Identifying Cost Effective Routes To Optimised Energy Recovery For The Fuel Economy Of Vehicles
Lead Research Organisation:
University of Reading
Department Name: Chemistry
Abstract
Abstracts are not currently available in GtR for all funded research. This is normally because the abstract was not required at the time of proposal submission, but may be because it included sensitive information such as personal details.
Publications
Prado-Gonjal J
(2018)
Skutterudite Thermoelectric Modules with High Volume-Power-Density: Scalability and Reproducibility
in ACS Applied Energy Materials
Prado-Gonjal J
(2017)
Enhancing the thermoelectric properties of single and double filled p-type skutterudites synthesized by an up-scaled ball-milling process
in Journal of Alloys and Compounds
Beltrán-Pitarch B
(2019)
Experimental conditions required for accurate measurements of electrical resistivity, thermal conductivity, and dimensionless figure of merit ( ZT ) using Harman and impedance spectroscopy methods
in Journal of Applied Physics
Beltrán-Pitarch B
(2018)
Thermal conductivity, electrical resistivity, and dimensionless figure of merit ( ZT ) determination of thermoelectric materials by impedance spectroscopy up to 250 °C
in Journal of Applied Physics
Freer R
(2020)
Realising the potential of thermoelectric technology: a Roadmap
in Journal of Materials Chemistry C
Beltrán-Pitarch B
(2019)
Complete Characterization of Thermoelectric Materials by Impedance Spectroscopy
in The Journal of Physical Chemistry C
| Description | 1. Skutterudites can be fabricated into modules and used to generate electricity from waste heat in an automotive setting. 2. High performance modules can be fabricated. 3. Scale up of materials production through ball milling leads to performance enhancements. 4. Significant reductions in thermal conductivity can be realised in unfilled skutterudites through chemical substitution in the framework. 5. These reductions can be associated with changes in local structure. 6. Light atom and mixed-metal fillers give rise to significant reductions in thermal conductivity. |
| Exploitation Route | We are currently discussing with industrial partners how these findings may be taken forward. |
| Sectors | Aerospace, Defence and Marine,Energy,Environment,Transport |
| Description | Materials arising from this project have been used to generate electricity from an exhaust stream from a vehicle engine in a demonstration to industrialists. A thermoelectric generator was constructed from the materials developed in the project and evaluated using an automotive diesel engine. The results showed that the new thermoelectic generator can operate at the high temperatures of an exhaust gas stream and produce an electrical power output of 300W. The thermoelectric generator has been evaluated by commercial partners for applications in the automotive industry. Please also see the impact description provided for EP/K026658/1. The expertise developed in this project subsequently led to contact from two companies for new projects in low-temperature energy recovery and in thermal management, both of which were funded, while additional UKRI funding has been secured to develop novel materials for applications in electricity production at lower temperatures. |
| First Year Of Impact | 2017 |
| Sector | Aerospace, Defence and Marine,Energy,Transport |
| Impact Types | Policy & public services |
| Description | Advanced textile-integrated thermoelectric energy harvesting for wearable electronics |
| Amount | £373,259 (GBP) |
| Funding ID | 104381 |
| Organisation | Innovate UK |
| Sector | Public |
| Country | United Kingdom |
| Start | 06/2018 |
| End | 03/2020 |
| Description | From the Indian Copper Belts to Chulhas: Affordable Thermoelectric Materials for Rural India |
| Amount | £609,274 (GBP) |
| Funding ID | EP/T020040/1 |
| Organisation | Engineering and Physical Sciences Research Council (EPSRC) |
| Sector | Public |
| Country | United Kingdom |
| Start | 04/2020 |
| End | 03/2022 |
| Description | Synthesis and characterisation of thermoelectrics |
| Organisation | Johnson Matthey |
| Department | Johnson Matthey Technology Centre |
| Country | United Kingdom |
| Sector | Private |
| PI Contribution | Provided expertise and equipment access to researchers from the collaborator |
| Collaborator Contribution | Provided access to specialist sample preparation equipment |
| Impact | Presentation at International Conference on Thermoelectrics 2015 Journal Output: Enhancing the Thermoelectric Properties of Single and Double Filled p-type Skutterudites Synthesized by an Up-scaled Ball-milling Process J. Prado-Gonjal, P. Vaqueiro, C. Nuttall, R. Potter and A.V. Powell,, J. Alloys Compd., 695, 3598, (2017) |
| Start Year | 2014 |
