Thermo-Electric Generators.

Thermo-electric generators convert heat directly into electricity, using the voltage generated at the junction of two different metals. This sounds like an excellent way to generate electric power; there are no moving parts, no working fluids, and very little to go wrong. Unfortunately the process is inefficent, and is not going to displace steam turbines. The output is DC, which is not helpful if you want to use a transformer to change the voltage. Nonetheless, thermoelectric generators were and are used where their special characteristics are needed. Left: Thomas Johann Seebeck (1770-1831) The history of thermoelectric generation begins in 1821 when Thomas Seebeck found that an electrical current would flow in a circuit made from two dissimilar metals, with the junctions at different temperatures. This is called the Seebeck effect. Apart from power generation, it is the basis for the thermocouple, a widely used method of temperature measurement. The voltage produced is proportional to the temperature difference between the two junctions. The proportionality constant a is called the Seebeck coefficient. A series-connected array of thermocouples was known as a "thermopile", by analogy with the Voltaic pile, a chemical battery with the elements stacked on top of each other. The Danish physicist Oersted and the French physicist Fourier invented the first thermo-electric pile in about 1823, using pairs of small antimony and bismuth bars welded in series. The thermopile was further developed by Leopoldo Nobili (1784-1835)and Macedonio Melloni (1798-1854). It was initially used for measurements of temperature and infra-red radiation, but was also rapidly put to use as a stable supply of electricity for other physics experimentation. Left: Georg Simon Ohm (1789-1854) George Simon Ohm was probably the most famous thermopile user. In 1825 he was working on the relationship between current and voltage by connecting wires of differing resistance across a voltaic pile- pretty near short-circuiting it. After an initial surge of current rapid polarization of the pile caused the voltage to decrease steadily, greatly complicating the measurements. Ohm took a colleague's advice and replaced the voltaic pile with a thermopile, and the results were much better. This use of a thermopile is only four years after the discovery of the Seebeck effect, so the idea of the thermopile must have been quickly developed. I have not so far been able to identify the first use of the effect for power generation rather than measurement, but this case must be a candidate. As an aside, Ohm's law met with a very cool reception in his own country; one account soberly states: "Unfortunately, Ohm's law was met with resistance." The Prussian minister of education pronounced that "a professor who preached such heresies was unworthy to teach science." This is the sort of thing that happens when politicians try to involve themselves in science, and in that respect we have progressed little since then.

THE EARLY HISTORY OF THERMO-ELECTRIC GENERATORS Here are displayed some early thermo-electric generators or "thermopiles". I have tried to put them in chronological order but not all have a definite date, so this is rather iffy. The maximum power is obtained from a thermopile when its load resistance is equal to its internal resistance, as with all electrical sources. Since the internal resistance of a chain of thermocouples is very low, this means that it can supply big currents but only low voltages, unless a large number are wired in series. Left: Thermopile by Pouillet: circa 1840. This, I think, is the earliest thermopile I have found so far. Unfortunate ly I have no details on it, and its operation is obscure. It is not clear where the heat is applied; perhaps one brass tank held hot water and the other cold? If so, that would be a much less effective source of heat than a gas flame. In each tank, one of the Lshaped pipes appears to go into a glass vessel, for reasons unknown.

Example in CNAM, the Conservatoire National des Arts et Metiers, in Paris. Author's photograph.

Left: Claude-Servais-Mathias Pouillet: (1790-1868) Claude Pouillet (1790-1868) was a pioneer in the detection of infra-red radiation. He used a "pyroheliometer"- essentially a water calorimeter- to measure the intensity of solar radiation. The apparatus shown above is NOT the pyroheliometer; however it may be some sort of measuring instrument rather than a power source as such. Left: Biolites charging mobile phones after Hurrican e Sandy: 2012 And also heating up some food at the back there. The design of the legs seems to have changed .

THE CURIOSITY MARS ROVER RADIOISOTOPE THERMOELECTRIC GENERATOR (RTG)

Left: The Curiosity RTG (NASA picture) Right now the most important RTG in the solar system is the RTG that powers the Curiosity Mars rover. Solar cells do not work well on Mars, as they cannot function in either the Martian night or the Martian winter. Curiosity is therefore kept rolling by an RTG that contains some 5 kg (10 pounds) of plutonium-238. (not the plutonium-235 used in atom bombs) It is designed to power Curiosity for at least 14 years. The elecrical output is 125W at the start of mission; that will slowly fall to about 100W after 14 years. The initial thermal output is 2 kW. so the efficiency is still only 6% for what is presumably one of the most advanced RTGs in existence. NASA call it the Multi-Mission Radioisotope Thermoelectric Generator, or MMRTG. In pictures of Curiosity the RTG can be seen as a hefty black cylinder sticking out of the back like a tail. It has its very own own Wikipedia page.