Nikkei. Furukawa Co. is developing a skutterudite thermoelectric material for use in a thermoelectric generator (TEG) for waste heat recovery applications in vehicles.
Using this new thermoelectric conversion material, Furukawa has fashioned a module measuring 5 x 5cm x 8mm and weighing about 140 grams. When the top side is maintained at a temperature of 720 C and the bottom at 50 C, this module generates 33 watts.
For automotive applications, the firm would attach around 20 of these modules to the exhaust system. Their bottoms would be maintained at the lower temperature using some mechanism like circulating water. Around 7% of the exhaust heat could be converted to electricity, easing the load on the engine and reducing fuel consumption by around 2%, according to the company's calculations.
Furukawa hopes to have a mass production system in place within three years.
Since 2004, the US Department of Energy has been funding three teams with the goal of developing a vehicular TEG that can deliver a 10% improvement in fuel economy. The three teams are: BSST with Viseton and Marlow; General Motors with GE, Oak Ridge National Lab, University of Michigan, Michigan State University, University of South Florida, and Brookhaven National Lab; and MSU teamed with Cummins, NASA-JPL and Tellurex.
Both BMW and GM are integrating TEGs with gasoline powertrains, with BMW planning to introduce TEGS in the 2010-2014 timeframe in the Series 5.
Earlier this year, the DOE opened up a second solicitation for the use of thermoelectric material in vehicular heating and cooling applications (TE HVAC).
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