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Joule heating is caused by interactions between charge carriers (usually electrons) and the body of the conductor. A potential difference between two points of a conductor creates an electric field that accelerates charge carriers in the direction of the electric field, giving them kinetic energy. When the charged particles collide with the ...
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 role of a heat exchanger is to transfer heat between two mediums, so the performance of the heat exchanger is closely related to energy or thermal efficiency. [11] A counter flow heat exchanger is the most efficient type of heat exchanger in transferring heat energy from one circuit to the other [ citation needed ] .
At the atomic scale, a temperature gradient causes charge carriers in the material to diffuse from the hot side to the cold side. This is due to charge carrier particles having higher mean velocities (and thus kinetic energy) at higher temperatures, leading them to migrate on average towards the colder side, in the process carrying heat across the material.
If the waste heat is instead used for district heating, it is called cogeneration. An important class of thermal power station is that associated with desalination facilities; these are typically found in desert countries with large supplies of natural gas, and in these plants freshwater production and electricity are equally important co-products.
Electric heating is a process in which electrical energy is converted directly to heat energy. Common applications include space heating , cooking , water heating and industrial processes. An electric heater is an electrical device that converts an electric current into heat. [ 1 ]
Thermal conduction is the diffusion of thermal energy (heat) within one material or between materials in contact. The higher temperature object has molecules with more kinetic energy; collisions between molecules distributes this kinetic energy until an object has the same kinetic energy throughout.
The U.S. Energy Information Administration gives a general explanation for how to translate a heat rate value into a power plant's efficiency value. [4] Most power plants have a target or design heat rate. If the actual heat rate does not match the target, the difference between the actual and target heat rate is the heat rate deviation.