{"id":26063,"date":"2023-07-31T23:25:31","date_gmt":"2023-08-01T03:25:31","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/www.investorsradar.com\/?p=26063"},"modified":"2023-08-01T03:26:51","modified_gmt":"2023-08-01T07:26:51","slug":"turning-waste-heat-into-energy-could-power-cooling-devices","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"http:\/\/www.investorsradar.com\/turning-waste-heat-into-energy-could-power-cooling-devices\/","title":{"rendered":"Turning Waste Heat Into Energy Could Power Cooling Devices"},"content":{"rendered":"<div>\n<div id=\"attachment_534363\" style=\"width: 594px\" class=\"wp-caption aligncenter\"><noscript><\/noscript><img loading=\"lazy\" aria-describedby=\"caption-attachment-534363\" decoding=\"async\" class=\"lazyload wp-image-534363 size-large\" src=\"https:\/\/www.technology.org\/texorgwp\/wp-content\/uploads\/2023\/07\/air-conditioner-compressors-720x480.jpg\" alt=\"Air conditioner compressors outside the building. These devices could be partially powered by waste heat energy captured from different sources. \" width=\"584\" height=\"389\" srcset=\"https:\/\/www.technology.org\/texorgwp\/wp-content\/uploads\/2023\/07\/air-conditioner-compressors-720x480.jpg 720w, https:\/\/www.technology.org\/texorgwp\/wp-content\/uploads\/2023\/07\/air-conditioner-compressors-400x267.jpg 400w, https:\/\/www.technology.org\/texorgwp\/wp-content\/uploads\/2023\/07\/air-conditioner-compressors-768x512.jpg 768w, https:\/\/www.technology.org\/texorgwp\/wp-content\/uploads\/2023\/07\/air-conditioner-compressors-450x300.jpg 450w, https:\/\/www.technology.org\/texorgwp\/wp-content\/uploads\/2023\/07\/air-conditioner-compressors.jpg 800w\" data-sizes=\"(max-width: 584px) 100vw, 584px\"\/><\/p>\n<p id=\"caption-attachment-534363\" class=\"wp-caption-text\">Air conditioner compressors outside the building. These devices could be partially powered by waste heat energy captured from different sources. Image credit: Kien Nguyen via Unsplash, free license<\/p>\n<\/div>\n<p>Researchers at the University of Tokyo have generated electricity from latent heat, the energy created when a substance transitions from a solid, liquid, or gas into another state.<\/p>\n<p>This achievement will push forward the possibilities of thermocells, devices which use temperature changes to create electricity, known as thermoelectric conversion.<\/p>\n<p>As all materials are able to undergo phase transitions under the right circumstances, this research supports the idea that a wide variety of materials have the potential to be used for thermoelectric conversion.<\/p>\n<p>Latent heat that once was wasted could instead be used to enable devices to create their own energy while cooling themselves down, reducing the reliance on other energy sources.<\/p>\n<div id=\"attachment_534362\" style=\"width: 730px\" class=\"wp-caption aligncenter\"><noscript><img loading=\"lazy\" aria-describedby=\"caption-attachment-534362\" decoding=\"async\" class=\"wp-image-534362 size-large\" src=\"https:\/\/www.technology.org\/texorgwp\/wp-content\/uploads\/2023\/07\/air-conditioning-equipment-building-720x540.jpg\" alt=\"Keeping cool. Two-thirds of the world\u2019s air conditioners are used in China, the U.S. and Japan. In Asia, most of those are residential air conditioners rather than commercial, so finding a cheaper way to power them could help the general public save money. \" width=\"720\" height=\"540\" srcset=\"https:\/\/www.technology.org\/texorgwp\/wp-content\/uploads\/2023\/07\/air-conditioning-equipment-building-720x540.jpg 720w, https:\/\/www.technology.org\/texorgwp\/wp-content\/uploads\/2023\/07\/air-conditioning-equipment-building-400x301.jpg 400w, https:\/\/www.technology.org\/texorgwp\/wp-content\/uploads\/2023\/07\/air-conditioning-equipment-building-160x120.jpg 160w, https:\/\/www.technology.org\/texorgwp\/wp-content\/uploads\/2023\/07\/air-conditioning-equipment-building-768x577.jpg 768w, https:\/\/www.technology.org\/texorgwp\/wp-content\/uploads\/2023\/07\/air-conditioning-equipment-building-399x300.jpg 399w, https:\/\/www.technology.org\/texorgwp\/wp-content\/uploads\/2023\/07\/air-conditioning-equipment-building.jpg 800w\" sizes=\"(max-width: 720px) 100vw, 720px\"\/><\/noscript><img loading=\"lazy\" aria-describedby=\"caption-attachment-534362\" decoding=\"async\" class=\"lazyload wp-image-534362 size-large\" src=\"https:\/\/www.technology.org\/texorgwp\/wp-content\/uploads\/2023\/07\/air-conditioning-equipment-building-720x540.jpg\" alt=\"Keeping cool. Two-thirds