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Thermo Electric TechnologyThe following is copied for historic archive purposes from THERMO ELECTRIC Technology 101 What are Thermo Electric (TE) Generators? A thermo electric generator performs the same functions as an engine-powered electric generator. Both produce practical electricity to run household appliances, lighting, heating / air conditioning, vacuum cleaners, power tools, and similar items - the conveniences you most miss when power outages occur during storms or other disasters. Both are reliable. The main difference you’d notice right away if the two units were operating side-by-side, however, is that the TE unit is virtually silent, with no annoying engine whine. The thermo electric generator produces electricity without any moving parts except a small cooling fan. In the revolutionary new TEG 5000, heat from the burner's flame flows through a number of thermo electric devices, in the direction of cooler, air-cooled fins. Heat is then expelled from the air-cooled fins to the surrounding air by a very quiet fan - the one moving part. The flow of thermal energy through thermo electric elements creates thermal gradients in the TE materials, which in turn cause voltages to occur across the TE material. TEG uses thermocouples made of high performance crystalline semiconductor material. Passing heat through this material generates a voltage across the thermocouples, causing a very high current to circulate in a closed primary ring. Thermo electric material, with impressed thermal gradients, operate as if they were a number of individual batteries connected in series, The key solution to TE power generation lies in the way the TE elements are connected, and especially how they are operated. This is the secret to the TEG 5000’s efficiency, Why has TEG been successful in applying TE technology where others have failed in the past? Thermo electric devices are highly reliable due to their solid state construction. Thermo electric modules in various types of assemblies have been used for years in different military / aerospace applications, such as satellites. The challenge has been to concentrate this power into a compact package and maintain sufficient output for practical consumer use in running multiple appliances at the same time. The real business end of TEG is the patented internal secondary circuit that converts the primary internally generated amperage into useful voltage. This transfer has been the main stumbling block confounding researchers for years, This commutation is akin to the transformer near your home converting the raw power in the overhead grid wires from ultra-high voltage, low current, into the 220 volt, 100 ampere service you need. In your home breaker box, the electrical energy is further divided, using a ground leg into the 120 volt circuits that your vacuum cleaner and lamps require. Inside the TEG 5000, a transformer - operating at 120,000 cycles per second -directs the current of the TE ring, through the primary winding in opposite direction (push-pull), wound around a special high frequency ferrite transformer core, This small transformer and special switches that direct the 3,000 Amp current, change the crude low DC voltage and high current into clean 120-460v 50/60 Hz current and for practical use on or off-grid anywhere in the world where a fuel source – propane, natural gas, kerosene, naphtha, etc is available. See also
Page posted by SDA, April 25, 2003. |
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