Pyroelectric energy converter using co-polymer P(VDF-TrFE) and Olsen cycle for waste heat energy harvesting

Abstract This study was concerned with designing, building, and testing a pyroelectric energy converter to directly convert waste heat into electricity. The pyroelectric effect refers to the flow of charges to or from the surface of a material upon heating or cooling. The device consisted of a teflon cylindrical chamber with a piston oscillating vertically and driving a working fluid back and forth between a heat source and a cold heat exchanger. The Olsen cycle was performed on co-polymer 60/40 poly(vinylidene fluoride–trifluoroethylene) [P(VDF-TrFE)] thin films sandwiched between metallic electrodes. Their temperature oscillation, charge, voltage and the overall heat input and output were measured experimentally. Then, the electrical power generated and the energy efficiency were computed. The effects of channel width, frequency, and stroke length on temperature swing, heat input, as well as energy and power densities were investigated. Reducing the channel width and increasing the stroke length had the largest effect on device performance. A maximum energy density of 130 J/l was achieved at 0.061 Hz frequency with temperature oscillating between 69.3 and 87.6 °C. Furthermore, a maximum power density of 10.7 W/l was obtained at 0.12 Hz between 70.5 and 85.3 °C. In both cases, the low and high electric fields in the Olsen cycle were 202 and 739 kV/cm. To the best of our knowledge, this is the largest energy density achieved by any pyroelectric energy converter using P(VDF-TrFE). It also matches performances reported in the literature for more expensive lead zirconate stannate titanate (PZST) ceramic films operated at higher temperatures.

[1]  S. Lang.  Pyroelectricity: From Ancient Curiosity to Modern Imaging Tool , 2005 .

[2]  Hari Singh Nalwa,et al.  Handbook of advanced electronic and photonic materials and devices , 2001 .

[3]  E. W. Jacobs,et al.  Pyroelectric conversion cycle of vinylidene fluoride‐trifluoroethylene copolymer , 1985 .

[4]  M. J. Wheeler.  Heat and Mass Transfer , 1968, Nature.

[5]  Michio Ikura,et al.  Conversion of Low-Grade Heat to Electricity Using Pyroelectric Copolymer , 2002 .

[6]  Christopher S. Lynch,et al.  Purified and porous poly(vinylidene fluoride-trifluoroethylene) thin films for pyroelectric infrared sensing and energy harvesting , 2010, Smart Materials and Structures.

[7]  M. Ozawa,et al.  Scaling of Heat Transfer Characteristics in an Oscillating Flow , 2003 .

[8]  J. Zemel.  Future directions for thermal information sensors , 1996 .

[9]  Saffa Riffat,et al.  Thermoelectrics: a review of present and potential applications , 2003 .

[10]  Xin Zhou,et al.  A Dielectric Polymer with High Electric Energy Density and Fast Discharge Speed , 2006, Science.

[11]  J. Briscoe,et al.  Pyroelectric conversion cycles , 1985 .

[12]  William F. Butler,et al.  A pyroelectric energy converter which employs regeneration , 1981 .

[13]  Chi-Chuan Wang,et al.  Effect of working fluids on organic Rankine cycle for waste heat recovery , 2004 .

[14]  M. Dresselhaus,et al.  High-Thermoelectric Performance of Nanostructured Bismuth Antimony Telluride Bulk Alloys , 2008, Science.

[15]  W. H. Clingman,et al.  Application of Ferroelectricity to Energy Conversion Processes , 1961 .

[16]  Changzheng Yang,et al.  Phase Transitions and Ferroelectric Relaxor Behavior in P(VDF−TrFE−CFE) Terpolymers , 2007 .

[17]  Laurent Pilon,et al.  Pyroelectric energy harvesting using Olsen cycles in purified and porous poly(vinylidene fluoride-trifluoroethylene) [P(VDF-TrFE)] thin films , 2011 .

[18]  Laurent Pilon,et al.  Purified and porous poly(vinylidene fluoride-trifluoroethylene) thin films for pyroelectric infrared sensing and energy harvesting , 2010, Smart Materials and Structures.

[19]  J. Mano,et al.  Characterization of poled and non-poled β-PVDF films using thermal analysis techniques , 2004 .

[20]  Lia Kouchachvili,et al.  Improving the efficiency of pyroelectric conversion , 2008 .

[21]  S. Pierucci,et al.  Applied Thermal Engineering , 2008 .

[22]  A. G. Rakhshtadt,et al.  Material science , 1972 .

[23]  J. Rabolt,et al.  Curie Transition, Ferroelectric Crystal-Structure, and Ferroelectricity of a VDF/TrFE(75/25) Copolymer .1. The Effect of the Consecutive Annealing in the Ferroelectric State on Curie Transition and Ferroelectric Crystal-Structure , 1994 .

[24]  R. B. Olsen,et al.  High efficieincy direct conversion of heat to electrical energy-related pyroelectric measurements , 1982 .

[25]  D. Guyomar,et al.  Nonlinear pyroelectric energy harvesting from relaxor single crystals , 2009, IEEE Transactions on Ultrasonics, Ferroelectrics and Frequency Control.

[26]  R. Olsen,et al.  Ferroelectric Conversion of Heat to Electrical EnergyA Demonstration , 1982 .

[27]  J. Briscoe,et al.  Cascaded pyroelectric energy converter , 1984 .

[28]  Lia Kouchachvili,et al.  Pyroelectric conversion—Effects of P(VDF–TrFE) preconditioning on power conversion , 2007 .

[29]  A. van der Ziel,et al.  Solar power generation with the pyroelectric effect , 1974 .