of the world\u2019s air conditioners are used in China, the U.S. and Japan. In Asia, most of those are residential air conditioners rather than commercial, so finding a cheaper way to power them could help the general public save money. \" width=\"720\" height=\"540\" srcset=\"https:\/\/www.technology.org\/texorgwp\/wp-content\/uploads\/2023\/07\/air-conditioning-equipment-building-720x540.jpg 720w, https:\/\/www.technology.org\/texorgwp\/wp-content\/uploads\/2023\/07\/air-conditioning-equipment-building-400x301.jpg 400w, https:\/\/www.technology.org\/texorgwp\/wp-content\/uploads\/2023\/07\/air-conditioning-equipment-building-160x120.jpg 160w, https:\/\/www.technology.org\/texorgwp\/wp-content\/uploads\/2023\/07\/air-conditioning-equipment-building-768x577.jpg 768w, https:\/\/www.technology.org\/texorgwp\/wp-content\/uploads\/2023\/07\/air-conditioning-equipment-building-399x300.jpg 399w, https:\/\/www.technology.org\/texorgwp\/wp-content\/uploads\/2023\/07\/air-conditioning-equipment-building.jpg 800w\" data-sizes=\"(max-width: 720px) 100vw, 720px\"\/><\/p>\n<p id=\"caption-attachment-534362\" class=\"wp-caption-text\">Keeping cool. Two-thirds of the world\u2019s air conditioners are used in China, the U.S. and Japan. In Asia, most of those are residential air conditioners rather than commercial, so finding a cheaper way to power them could help the general public save money. Image credit: Alexandre Lecocq via Unsplash, free license<\/p>\n<\/div>\n<p>We hit the hottest recorded day on Earth this summer, so if you\u2019re lucky enough to have an air conditioner, then you\u2019ve probably had it whirring away at some point (if not all day).<\/p>\n<p>Rising summer temperatures and growing technology use mean that the demand for cooling systems for both homes and industry is increasing.<\/p>\n<p>Air conditioning and refrigeration technologies are already major energy users, so meeting this growing demand is a challenge for countries trying to reach their United Nations\u2019 Sustainable Development Goals aimed at improving the environment and people\u2019s lives.<\/p>\n<p>But what if we could use at least some of the waste generated by these cooling systems to help generate the electricity needed to power them, in a low-cost, low-carbon way?<\/p>\n<p>Researchers at the University of Tokyo became interested in the potential of latent heat energy created when a substance phase transitions from one state into another, for example, when the water inside an air conditioner evaporates and condenses to create the cooling effect.<\/p>\n<p>Unlike the hot air that you feel blasting outside from an aircon unit, the latent heat created by the water inside is almost imperceptible. Thermoelectric conversion uses heat to generate electricity, and one device that can do that is the thermocell.<\/p>\n<div id=\"attachment_534292\" style=\"width: 594px\" class=\"wp-caption aligncenter\"><noscript><img loading=\"lazy\" aria-describedby=\"caption-attachment-534292\" decoding=\"async\" class=\"size-large wp-image-534292\" src=\"https:\/\/www.technology.org\/texorgwp\/wp-content\/uploads\/2023\/07\/400219061-720x540.jpg\" alt=\"\" width=\"584\" height=\"438\" srcset=\"https:\/\/www.technology.org\/texorgwp\/wp-content\/uploads\/2023\/07\/400219061-720x540.jpg 720w, https:\/\/www.technology.org\/texorgwp\/wp-content\/uploads\/2023\/07\/400219061-400x300.jpg 400w, https:\/\/www.technology.org\/texorgwp\/wp-content\/uploads\/2023\/07\/400219061-160x120.jpg 160w, https:\/\/www.technology.org\/texorgwp\/wp-content\/uploads\/2023\/07\/400219061-768x576.jpg 768w, https:\/\/www.technology.org\/texorgwp\/wp-content\/uploads\/2023\/07\/400219061.jpg 1333w\" sizes=\"(max-width: 584px) 100vw, 584px\"\/><\/noscript><img loading=\"lazy\" aria-describedby=\"caption-attachment-534292\" decoding=\"async\" class=\"lazyload size-large wp-image-534292\" src=\"https:\/\/www.technology.org\/texorgwp\/wp-content\/uploads\/2023\/07\/400219061-720x540.jpg\" alt=\"\" width=\"584\" height=\"438\" srcset=\"https:\/\/www.technology.org\/texorgwp\/wp-content\/uploads\/2023\/07\/400219061-720x540.jpg 720w, https:\/\/www.technology.org\/texorgwp\/wp-content\/uploads\/2023\/07\/400219061-400x300.jpg 400w, https:\/\/www.technology.org\/texorgwp\/wp-content\/uploads\/2023\/07\/400219061-160x120.jpg 160w, https:\/\/www.technology.org\/texorgwp\/wp-content\/uploads\/2023\/07\/400219061-768x576.jpg 768w, https:\/\/www.technology.org\/texorgwp\/wp-content\/uploads\/2023\/07\/400219061.jpg 1333w\" data-sizes=\"(max-width: 584px) 