Abstract:
A thermal energy removal system is provided to cool a rail of a railway track in a self-powered mode and/or an externally-powered mode. The system comprises a cooling module configured to mount on a side of the rail to remove heat stored inside the rail. The cooling module includes a solid state electrical insulation sandwiched between a plate and a heat sink. The cooling module further includes a first terminal and a second terminal. The first and second terminals to provide an electric energy source based on the heat extracted and harnessed for powering at least one of an electronic circuit, a light source, and a communication device associated with railways infrastructure.
Abstract:
The present invention relates to a thermoelectric device which comprises: a layer of a non-magnetic material (NM) disposed over a layer of a magnetic material (F), wherein said layers form a first bi-layer junction (NM1/F1) of materials having spin Seebeck effect properties; and at least one second bi-layer junction of non-magnetic and magnetic materials (NM2/F2) having spin current transmission properties; wherein the second bi-layer junction (NM2/F2) is arranged to form, together with the first bi-layer junction (NM1/F1), a multilayer structure of materials having an amplified spin Seebeck effect compared to that of the first bi-layer junction (NM1/F1) alone. An optimized device can be obtained by stacking sequences of these bi-layers in a multilayered structure n×(NM/F). The invention provides improved spin Seebeck thermoelectric devices, through a novel arrangement of materials which provide a substantial amplification of the spin pumped currents within the multilayer structure, thus generating enhanced voltage signals compared to those present in the prior art.
Abstract:
There is provided a thermionic energy conversion device (10,11) comprising an emitter (cathode) (5); a collector (anode) (6); an electrical insulator (2) separating the emitter (5) and the collector (6); a negatively charged field inducing layer (4, 3) adapted to induce a field, the field inducing layer (4, 3) arranged distal the emitter (5) with the collector (6) there between, wherein in use, the device (10,11) is heated such that electrons are excited to escape from the emitter (5) towards the field inducing layer; and the electrons are repelled by the field towards the collector (6) for collection by the collector (6), thereby causing the collector (6) to raise in potential with respect to the emitter (5).