Self-Powered Boiler Using Thermoelectric Generator
AssigneeGMZ Energy, Inc.
InventorsGang Chen, Yanliang Zhang, James Christopher Caylor, Jonathan D'Angelo, Xiaowei Wang
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Abstract
A self-powered boiler comprising a burner that burns a fuel to produce a hot combustion product that is used to heat a fluid and a thermoelectric generator (TEG) system comprising a first side in thermal communication with the hot combustion product and a second side in thermal communication with a lower temperature region of the boiler, and a plurality of thermoelectric converters disposed therebetween for generating electric power, wherein the electric power generated by the TEG system is equal to or greater than a total electric power consumed by the boiler under normal operating conditions.
Claims41
A self-powered boiler, comprising:
- a burner that is adapted to burn a fuel to produce a hot combustion product;
- a hot combustion product conduit;
- and
- a thermoelectric generator (TEG) system comprising a first side in thermal communication with the hot combustion product conduit and a second side in thermal communication with a lower temperature region of the boiler, and a plurality of thermoelectric converters disposed therebetween, the thermoelectric converters comprising a nano structured thermoelectric material, wherein electric power generated by the TEG system is equal to or greater than a total electric power consumed by the boiler under steady state operating conditions.
A method of operating a self-powered boiler, comprising:
- burning a fuel to produce a hot combustion product;
- flowing the hot combustion product in thermal contact with a first side of a thermoelectric generator (TEG) system comprising a nanostructured thermoelectric material;
- and
- generating electrical power by the TEG system that is equal to or greater than a total electric power consumed by the boiler under steady state operating conditions.
Dependencies are inferred from the claim text.