100vw, 584px\"\/><\/p>\n<p id=\"caption-attachment-534292\" class=\"wp-caption-text\">Experimental thermocell setup. Electrochemical refrigeration is currently not generally used or commercialized due to its low performance compared with other options, such as electrical refrigeration. However, this research may change that. Image credit: Yamada<\/p>\n<\/div>\n<p>The team created their own thermocell using a hydrogel \u2014 a water-rich polymer material \u2014 called PNIPAM, which they modified with a compound called viologen. This modified hydrogel contained a thermo-responsive polymer, meaning that the polymer reacted to temperature change, in this case being soluble in cool water but insoluble in hot water.<\/p>\n<p>With this thermocell, they were successfully able to use the very small amount of latent heat energy generated by the phase transition \u2014 between soluble and insoluble \u2014 to create electricity.<\/p>\n<p>\u201cFor the first time, we\u2019ve confirmed that latent heat has the potential to be used for thermoelectric conversion,\u201d said Professor Teppei Yamada from the Department of Chemistry at the University of Tokyo\u2019s Graduate School of Science.<\/p>\n<p>\u201cWe believe we can use various kinds of materials for thermocells. Every substance in the world can phase transition under the right conditions: for example, cream into ice-cream, sand into glass, water into steam, etc. With this method, in principle, it is possible to extract electrical energy from even the slightest temperature difference, greatly increasing the number of situations in which thermoelectric conversion can be used.\u201d<\/p>\n<p>The performance of a thermocell is assessed by how much voltage can be generated from a small temperature difference, which is called the Seebeck coefficient. The higher the Seebeck coefficient, the more electrical energy can be extracted.<\/p>\n<p>The Seebeck coefficient of thermocells using organic compounds is usually less than 1 microvolt (one-millionth of a volt) per kelvin unit of temperature, but in this test they exceeded 2 microvolts per kelvin.<\/p>\n<p>\u201cThis is a remarkable achievement,\u201d said Yamada. \u201cAlthough we have previously created thermocells which produce 2 microvolts per kelvin by using a change in pH, this is the first time that the energy from a phase transition was directly used.\u201d<\/p>\n<div id=\"attachment_534293\" style=\"width: 410px\" class=\"wp-caption alignnone\"><noscript><img loading=\"lazy\" aria-describedby=\"caption-attachment-534293\" decoding=\"async\" class=\"wp-image-534293 size-medium\" src=\"https:\/\/www.technology.org\/texorgwp\/wp-content\/uploads\/2023\/07\/400219062-400x394.png\" alt=\"Diagram of phase transitions in the thermocell. This diagram illustrates the polymer phase transitions of the modified PNIPAM hydrogel, showing how the polymer elongates into a coil and dissolves at low temperatures, and curls up into a globule and becomes solid at high temperatures. When used as a thermocell battery, temperatures above 25 degrees Celsius generated a voltage. \" width=\"400\" height=\"394\" srcset=\"https:\/\/www.technology.org\/texorgwp\/wp-content\/uploads\/2023\/07\/400219062-400x394.png 400w, https:\/\/www.technology.org\/texorgwp\/wp-content\/uploads\/2023\/07\/400219062-548x540.png 548w, https:\/\/www.technology.org\/texorgwp\/wp-content\/uploads\/2023\/07\/400219062-768x757.png 768w, https:\/\/www.technology.org\/texorgwp\/wp-content\/uploads\/2023\/07\/400219062-305x300.png 305w, https:\/\/www.technology.org\/texorgwp\/wp-content\/uploads\/2023\/07\/400219062.png 1015w\" sizes=\"(max-width: 400px) 100vw, 400px\"\/><\/noscript><img loading=\"lazy\" aria-describedby=\"caption-attachment-534293\" decoding=\"async\" class=\"lazyload wp-image-534293 size-medium\" src=\"https:\/\/www.technology.org\/texorgwp\/wp-content\/uploads\/2023\/07\/400219062-400x394.png\" alt=\"Diagram of phase transitions in the thermocell. This diagram illustrates the polymer phase transitions of the modified PNIPAM hydrogel, showing how the polymer elongates into a coil and dissolves at low temperatures, and curls up into a globule and becomes solid at high temperatures. When used as a thermocell battery, temperatures above 25 degrees Celsius generated a voltage. \" width=\"400\" height=\"394\" srcset=\"https:\/\/www.technology.org\/texorgwp\/wp-content\/uploads\/2023\/07\/400219062-400x394.png 400w, https:\/\/www.technology.org\/texorgwp\/wp-content\/uploads\/2023\/07\/400219062-548x540.png 