Panasonic Demonstrates Thermoelectric Tubes - Revolutionary?

Originally posted by speculativeoptimist
Pretty self explanatory, so not much to add, but could this be a game changer? Obviously there has to be a source of hot water, but one can do that with a simple fire, so I hope this tech can be used in a low tech fashion at some point, for less developed areas.

Peace,
spec

It's not that it requires hot water. The biggie here is that it's fairly efficient with a very small temperature differential, which isn't generally the case. I see it as being a big plus for solar thermal power generation, or low level cogen.

There have been many other similar devices, I had hoped for years the quantum interference modules would have been productized, and it looks like they're making progress, but I don't think they're available commercially yet. We did use "cool chips" in a military design but they were handbuilt for that one assembly and quirky as all get out.

Cool chips
Power chips

Originally posted by mee30
reply to post by speculativeoptimist

 

Cool, looks very interesting... Couldn't we use this to power our homes? All you need to do is have the hot water pipe inside the cold water pipe and hey presto? If that little piece of pipe can produce 10 watts what will our homes produce? Especially ones in colder climates where you will use the central heating often...

Also 2018?

Why does it always take so long!?

That power comes from the power used to heat the water to start with. Like any real power source, you're not going to get more out of it than you put in.

However, it might make a better solar power collector than photoelectric cells - transfer the attic/roof surface heat to the groundwater and you might get a nice bit of power.

Originally posted by Beartracker16
Perhaps a couple units could be added to the heating/cooling systems on a car to replace the alternator which steals energy from the engine to recharge the battery thus stealing gas mileage.

You have a lot of wasted exhaust heat, I don't see why you couldn't dump it to the air through one of these setups.

Probably several hundred Watts there.

reply to post by dainoyfb

That is a legit concern, and examining the parts I can't see how it would be a huge expense. A bundle of these tubes does not consist of many materials and non exotic. However the patented aspect of the material designs may be a costly factor. The entire system seems pretty streamlined though. Larger applications of this tech has failed in the past, but Panasonic feels they have it dialed in now.

You may be missing the point here. I can see that getting the 90C hot water is easy as. Getting the 10C cold supply is a little problematical.. Ok in winter in a cold climate area, not so easy in summer. So, how will you all obtain volumes of water at 10C.

P

reply to post by pheonix358

I was sidestepping the point, assuming cool water would be easier to obtain. Of course I am in a mountain town with plenty of cold temps and water throughout. But yea, your point is taken. Perhaps the above posters mention/link of "Cool Chips" could be applied. The cool thin is this tech can be utilized on already existing plants, turning the hot waste water back into energy. The average ground water temp is 50 degrees(10C), so that could provide a good start. Perhaps this tech will be better used in cooler climates, but it still seems like a nice advancement.

Peace,
spec