Summary
A thermoelectric generator with integrated catalytic combustion has been microfabricated and successfully tested. The device consists of a high-temperature silicon-germanium thermopile supported on a thermally insulating silicon nitride membrane. Heat is supplied by catalytic combustion of fuels on the underside of the membrane. Power output has been generated from on-chip autothermal combustion of hydrogen, ammonia and butane, with external power used only to drive mass-flow controllers. The device was stable at temperatures up to 500°C, with thermopile voltages up to 7V and device thermal efficiencies up to 0.02%.
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Schaevitz, S.B., Franz, A.J., Jensen, K.F., Schmidt, M.A. (2001). A Combustion-Based MEMS Thermoelectric Power Generator. In: Obermeier, E. (eds) Transducers ’01 Eurosensors XV. Springer, Berlin, Heidelberg. https://doi.org/10.1007/978-3-642-59497-7_6
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DOI: https://doi.org/10.1007/978-3-642-59497-7_6
Publisher Name: Springer, Berlin, Heidelberg
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