Powerdriver

The Powerdriver project is a collaborative research initiative, partially funded by the Seventh Framework Programme, with the aim to develop an innovative environmentally friendly thermo-electric power generation (TGEN) system for automotive and marine applications. The resulting technology will turn waste heat from combustion engine exhaust gas into electricity to reduce fuel consumption, emissions and costs.
Background
offer the opportunity to generate electricity from waste heat. However, due to the temperature dependence of the Figure of Merit (ZT), the average efficiency of TE materials is relatively low and varies across the operating temperature range (100-500 degrees C). Whilst current TE generators (TEGs) are able to achieve high efficiencies within a relatively small temperature range, their efficiency is still too low for practical, commercial applications and their TE properties can rapidly degrade due to elevated temperatures, under thermal cycling, and as the result of the differential thermal expansion effects of different TE materials that make-up these devices.
Highly efficient nano-structured TEGs and functionally graded segmented TEGs based on just one TE material type where the doping level (and the peak ZT temperature) vary through the TE materials thickness, are both novel, cost effective technologies that allows us to achieve a consistently high ZT value across the entire operating temperature range.
Objectives
By nano engineering and careful doping of these materials, the Powerdriver project will create two specific highly innovative, efficient TE technologies:
Nano-structured TEG
* High peak ZT (>1.6): The use of nano-structured materials will enable us to achieve a high ZT and thus a high efficiency (~11%) in an appropriate temperature range.
* Thermal stability: In the temperature range of 330-850 Degrees C and that can be thermally cycled over working temperature range without loss of structure or properties.
* Cost Competitiveness: The nano-structured materials should enable us to achieve an inexpensive and recyclable solution.
* Environmentally benign: The nano-structured materials are non-toxic and are allowable under the RoHS directive.
Functionally graded segmented TEG
* High ZT (>1.0) across the entire operating temperature range: Doping of the TE materials with different doping levels allows the ZT peak temperature to be varied so that a functionally graded TEG can be created so that each layer is maintained at its optimal temperature across the thermal gradient, allowing a consistent and high ZT value to be achieved across the operating temperature range.
* Cost Competitiveness: Optimal electrical output across the entire operating temperature range will allow us to achieve a cost of €0.5/W of electricity produced, in comparison to >€1/W for existing segmented TEG technologies.
* Superior electrical and mechanical properties: The materials will differ only with respect to the degree of doping (up to ~0.1%) which will allow a segmented TEG with very similar structure throughout its thickness to be achieved which will therefore allow us to achieve reduced contact resistance and greatly reduced differential thermal expansion/contraction significantly improving the electrical and mechanical properties.
The Powerdriver project will further advance TE chemistry and structural understanding by creating a highly innovative nano-structured, functionally graded and multi-layer TEG structure compounds, targeting commercial competitiveness in waste heat energy recovery applications. The Powerdriver TEG solutions will be demonstrated for a high-profile case study application: The use of waste heat from automotive and marine for production of electrical output to power on-board applications. Such applications have not been achieved commercially due to materials limitations in terms of output per € and long-term thermal stability.
Consortium
The Powerdriver consortium includes 13 partners from six different European regions, the consortium includes (amongst others):
* Queen Mary, University of London
* Ben-Gurion University of the Negev
* Jaguar Cars
* Ricardo
* Rolls-Royce Group PLC

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