The National Renewable Energy Laboratory (NREL) has developed a new heat engine that is far more efficient than typical steam turbines. This innovative engine has no moving components and boasts a 40 percent efficiency in converting heat to energy.
The heat engine is a thermophotovoltaic (TPV) cell that can catch high-energy photons from a heat source and convert them into power, similar to the photovoltaic cells in a solar panel.
It can work with a heat source ranging from 1,900 to 2,400 degrees Celsius, according to the engineers.
This heat engine will be used in a grid-scale thermal battery, according to the team. The TPV cell would be able to absorb energy from renewable sources like the sun and store it in banks of heated graphite that are well insulated.
When this energy is required, the engine converts it to electricity and feeds it into the grid.
The heat engine, on the other hand, has only been successfully proven on a limited scale. The researchers are still developing large-scale equipment that will be compatible with fully operating systems.
After that, the system would be scaled up and fossil-fuel-powered power plants would be phased out. This would allow for a completely carbon-free power grid that relied solely on renewable energy sources.
Thermophotovoltaic cells were the final critical step toward demonstrating that thermal batteries are a feasible concept, according to Asegun Henry, a professor at MIT’s Department of Mechanical Engineering. This is a vital step in the transition to a completely decarbonized grid and the proliferation of renewable energy.
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