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A thermoelectric generator (TEG), also called a Seebeck generator, is a solid state device that converts heat (driven by temperature differences) directly into electrical energy through a phenomenon called the Seebeck effect [1] (a form of thermoelectric effect).
The Seebeck coefficient (also known as thermopower, [1] thermoelectric power, and thermoelectric sensitivity) of a material is a measure of the magnitude of an induced thermoelectric voltage in response to a temperature difference across that material, as induced by the Seebeck effect. [2]
The thermoelectric effect is the direct conversion of temperature differences to electric voltage and vice versa via a thermocouple. [1] A thermoelectric device creates a voltage when there is a different temperature on each side. Conversely, when a voltage is applied to it, heat is transferred from one side to the other, creating a temperature ...
The generator contains the strontium-90 radioisotope, with a heating power of 250W and 1,480 TBq of radioactivity – equivalent to some 280 grams (9.9 oz) of Sr-90. [4] Mass-scale production of RTGs in the Soviet Union was the responsibility of a plant called Baltiyets, in Narva , Estonia .
The Multihundred-watt radioisotope thermoelectric generator (MHW RTG) is a type of US radioisotope thermoelectric generator (RTG) developed for the Voyager spacecraft, Voyager 1 and Voyager 2. [1] The Voyager generators continue to function more than 45 years into the mission.
Thomas Johann Seebeck (1780–1831) discovered the thermoelectric effect in 1821. The symmetrical Peltier effect (Jean Charles Athanse Peltier, 1785–1845) uses an electric current to produce temperature differences. In the middle part of the twentieth century the thermo-electric generator was often used in place of galvanic batteries. [2]
The generator high-voltage leads are connected to step-up transformers for connecting to a high-voltage electrical substation (usually in the range of 115 kV to 765 kV) for further transmission by the local power grid.
Diagram of an RTG used on the Cassini probe. A radioisotope thermoelectric generator (RTG, RITEG), sometimes referred to as a radioisotope power system (RPS), is a type of nuclear battery that uses an array of thermocouples to convert the heat released by the decay of a suitable radioactive material into electricity by the Seebeck effect.