Document RJkJ4VB8qB08gVZ7D2QK14Bgz

mmrnmmmmm mm mmrnmmwmm LlM5blt> MbMtiNi /J * tai'mnindm 'AubmmtuSttttmtta i HiMliBifi /s --THER...M...A..E..L..K..T..R..T..C. . POWER FROM LEAD -- Wr AT*'S PRACTICAL? WHAT'S -POSSIBLE? By Edward 0. Abel Plnrvoote Minin' L Mfg. Co* Thermoelectric Product* Technical Servlet As presented at the 34th Annus 1 Meeting of the Lead Industries Association, Inc. on April 11, 1962 - Chose Park Plata Hotel - St. Louis, Missouri 4 -i : s o There has been much conversation In newspapers end trade Journals about exciting developments In the exotic and noneonventloral new fields of power generation. Not the least of thee* has been the field of thermo electricity. New Product publicity people are performing a valuable service to the pthlle and to Industry by keeping then Informed of new technical ad vances and fvedcti. Sometimes, however, the semantics used in their stories re deceiving. Like an April Fool's Dey chocolate, rfat they hold out to you looks delectable...but you had better not bite Into It too deeply, be cause all Is not what It appears to be on the outside. It pays to know dat'l Inside, and to know hat to look for or expect shen you bite into these newsy tid.it*. Readers see in an articls the things they would like to see, per taining to their own interests. As suppliers to the new thermoelectric ef fort, you too, view these articles in the light of your own Interests. You no doubt wonder bow such of this Is sweet and nourishing and how much is oft soap. 2 suspect that Is idiy you have asked me here today. If that ie so, I will try to give you something that Is at least digestible. First of ell. Thermoelectricity is here to stay. Therm have been and still are merry knotty problems Involved with Its development that hinder Its fast rise to prominence. Slowly these knotty problems ere being tattled*..or at least loosened. The loosening of one knot, however, does not constitute bruskthrough (as some articles suggest), because there are acre knot* etill In the way. One of the biggest problems Is that sometimes In the loosening of one knot, others become tighter. Suss of our knotty problems are connected with the improvement of thermoelectric material characteristics. Ur fortunately. ^ mPIPi i.ajsmiaw mmmm l j A15627 t is. ^ - ----- these desirable characteristics cannet he independently optimised. Iheee------------------- E desirable Material characteristics are such things as - 1) High Soebeek coefficient ( 200nv/*C) over large Uapcwbas range 2) Los electrical resistivity 3) Low thereal conductivity t- 4) Mechanical strength 5) Mechanical and thermal shock realstanoa 6) Chemical stability 7) Ua wpor preasurc 8) Lee ooefflclaot of expansion 9) Loe coat Thus the program Is one of constant compromise, to embody as ouch of the desirable characteristics Into one notarial as nature ad11 alien. Fortunately, we do not have to salt until all of these problems are solved before as oaks practical use of thermoelectricity. Each ccconpllah- asnt extends the outward llnlta of use, a 1lowing us to build and Market devicea srlthin those llnlta. The acceptance and euccees of these devices i are dependent entirely on the optimization of these Material psxsaeter i 'i values, plus the design and production technology alloyed to give the highest degree of efficiency in the end product. Speaking of efficiency, hers lc also a tern by sdilch one can easily be Misled. The usual question caked by east people is...How efficient Is this thermoelectric device? * alible answer is not easy to glut... unless the person Is familiar with sdsst is meant by "effldaocy". In slag>le terms, "efficiency" is an expression showing "idtat you get" fee t "dwt you pay for". This sounds eiaple enough. Now then, how "efficient" la a thermoelectric generator under today's state of the art? Fig. 1 la a *BHIlMM>PWSnW^l^'qi8MSam"HW^ -2IIJ'MI..l.. , Jl IJJ UIJMgpWWMWWPM M.MWW'.a % -- - -- ` cloplo Khwitlt 4UpM of e typieel themoeleotrle genorotoeulth o h**t tcwet on ooo ild*, hoot tink on the other i Ui ( end a bonk of thermoelectric nterialo In betom, howtd In hoot exchanger. To determine tho efficiency of thit 9*norotor, too out ooepere %hot m got cut" - electricity. with %ht me put In" hoot. Thoro on mrty otope to consider 1a thlo ceaparlooa. 