.

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This is a bit of an amateurish question, but can anyone inform me of where I might be able to purchase a seebeck module for use in electrical generation with hot side conditions of around 1000C during operation. I've looked all over the place; are people commercially producing these things?

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Nicholas, I'm not aware of

Submitted by ztadmin (not verified) on Tue, 2006-10-24 12:16.

Nicholas, I'm not aware of any commercially available modules that operate at 1000 oC. AFAIK there never have been any commercially available modules at such high temperatures. Devices have been used for space applications in this temperature range since the 1970s, but they really aren't 'modules' and they've never been commercially available. The problem: there simply aren't any commercial applications for such a thing at present. SiGe-based devices have been used in this temperature range for many space applications, and you can get an overview of the status of R&D in TEs for space applications from the JPL/Caltech thermoelectric group: http://www.its.caltech.edu/~jsnyder/thermoelectrics/ What application do you have in mind? Always looking for fresh ideas. - Cronin

Nicholas, I'm not aware of

Submitted by Nicholas on Tue, 2006-10-31 14:14.

Hi Cronin,

Thanks for your response. The application I had in mind was the incorporation of thermoelectric generation into a MicroCHP unit. I'm a forth year student at Durham University, England, and this was my final year project. My supervisor tells me to use data from papers if the product does not exist commercially, but I assume the cost of such a real device would make it unfeasable for this application. Are there currently commercial thermoelectric Seebeck devices which operate over about 200C, because I've only found ones with a max temperature in the mid to low hundreds, and only a few of these are Seebeck rather than Peltier modules.

Nicholas

Nicholas, There are a few

Submitted by ztadmin on Tue, 2006-10-31 16:20.

Nicholas,

There are a few manufacturers that make commercial devices that operate over 200 ^oC, but not many. Global Thermoelectric (in Canada) and Teledyne-Brown come to mind. There may be one or two others. The more common Bi₂Te₃ - based materials don't work much above 200 ^oC. They melt not too much above that. Above this temperature you need matersial with hihger melting points. Common choices are PbTe &/or TAGS and at the highest temperatures (up to 1000 ^oC) SiGe.

Depending on the level of detail you need, you might find the kind of data you are looking for in the CRC Handbook on Thermoelectris. Look for both the 1995 or 2005 editions. And yes, the costs go up considerably as the temperature goes up, in large part because the markets are so small.

- Cronin