Read the following article and explain how thermochemistry can help solve the worlds energy crisis? Do not cite from article use it to explain other ways it could be used.
This is important, they said, because the vast majority of heat that is generated from, for example, a car engine, is lost through the tail pipe. It's the thermoelectric material's job to take that heat and turn it into something useful, like electricity.
The researchers, led by Donald Morelli, a professor of chemical engineering and materials science, developed the material based on natural minerals known as tetrahedrites.
"What we've managed to do is synthesize some compounds that have the same composition as natural minerals," said Morelli, who also directs MSU's Center for Revolutionary Materials for Solid State Energy Conversion. "The mineral family that they mimic is one of the most abundant minerals of this type on Earth -- tetrahedrites.
"By modifying its composition in a very small way, we produced highly efficient thermoelectric materials."
The search to develop new thermoelectric materials has been ongoing. Morelli said that while some new, more efficient materials have been discovered as of late, many of those are not suitable for large-scale applications because they are derived from rare or sometimes toxic elements, or the synthesis procedures are complex and costly.
"Typically you'd mine minerals, purify them into individual elements, and then recombine those elements into new compounds that you anticipate will have good thermoelectric properties," he said. "But that process costs a lot of money and takes a lot of time. Our method bypasses much of that."
The MSU researchers' method involves the use of very common materials, grinding them to a powder, then using pressure and heat to compress into useable sizes.
"It saves tremendously in terms of processing costs," he said.
The researchers expect this discovery could pave the way to many new, low-cost thermoelectric generation opportunities with applications that include waste heat recovery from industrial power plants, conversion of vehicle exhaust gas heat into electricity, and generation of electricity in home-heating furnaces.
The research was published in the online journal Advanced Energy Materials.
The work is supported by a grant from the U.S. Department of Energy/Office of Science. The work is a partnership with the University of Michigan and UCLA. Other institutions involved with the MSU-based center are Northwestern University, the Ohio State University, Wayne State University and Oak Ridge National Laboratory.
New Thermoelectric Material Could Be an Energy Saver
MSU doctoral student Xu Lu is part of a team that has developed a new thermoelectric material. Here Lu works in the MSU Center for Revolutionary Materials for Solid State Energy Conversion. (Credit: Photo by G. L. Kohuth)
ScienceDaily (Nov. 27, 2012) — By using common materials found pretty much anywhere there is dirt, a team of Michigan State University researchers has developed a new thermoelectric material.
The researchers, led by Donald Morelli, a professor of chemical engineering and materials science, developed the material based on natural minerals known as tetrahedrites.
"What we've managed to do is synthesize some compounds that have the same composition as natural minerals," said Morelli, who also directs MSU's Center for Revolutionary Materials for Solid State Energy Conversion. "The mineral family that they mimic is one of the most abundant minerals of this type on Earth -- tetrahedrites.
"By modifying its composition in a very small way, we produced highly efficient thermoelectric materials."
The search to develop new thermoelectric materials has been ongoing. Morelli said that while some new, more efficient materials have been discovered as of late, many of those are not suitable for large-scale applications because they are derived from rare or sometimes toxic elements, or the synthesis procedures are complex and costly.
"Typically you'd mine minerals, purify them into individual elements, and then recombine those elements into new compounds that you anticipate will have good thermoelectric properties," he said. "But that process costs a lot of money and takes a lot of time. Our method bypasses much of that."
The MSU researchers' method involves the use of very common materials, grinding them to a powder, then using pressure and heat to compress into useable sizes.
"It saves tremendously in terms of processing costs," he said.
The researchers expect this discovery could pave the way to many new, low-cost thermoelectric generation opportunities with applications that include waste heat recovery from industrial power plants, conversion of vehicle exhaust gas heat into electricity, and generation of electricity in home-heating furnaces.
The research was published in the online journal Advanced Energy Materials.
The work is supported by a grant from the U.S. Department of Energy/Office of Science. The work is a partnership with the University of Michigan and UCLA. Other institutions involved with the MSU-based center are Northwestern University, the Ohio State University, Wayne State University and Oak Ridge National Laboratory.
Seeing research like this being done at Msu makes me excited To go there! It is amazing how students are able to develop a material that is cheap and is able to change heat energy to electricity. I feel like this could implemented on so many different things to help the energy crisis. We could put it in a suana to reduce the cost of energy used. There's so many objects today that create heat and this new material can reduce the energy cost by so much.
ReplyDeleteThe fact that the energy that is lost from a car can be converted back into electric energy is fascinating. Considering that this is low cost also means that this would probably be used in the near future. Using easily found materials for this kind of thing makes me wonder why this wasn't done earlier.
ReplyDeleteEnergy is lost from the working of a car engine through the tail pipe. scientists have created a material to convert the heat to electricity. This could be applied to everything. People could apply this material to cars and make them a new type of hybrid. this is so revolutionary
ReplyDeleteConverting exhaust lost from a car's tail into electricity? Absolutely amazing. If used correctly, this could change the world. Of course, it should be tested further to see if there are any drawbacks from using it. If it takes more energy to convert it than the energy we are getting back, then it would be useless. Since this process saves both money and time, I believe it is more efficient to use this process.