77 (offleloncy) *Sdw.t rou cot ouf ' "what you put 1b " '* > Conbuotlon efficiency of tho humor 7) hoot output (ntto) MP( appro*, fuel lnpit (Btuo r Hoot tnnofor efficiency of tho hoot onhanger 7] h>t out (--tto) ' Hoot in (watts) XX appro*. Convcrolon efficiency of tho thermoelectric ootoriolo 7J oloctrlcltY out (motto) 13X appro*, hoot In(watts) CcoYorolon efficiency of tho voltage converter (when used) &SSI1 In 05% appro*. CVn11 efficiency of tho geoaxotor K VVV \ " N '% x Tj(wmll) - 60S * 70S x US x 85# 4Mt )Jt (Comet efficiency) - Te h ohon Tf, tooporoturo of tho hot elda Tc * tooporoturo of tho oold oldo In connection with materials efficiencies, If ootoriolo reoeorch men were able to aate o "perfect" thermoelectric arterial. Its efficiency would bo det*r"ln*d by tho lave of thermodynamics ao a hoot engine. At typical -3mgm - ***% thfc. jdoaac. LIA15619 MiMiriLiMMNMaiMiMMai - ..... ................. ....... ^ ^ V~ 9 9 9j operating tewpereturea for pmmt day witrri.li this would b a anxious of 5<. by coepnrison, th* steen turbine power plant produces electricity at 2W to 4C9C. An Increase In any one of these efficlenclas will laprovo the useful efficiency of the device. It Is easy to see that there is a lot of roew for lwprovenmt* Thexwoelectrlc generators are by no weens leprectioel at this state of the art. There are aany applications deie hitter efflclsncles are not important, but there lower oost and extended life are l^orUat. Generators even In the lower ranges of power, have aeny usee, date a reliable continuous power source is needed In wots areas* The graph In Fig. 2 Indicates the relative position of thexwo electrlc generators with respect to batteries or engine generators* la the 100 ww to the 100 uett range, thexwoelectrlc generators enjoy a favor able position in terns of cost per Mb Off eowpany has now introduced to the witet a product lino of ouch portable gas fired thexwoelectrlc generators which have bean CO display. These ore 12 volt DC generators, ranging in power up to 15 watts. Vet to follow, hopefully this year, are a 30 and a 60 watt nodal. A proto type 250 watt nodal has already been collated. Sowe of the proposed uses for these generators are shown In the following applications! (See list In Addends) These application* are real for today. Yet In developnent far toworxow, lc e thexwoelectrlc gas central heating furnace, *hlch will de velop all power noeded for operation of Its own controls and air circulating system. This progisn is bringing about s trend toewrd low oost, reliable, w*es producible generator noAiles, such ee those shown In Fig. 3 diagram. Once completed, those types of Nodule structures should be applicable to any 91s burning appliance that needs electricity to complete It. function. .s'l 0 mmm % Wg MMfimL, I*^wyjja>gie>wwwgica. ajuia mHH'w i c p iiip u w i^ LIA15620 f . ............. --*- ...------" n turnon im mnioii'r Ili, ..., - |----- ----------- -- ----------- Today thi prlM of ytri^l* ymntore 1 from pilot plMt pr* -~~~ due11 on) It About 130 a watt tlx*. Just three years ago these same ^ generator* would havo coat 13000 a watt. Advances In aoterlals and ds- sign technology haw brought shout this reduction. Mass production will lower this figure in the future to 110 a watt, lbe ultimate goal of our furnace generator program la to lower this figure to laaa than $1*00 par wtt, by the nodular approach. Surely, if one nan project the growth rate of the last five year* for the next five years, It la not at all unreaeon- able to foreaae the beginning of a widespread use of thermoelectric power in such things aa hows appliance*. A thermoelectric auxllllary power plant for domestic loads mild offer a degree of reliability heretofore unknown. There ere still sows pretty tough "knots" left to untie before this beooees a reality ... higher auterial* efficiencies, greeter stability for higher taape returns, greeter ssdenlctl strength, to news a few. There is no oaglc by ehich this will bo aocoapllehed, except by persistant and con centrated effort - the uat type of effort that hat a(honeed the state of the art to its present position. It la very difficult to predict dat this wight wean to you in the Lead Industry. All of the devices we have wad* and are waking use