Along with exhaust gases, which are a product of combustion of fuel into the engines, a large amount of energy is thrown into the environment, among other things, the environment, among other things. Of course, it’s no secret that a person has long thought about using the heat of exhaust gas for benefit. But the reasons that restrained scientific progress is a low efficiency level, as well as the too high cost of the thermoelectric type converters. It was these factors that restrained the introduction of technology of such recovery. General Motors Concern a group of researchers with the assistance of scientists at the University of Purdu, actively developing a new type of car thermoelectric converter. Its use will allow the car to “eat” its own exhaust, while simultaneously converting it into electric energy. Such a step will significantly save material on fuel, and also reduce the load on the engine of a hybrid car.
At the beginning of next year, researchers are going to install a sample of the first experimental thermoelectric type converter on the catalytic converter of the exhaust system. In this place, the gas temperature level is maximum and reaches a value of seven hundred degrees Celsius. The prototype is a small semiconductor chip of a square shape, the area of which is only a couple of square centimeters.
However, there is one problem, a thermoelectric type converter will work effectively only if the opposite sides will have a maximum temperature difference. And for these purposes, it is necessary to use metals or their alloys, which do not carry out heat. This is the main problem. General Motors experts rack over her solution. They select minerals for the composition, which received the strange name Skutterite. It represents an alloy of iron, arsenide, cobalt and nickel. Of course, it was possible to go a trodden path and take any rare earth metal. But their large -scale use for industrial purposes will cost the company of too large material and technological costs.
If, nevertheless, scientists can create a new thermoelectric converter, then such a technology will find a lot of spheres for use, not only in the automotive industry. It will become possible to receive energy from hot emissions of various enterprises and power plants. In addition, such a converter will launch the development of a completely new type of solar battery, the capacity of which will be many times higher.
