Salt of the Earth gets empowered new meaning

Cheap material made from DIRT can convert heat directly to electricity: New discovery could revolutionise power generation

By Damien Gayle
MailOnline
28 November 2012

• Thermoelectric material converts differences in temperature directly to electrical voltage
• It is not the first, but previous ones have been derived from rare and sometimes toxic elements via costly synthesis procedures
• Researchers say their discovery could pave the way for low-cost, environmentally friendly electricity generation

An incredible new material made from common dirt can take heat and directly convert it into an electrical current, a study claims.

Researchers say they produced the groundbreaking substance using commonly found materials and that it can be cheaply manufactured. 

They believe the it could spark a revolution in eco-friendly power generation by taking waste heat from a range of common sources and converting it directly to electricity.

Raw material: The breakthrough new thermoelectric material is made from natural minerals called tetrahedrites which are found in dirt pretty much everywhere on the planet

So-called thermoelectric materials are able to directly convert differences in temperature to electrical voltage, and vice versa. This are potentially important, scientists say, because the vast majority of heat that is generated from, for example, a car engine, is lost through the tail pipe. It's the thermoelectric material's job to take that heat and turn it into something useful, like electricity.

Supercritical CO2 tech nearly doubles generator efficiency

Although this tech was intended for small-scale nuclear reactors, it offers promising efficiency gains for more benign local heat sources such as biomass burners, solar furnaces and LENR (cold fusion) devices as well. - Ed.

A 50% Efficient Turbine Solution

Sandia’s Closed Loop Carbon Dioxide Gas Turbine.
Click image for a larger view.

newenergyandfuel.com
September 11, 2012

A steam turbine that drives a generator is usually only about 30% efficient.  Based on the Brayton-cycle system, developed by George Brayton more than 100 years ago, an air or steam system heats the air or water in a confined space and then releases the compressed air or steam to turn a turbine generator.

The Brayton-cycle is the same principle used in a jet engine, which burns fuel to run a turbine and then shoots the compressed air out the back to thrust a plane forward.  It’s a common system.

Sandia National Laboratories has developed a turbine system that could substantially improve energy efficiency in small modular nuclear reactors.  The Lab is already seeking an industry partner to market the technology.