lead, (hr thermoelectric Material la lead tollurlde, ddeh la still today the most commonly used Material. Perhaps we can portray this market potential by soma suppositions. The maximal annual supply from presently avellebie sources of tellurium la purported to be in the neighborhood of 37b tons. Suppose that the total output of tellurium were used to auke lead tellurids. Since load tallurlde it aaada up of approximately 3tK tellurites end 62% lead, 612 tons of lead would be needed annually. However, there are other tellurid# thermoelectric tutorials made and used that do not eeploy load. Conversely, *o *** otdt of lead In conjunction with materials other than tellur!tie. J. mm wia. eawp !*wp mu j ; ff* LIA15621 mSm MMwh. Haterlala for thermoelectric cooling uco tellurium bet no lotd at all* The present output of tellurium ould net necessarily ooootl- tuta Halt to tho amnufactuze of thanaoalaetzie oatorlala* Surely an lncroaao In demind Mould stimulate a search for additional sourest and added raeexvaa of tellurium. In anticipation of this, mt la already udmay by the Gov*rnannt and aooa private ocnoema to mo o t or addition al reserve aouroea* Other promising non laod natallie ooaapounda are oertaln to taka their place along with lead in the production of thermoelectric davicaa* It la iapoeaibla to predict adilch aatarial edll aaauaa the role of Major iayortanoo in the future. At thla point the exyatal ball la vary unclear. Surely, lead in the pure for* that It haa been auppliad, ha a played a most prominent part in the development of thermoelectricity. It ia dotirtedly will continue to do ao for a long time to coma. fi'IS1 wi LIA15622 MMi* . fib, tJ--iwffcha ***- *** - n-flake*' afr^fiiiwakT--ata--efci t ' AUTCMOTIVE DATA RECORDING t TELEMETERING^ (Autos, truck*, tractor*, *09In* Remote dot* gathering po--red shipment, o*^> 1 travel weather stations f trailers) tot^eraturs rainfall - Battery charging wind direction l velocity - Clearance A parking limits oaro--trie pressure - water pressure puep* Field scientific research - rafrigaratlon soil bacteriology two way radio power forestry sworgency warning light flaahara atmospheric (balloon flights) ftY?*7T<?W selaaogrsphls radiation - Raaot* airstrip baaeon flaahara cc--unication angina atartlng battery aalntananca Mountain top baaoona - Elavatad atructura daarano* Geophysical surveys watershed studies lake and waterway level* Civil Defense radioactive fallout levels Pipeline* volu--, pressure, flow lights JPItfHS. Rettery chargers cownoncMS Emergency starting battery Maintenance E--rgertcy co--isilcatlons power Forest rangers lira towar transcolvara fire fighters portable or aoblla seta Telephones portable tenporary phone booths lineman signal ganarators sihstatlon standby powsr Microwave station standby power Civil defense emergency Standby power for shipboard navigation, running, or anchor lights Towed vessel running light* Power for ventilation of boat ot anchor Cathodic protection of hull Security alar-- (burglar, fire) channel --rker buoy* Standby eaergency power for co--sili ca lions on "Texas Tower" type installations Udemess outposts wining cattle range aleslonary AIL Caboose communication power Emergence warning signals Switch h#a lii MMtrol pt-wr CCKSTRUCTICH Field co--ulea tlone PA eystew amplifier Recharge source for battory powered tools Ventilation fanpowtr Detour taming fUshers RECREATION Portable radio & TV Sportsman ho*ter - generator (fish shanties, campe, etc*) Barbecue spit* CArtdoor PA yst--*(fleld sports events, group picnics, pthllc gatherings) Ji.U"l`4lWUI . . . i- - ^ - ^ . . . ^ , . , ---------. . . .. OTHER FIXED IHSTAUATTOK USES Remote building security burglar alarms fire alarms temperature monitoring dtvlots - Electric stock fences - Controls systems power Self luninous signs Cathodic protection pipelines oil wells silos - Traffic control signals - Blower power for sir supported buildings * .........a m ' i t l i i - *..fI ifi iMr'** ml 1 I... ini li iliiynriiIirrWimnVirir--TiTirA^i,i iMtiljiiHLluiAaiittttjhMi) 'IP"1 ii.<i.i4ip-iiwaippwpi LI A 15625 ll ffliH Cost Dollors/Kilowolt Hour- Figure 2. A rough comparison of ths cost of various powor sources, operating continuously. ^ mm nmmmy ? * mm LU15626 PICUtES I r -* -' 'c** Stafisa. lf^P|