548w, https:\/\/www.technology.org\/texorgwp\/wp-content\/uploads\/2023\/07\/400219062-768x757.png 768w, https:\/\/www.technology.org\/texorgwp\/wp-content\/uploads\/2023\/07\/400219062-305x300.png 305w, https:\/\/www.technology.org\/texorgwp\/wp-content\/uploads\/2023\/07\/400219062.png 1015w\" data-sizes=\"(max-width: 400px) 100vw, 400px\"\/><\/p>\n<p id=\"caption-attachment-534293\" class=\"wp-caption-text\">Diagram of phase transitions in the thermocell. This diagram illustrates the polymer phase transitions of the modified PNIPAM hydrogel, showing how the polymer elongates into a coil and dissolves at low temperatures, and curls up into a globule and becomes solid at high temperatures. When used as a thermocell battery, temperatures above 25 degrees Celsius generated a voltage. Image credit: Zhou et al., University of Tokyo<\/p>\n<\/div>\n<p>The researchers hope that this work will help to improve refrigeration technology, temperature management devices and other tech like temperature sensors.<\/p>\n<p>\u201cWe have already reached the stage where we can consider practical applications of thermocells. For example, we expect it would be possible to generate electricity while cooling a server room or the engine of a car,\u201d said Yamada.<\/p>\n<p>\u201cThe real challenge now is that this technology is not well known, so we need industry, government and academia to work together to achieve rapid social implementation.\u201d<\/p>\n<p class=\"western\"><span style=\"font-family: Times New Roman, serif;\"><span style=\"font-size: medium;\">Source: <a rel=\"nofollow noopener\" href=\"https:\/\/www.u-tokyo.ac.jp\/focus\/en\/press\/z0508_00299.html\" target=\"_blank\">University of Tokyo<\/a><\/span><\/span><\/p>\n<\/div>\n<p><script type=\"ae2dc4b3146c367978d59f99-text\/javascript\">\n!function(f,b,e,v,n,t,s){if(f.fbq)return;n=f.fbq=function(){n.callMethod?\nn.callMethod.apply(n,arguments):n.queue.push(arguments)};if(!f._fbq)f._fbq=n;\nn.push=n;n.loaded=!0;n.version='2.0';n.queue=[];t=b.createElement(e);t.async=!0;\nt.src=v;s=b.getElementsByTagName(e)[0];s.parentNode.insertBefore(t,s)}(window,\ndocument,'script','https:\/\/connect.facebook.net\/en_US\/fbevents.js');\nfbq('init', '1254095111342376');\nfbq('track', 'PageView');\n<\/script><\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"<p>Air conditioner compressors outside the building. These devices could be partially powered by waste heat energy captured from different sources. Image credit: Kien Nguyen via Unsplash, free license Researchers at the University of Tokyo have generated electricity from latent heat, the energy created when a substance transitions from a solid, liquid, or gas into another [&hellip;]<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":4,"featured_media":26064,"comment_status":"closed","ping_status":"open","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"slim_seo":[],"footnotes":""},"categories":[30],"tags":[2565,1113,1431,4759,2166,4005,4064],"class_list":["post-26063","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","has-post-thumbnail","hentry","category-tech","tag-cooling","tag-devices","tag-energy","tag-heat","tag-power","tag-turning","tag-waste"],"_links":{"self":[{"href":"http:\/\/www.investorsradar.com\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/26063"}],"collection":[{"href":"http:\/\/www.investorsradar.com\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"http:\/\/www.investorsradar.com\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"http:\/\/www.investorsradar.com\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/4"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"http:\/\/www.investorsradar.com\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=26063"}],"version-history":[{"count":0,"href":"http:\/\/www.investorsradar.com\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/26063\/revisions"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"http:\/\/www.investorsradar.com\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media\/26064"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"http:\/\/www.investorsradar.com\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=26063"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"http:\/\/www.investorsradar.com\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=26063"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"http:\/\/www.investorsradar.com\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=26063"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}