4 ms·
>“The current thermoelectric conversion efficiency is about 28 per cent; with a hotter 600 degree thermal fluid, efficiency could reach 34 per cent,” he said. S
by fbdab103 3y ago
>“The current thermoelectric conversion efficiency is about 28 per cent; with a hotter 600 degree thermal fluid, efficiency could reach 34 per cent,” he said.
Such efficiency can rival that of steam turbines.
I was curious about that, but Wikipedia[0] says
>...in steam turbines, turbine entry temperatures are typically 565 °C (the creep limit of stainless steel) and condenser temperatures are around 30 °C. This gives a theoretical Carnot efficiency of about 63% compared with an actual efficiency of 42% for a modern coal-fired power station.
>...A modern, large electrical power station (producing several hundred megawatts of electrical output) with steam reheat, economizer etc. will achieve efficiency in the mid 40% range, with the most efficient units approaching 50% thermal efficiency.
[0] https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Steam_engine#Efficiency https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Steam_engine#Efficiency
- groestl 3y agoThe next paragraph is also worth citing (it probably applies to the thermoacoustic Stirling engine as well) "It is also possible to capture the waste heat using cogeneration in which the waste heat is used for heating a lower boiling point working fluid or as a heat source for district heating via saturated low-pressure steam." This way (district heating), the power plant in my city achieves 86% overall efficiency.
- throwaway81523 3y agoAre those measuring the same thing? Does 63% Carnot efficiency mean 63% of the efficiency of the ideal Carnot cycle, which is determined by the temperature difference and is always less than 100% of the heat energy extracted from the fuel? Or does it mean the amount of fuel heat that is converted to motion? 63% would be fantastically high, I thought.
- bonzini 3y ago63% is the Carnot efficiency between 565°C (838 K) and 30°C (303 K)