Generator of electric energy based on the thermoelectric effect

A generator of electric energy, comprising:

• a layer of thermoelectric material comprising a series of elements made of thermoelectric material or by a distribution of a number of thermoelectric cells, said layer of thermoelectric material unconnected to a source of electrical current;
• a first pipe receiving and guiding a first flow of fluid at a higher temperature and a second pipe receiving and guiding a second flow of fluid at a lower temperature parallel and adjacent to two opposite sides of the layer of thermoelectric material in such a way as to produce a heat transfer through said thermoelectric layer from a side adjacent to the first flow of fluid towards a side adjacent to the second flow of fluid so as to generate a difference of electrical potential between two electrical terminals that are in electrical connection with the two opposite sides of the layer of thermoelectric material,
• the first pipe comprising a first inlet end and the second pipe comprising a second inlet end, the first flow of fluid at the first inlet end having a higher temperature than the second flow of fluid at the second inlet end,
• walls of said first pipe and said second pipe in heat-conduction contact with the two opposite sides of the layer of thermoelectric material,
• a cavity of passage of each pipe comprising a plurality of subchannels located horizontally and vertically relative to each other, subchannel walls bounding said subchannels having a high thermal conductivity and thermally coupled to inner surfaces of each pipe so as to obtain a large surface of heat exchange between each flow of fluid and each wall of each pipe and between each pipe wall and each side of the layer of thermoelectric material;
• wherein the layer of thermoelectric material and the pipes that guide the flows of fluid have a longitudinally segmented structure so that each of said pipes is made up of a succession of sections of pipe separated from one another by hollow spacer elements made of thermally insulating material and, the layer of thermoelectric material is made up of a succession of thermoelectric sections separated from one another by a spacer element made of thermally insulating material or by an air gap;
• wherein the walls of said first pipe and said second pipe and walls of said hollow spacer elements being electrically conductive or being coated with a layer of electrically conductive material, the walls of the first pipe, the second pipe and the hollow spacer elements electrically connecting said series of elements to each other
• wherein the heat transfer occurs substantially only between facing sections of the two aforesaid pipes and through the corresponding thermoelectric section and avoids substantially occurring in the longitudinal direction along each pipe;
• wherein the pipes are configured to direct the flows of fluid in two directions that are parallel and opposite to one another;
• and
• wherein different thermoelectric sections are made of different thermoelectric materials, according to the different range of operating temperature, in such a way that the thermoelectric efficiency of the material of each section is optimized according to the values of temperature to which it is subjected.