ReplyDeleteThe fact that college students saw where a car is losing most of its heat is amazing. If we could use this new discovery and turn this lost heat into electricity would lead to many more discoveries. We are always complaining about how we are losing money and the countries debt is outrageous so if doing all of the little things like this helps then lets do it. it might be a little more expensive at first, but the overall cost will be lower if we do this to all cars.this process is by far more efficent then where we are right now. i vote yes on this new discovery, but thats just me :)
ReplyDeleteI think this would be a great advancement for people. This would also help conserve energy that's being lost. In the long run it could also lower gas emission from car exhaust,synthesize electricity in a cost effective way, and recover waste heat from power plants that could potentially be dangerous to the planet. Seeing students initiative to figure out other ways to help the earth and the people on it are inspiring to other students.
ReplyDeleteRealizing that one can convert the exhaust lost from a car's tail into electricity is fascinating and I find it to be quite amazing. There are various ways in which this type of thermochemistry can be used to help solve the worlds energy crisis. If it turns out to work perfectly, it could be used to make new material that would reduce the energy cost. For example, it could be used to make more efficient heaters. It would also affect all the power plants that are used to create energy, allowing them to possibly stop producing harmful gases.
ReplyDeleteI feel as though this is an incredible advancement in technology and will be extremely beneficial to everyone, especially in the power plant industry. Dirt is found pretty much everywhere, and in some areas, that's all that the people are surrounded by, so it would be extremely easy to have new energy sources. Being able to use simple common materials to produce heat and energy can lower the cost of how much people have to pay to use it. It will also be cheaper and easier to create, thus making it more readily available and a plentiful resource. By reducing the number of power plants and type of power plant (those extremely harmful to the ozone/environment), it will reduce the harm being done to the environment, making healthier living situations and protecting the ozone layer. Since global warming is a popular issue/topic of discussion in the news, producing energy from common material is the perfect way to begin reducing it, solving one of many issues. There should be less car exhaust/fumes going into the atmosphere as well. This new discovery,thermochemistry, is amazing, and could definitely be a solution to the world's energy crisis.
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ReplyDeleteEwwwwwww ! my post thingy looked ugly so i'm reposting ! okay okay..
ReplyDeleteOh these geeks !
I think it is neat how the heat form from the car's engine is able to be turned into another energy by using common materials. We're starting to use our resources wisely ! It is also efficient that the MSU researchers are finding a better and cheaper way to perform their procedures. If this all gets carried out the cost of energy would be lower. Energy is a big part of our daily lives. It aids us in cooking, transportation, light, electronics, and more. This discovery may help the world open the doors to more energy. It is hard enough that we are using so much non-renewable resources that is a harm to us. Basically if we can reuse or produce more energy in a feasible way, then why not go for it? We have to advance somehow !
Being able to convert the heat lost in a car's tail pipe into usable electricity to power the car is pretty incredible. This discovery can pave the way for more innovative ways to use this. The ability to transform harmful or useless material into more useful material is amazing and will help the global community. This will be able to reduce the heating cost of homes, enabling more families to be able to afford heat, and convert heat from power plants into energy to power the plant too! This kind of discovery will help everyone.
ReplyDeleteThe article makes the process of creating the compounds sound simple and easy. I wonder why it was discovered just now. I'm excited that this took place in my home state. Way to represent, MSU! This will make cars more efficient and cut down on costs. If we use this technology in all of our wasteful appliances and homes, think about how it will affect global warming!
ReplyDeleteThis new discovery of a new thermoelectric material will be a great advancement in our society for many reasons. One automatic advance that this new materiam brings our society is the fact that it is found in most dirt. Dirt is all around us everywhere, therefore, this material can be found almost everywhere. Also, dirt is free! Unlike most energy sources that cost us money when we get them from other places around the world. Another advancement is that first will be a much cleaner energy source for our environment. Factories will no longer need to be burning as much fuels that harm the earth. As a result, we will get a better control on global warming, which is a huge threat to our world today. This new material possesses many great advancements for our society today.
ReplyDeletethis new advanced material will be a great improvement in society. we'll be able to use our resources a lot more wiser/better. It's gonna be a smarter cheaper way to use what we have. Energy is used everywhere each and everyday, and its something that needs improvement with time passing on. This is mind-blowing, props to the smart people at MSU that were able to come with all this.
ReplyDeleteUsing thermochemistry will help solve the worlds energy crisis because it will decrease the amount of fossil fuels we use annually. The gas we use to fuel our cars releases toxic and harmful fumes. By using thermochemistry, it will be cheaper and more helpful to our environment.
ReplyDeleteThermochemistry can help solve the world energy crisis because it will use dirt instead of gas or other ways used to make enegry to have good, clean enegry. Dirt is everywhere, can be come across easily and can be sold much cheaper then normal energy. Also, it can take left over heat which we do not need anymore and turn it into energy. Using thermochemistry, our world could get cleaner and energy costs could go down.
ReplyDeleteThermochemistry is a fix for energy crisis. In the article, it talked about using minerals like dirt to burn and create energy. To use something like dirt would mean its a somewhat reusable resource. Certain minerals are are EVERYWHERE, making them highly accessable. Reusable resources are a better alternative to our current use of oil/gas and coal.
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