| Description | , Workshop on Thermoelectric Materials |
| Form Of Engagement Activity | A talk or presentation |
| Part Of Official Scheme? | No |
| Geographic Reach | National |
| Primary Audience | Professional Practitioners |
| Results and Impact | Presentation of results from the project at a workshop at the University of Southampton to discuss advances in thermoelectric materials. Presentation led to discussion of outcomes and contributed to a decision to formulate a collaborative CDT project involving multiple university partners. |
| Year(s) Of Engagement Activity | 2017 |
| Description | Addressing the energy challenge:the role of chemistry |
| Form Of Engagement Activity | A talk or presentation |
| Part Of Official Scheme? | No |
| Geographic Reach | National |
| Primary Audience | Other audiences |
| Results and Impact | This lecture was to the Association of Science Education Annual Conference. It outlined how materials chemistry can help address the challenges of ensuring a sustainable energy supply through the development of new energy technologies,from hydrogen storage to thermoelectric power generation. It drew directly on preliminary results from the project. |
| Year(s) Of Engagement Activity | 2015 |
| URL | http://www.ase.org.uk/conferences/events/2015/01/07/1391/ |
| Description | Bulk Nanostructured Thermoelectrics |
| Form Of Engagement Activity | A talk or presentation |
| Part Of Official Scheme? | No |
| Geographic Reach | International |
| Primary Audience | Professional Practitioners |
| Results and Impact | Preliminary results from the project, involving composites, were included in a broader presentation on nanostructured materials at the Fall Meeting of the Materials Research Society |
| Year(s) Of Engagement Activity | 2014 |
| Description | Effect of framework substitution on the thermal conductivity of skutterudites |
| Form Of Engagement Activity | A talk or presentation |
| Part Of Official Scheme? | No |
| Geographic Reach | International |
| Primary Audience | Professional Practitioners |
| Results and Impact | This was a lecture at the 14th European Conference on Thermoelectrics, Lisbon, Portugal. The talk described results from the project that demonstrate that substantial reductions in thermal conductivity can be produced in unfilled skutterudites through chemical substitution within the framework. Results on recent elastic and inelastic neutron scattering experiments which seek to rationalise this behaviour were presented. |
| Year(s) Of Engagement Activity | 2016 |
| Description | Enhancing thermoelectric properties of skutterudites by mechanical alloying |
| Form Of Engagement Activity | A talk or presentation |
| Part Of Official Scheme? | No |
| Geographic Reach | International |
| Primary Audience | Professional Practitioners |
| Results and Impact | This was a talk presented at the annual conference of the international thermoelectric society, held in Dresden in 2015. The audience consisted primarily of a mixture of academic and industrial researchers in the field, including post-graduate students. The work presented included results from industrial collaboration arising from the project. |
| Year(s) Of Engagement Activity | 2015 |
| URL | http://www2.cpfs.mpg.de/ict2015/default.aspx |
| Description | India-UK Workshop on Thermoelectric Materials for Waste-Heat Harvesting |
| Form Of Engagement Activity | Participation in an activity, workshop or similar |
| Part Of Official Scheme? | No |
| Geographic Reach | International |
| Primary Audience | Professional Practitioners |
| Results and Impact | A tutorial session was presented to an audience of early career researchers from India and the UK on the application of neutron methods to the investigation of thermoelectric materials. This drew on many of the results arising from the current project. The presentation led to several requests for further information and discussion of collaborative proposals for experiments at the ISIS facility. |
| Year(s) Of Engagement Activity | 2017 |
| Description | Meeting on Materials for Energy and Sustainability |
| Form Of Engagement Activity | A talk or presentation |
| Part Of Official Scheme? | No |
| Geographic Reach | International |
| Primary Audience | Postgraduate students |
| Results and Impact | Invited on-line presentation at a meeting hosted by Complutense University, Madrid. The audience was comprised primarily of early career researchers in the field of energy materials. Questions and discussion followed the presentation. Presentations were recorded, providing access to a wider audience. |
| Year(s) Of Engagement Activity | 2021 |
| Description | Neutron diffraction and thermoelectric properties of (Co,Fe,Ni)Sb3 |
| Form Of Engagement Activity | A talk or presentation |
