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Harvesting that heat energy using a thermoelectric generator can increase the fuel efficiency of the car. Thermoelectric generators have been investigated to replace the alternators in cars demonstrating a 3.45% reduction in fuel consumption. [33] Projections for future improvements are up to a 10% increase in mileage for hybrid vehicles. [34]
Diagram of an RTG used on the Cassini probe [1] Diagram of a stack of general-purpose heat source modules as used in RTGs Image of a plutonium RTG pellet glowing red hot.. GPHS-RTG or general-purpose heat source — radioisotope thermoelectric generator, is a specific design of the radioisotope thermoelectric generator (RTG) used on US space missions.
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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.
Thermoelectric cooling uses the Peltier effect to create a heat flux at the junction of two different types of materials. A Peltier cooler, heater, or thermoelectric heat pump is a solid-state active heat pump which transfers heat from one side of the device to the other, with consumption of electrical energy, depending on the direction of the current.
The use of materials with a high Seebeck coefficient [3] is one of many important factors for the efficient behaviour of thermoelectric generators and thermoelectric coolers. More information about high-performance thermoelectric materials can be found in the Thermoelectric materials article.
The efficiency of a thermoelectric device for electricity generation is given by , defined as =.. The maximum efficiency of a thermoelectric device is typically described in terms of its device figure of merit where the maximum device efficiency is approximately given by [7] = + ¯ + ¯ +, where is the fixed temperature at the hot junction, is the fixed temperature at the surface being cooled ...
Diagram of a MMRTG. The multi-mission radioisotope thermoelectric generator (MMRTG) is a type of radioisotope thermoelectric generator (RTG) developed for NASA space missions [1] such as the Mars Science Laboratory (MSL), under the jurisdiction of the United States Department of Energy's Office of Space and Defense Power Systems within the Office of Nuclear Energy.