| Part Of Official Scheme? | No |
| Geographic Reach | Regional |
| Primary Audience | Postgraduate students |
| Results and Impact | The Red Kite VII Meeting was organized by the ISIS facility of Rutherford Appleton Laboratory on 17 Jun 2015. PhD students and postdocs whose research is related to the ISIS facility attended this meeting. This poster described the results of structural investigations carried out at the ISIS Facility. |
| Year(s) Of Engagement Activity | 2015 |
| Description | Probing structure-property relationships in thermoelectric materials by neutron diffraction |
| Form Of Engagement Activity | A talk or presentation |
| Part Of Official Scheme? | No |
| Geographic Reach | International |
| Primary Audience | Professional Practitioners |
| Results and Impact | This was a talk presented at the annual conference of the international thermoelectric society, held in Dresden in 2015. The audience consisted primarily of a mixture of academic and industrial researchers in the field, including post-graduate students. The work presented included results of experiments carried out on materials arising from the project that were performed at central facilities (ISIS). |
| Year(s) Of Engagement Activity | 2015 |
| URL | http://www2.cpfs.mpg.de/ict2015/scientific-program/default.html |
| Description | Reducing Thermal Conductivity of Skutterudites |
| Form Of Engagement Activity | A talk or presentation |
| Part Of Official Scheme? | No |
| Geographic Reach | Regional |
| Primary Audience | Postgraduate students |
| Results and Impact | A lecture presented at the second Southern Dalton Meeting, held at the University of Reading. Results showing the reduction in thermal conductivity achievable in unfilled skutterudites by chemical substitution were presented to an audience of inorganic chemists from the South East of England. |
| Year(s) Of Engagement Activity | 2016 |
| Description | Structural Investigations of Thermoelectric Materials for Energy Harvesting |
| Form Of Engagement Activity | A talk or presentation |
| Part Of Official Scheme? | No |
| Geographic Reach | National |
| Primary Audience | Postgraduate students |
| Results and Impact | This was invited talk to the UK ISIS Crystallography User Group describing the application neutron scattering techniques to thermoelectric materials to materials arising from the current project. |
| Year(s) Of Engagement Activity | 2016 |
| Description | The effect of framework substitution on the thermoelectric properties of unfilled and filled skutterudites |
| Form Of Engagement Activity | A talk or presentation |
| Part Of Official Scheme? | No |
| Geographic Reach | National |
| Primary Audience | Professional Practitioners |
| Results and Impact | This was a poster presentation at the Royal Society of Chemistry Solid State Group Christmas meeting. It described detailed structural investigations by pair distribution function analysis, carried out at the ISIS facility on materials arising from the project. |
| Year(s) Of Engagement Activity | 2015 |
| Description | Thermoelectric Materials for Energy Harvesting from Waste Heat |
| Form Of Engagement Activity | A talk or presentation |
| Part Of Official Scheme? | No |
| Geographic Reach | International |
| Primary Audience | Professional Practitioners |
| Results and Impact | This was an invited lecture at the Collaborative Conference on 3D Materials Research, Seoul, Korea. The talk included results on thermoelectric materials arising from the current project. The international audience consisted principally of researchers in the broad field of materials science. |
| Year(s) Of Engagement Activity | 2016 |
| Description | Thermoelectric properties of (Co,Fe,Ni)Sb3 |
| Form Of Engagement Activity | A talk or presentation |
| Part Of Official Scheme? | No |
| Geographic Reach | National |
| Primary Audience | Professional Practitioners |
| Results and Impact | This was a poster presentation at the Royal Society of Chemistry Solid State Group Christmas meeting 2014. It presented thermoelectric properties of materials arising from the project |
| Year(s) Of Engagement Activity | 2014 |
| Description | Workshop on Advanced Materials and Principles to Develop Viable Thermoelectrics & Effective Thermal Management |
| Form Of Engagement Activity | A talk or presentation |
| Part Of Official Scheme? | No |
| Geographic Reach | International |
| Primary Audience | Professional Practitioners |
| Results and Impact | Presentation of results arising from the project as part of a workshop to discuss novel approaches to thermoelectric materials, design, synthesis and characterization. Presentation at this meeting generated discussion and invitations to present further talks at future meetings. |
| Year(s) Of Engagement Activity | 2017 |