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Harvesting low-grade heat energy using thermo-osmotic vapour transport through nanoporous membranes

Author

Listed:
  • Anthony P. Straub

    (Yale University)

  • Ngai Yin Yip

    (Columbia University)

  • Shihong Lin

    (Vanderbilt University)

  • Jongho Lee

    (Yale University)

  • Menachem Elimelech

    (Yale University)

Abstract

Low-grade heat from sources below 100 ∘C offers a vast quantity of energy. The ability to extract this energy, however, is limited with existing technologies as they are not well-suited to harvest energy from sources with variable heat output or with a small temperature difference between the source and the environment. Here, we present a process for extracting energy from low-grade heat sources utilizing hydrophobic, nanoporous membranes that trap air within their pores when submerged in a liquid. By driving a thermo-osmotic vapour flux across the membrane from a hot reservoir to a pressurized cold reservoir, heat energy can be converted to mechanical work. We demonstrate operation of air-trapping membranes under hydraulic pressures up to 13 bar, show that power densities as high as 3.53 ± 0.29 W m−2 are achievable with a 60 ∘C heat source and a 20 ∘C heat sink, and estimate the efficiency of a full-scale system. The results demonstrate a promising process to harvest energy from low-temperature differences (

Suggested Citation

  • Anthony P. Straub & Ngai Yin Yip & Shihong Lin & Jongho Lee & Menachem Elimelech, 2016. "Harvesting low-grade heat energy using thermo-osmotic vapour transport through nanoporous membranes," Nature Energy, Nature, vol. 1(7), pages 1-6, July.
    • Handle: RePEc:nat:natene:v:1:y:2016:i:7:d:10.1038_nenergy.2016.90
    DOI: 10.1038/nenergy.2016.90
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    Cited by:

    1. Zhang, Zeyu & Hanrahan, Brendan & Shi, Chuan & Khaligh, Alireza, 2018. "Management and storage of energy converted via a pyroelectric heat engine," Applied Energy, Elsevier, vol. 230(C), pages 1326-1331.
    2. Ali, Aamer & Tufa, Ramato Ashu & Macedonio, Francesca & Curcio, Efrem & Drioli, Enrico, 2018. "Membrane technology in renewable-energy-driven desalination," Renewable and Sustainable Energy Reviews, Elsevier, vol. 81(P1), pages 1-21.
    3. Igor Burmistrov & Rita Khanna & Nikolay Gorshkov & Nikolay Kiselev & Denis Artyukhov & Elena Boychenko & Andrey Yudin & Yuri Konyukhov & Maksim Kravchenko & Alexander Gorokhovsky & Denis Kuznetsov, 2022. "Advances in Thermo-Electrochemical (TEC) Cell Performances for Harvesting Low-Grade Heat Energy: A Review," Sustainability, MDPI, vol. 14(15), pages 1-17, August.
    4. Long, Rui & Zhao, Yanan & Luo, Zuoqing & Li, Lei & Liu, Zhichun & Liu, Wei, 2020. "Alternative thermal regenerative osmotic heat engines for low-grade heat harvesting," Energy, Elsevier, vol. 195(C).
    5. Luo, Qizhao & Pei, Junxian & Yun, Panfeng & Hu, Xuejiao & Cao, Bin & Shan, Kunpeng & Tang, Bin & Huang, Kaiming & Chen, Aofei & Huang, Lu & Huang, Zhi & Jiang, Haifeng, 2023. "Simultaneous water production and electricity generation driven by synergistic temperature-salinity gradient in thermo-osmosis process," Applied Energy, Elsevier, vol. 351(C).
    6. Tian, Tong & Wang, Xinyue & Liu, Yang & Yang, Xuan & Sun, Bo & Li, Ji, 2023. "Nano-engineering enabled heat pipe battery: A powerful heat transfer infrastructure with capability of power generation," Applied Energy, Elsevier, vol. 348(C).
    7. Weipeng Xian & Xiuhui Zuo & Changjia Zhu & Qing Guo & Qing-Wei Meng & Xincheng Zhu & Sai Wang & Shengqian Ma & Qi Sun, 2022. "Anomalous thermo-osmotic conversion performance of ionic covalent-organic-framework membranes in response to charge variations," Nature Communications, Nature, vol. 13(1), pages 1-8, December.
    8. Shi, Yu & Li, Yanxiang & Zhang, Liang & Li, Jun & Fu, Qian & Zhu, Xun & Liao, Qiang, 2022. "Development of a membrane-less microfluidic thermally regenerative ammonia-based battery towards small-scale low-grade thermal energy recovery," Applied Energy, Elsevier, vol. 326(C).
    9. Cai, Yuhao & Qian, Xin & Su, Ruihang & Jia, Xiongjie & Ying, Jinhui & Zhao, Tianshou & Jiang, Haoran, 2024. "Thermo-electrochemical modeling of thermally regenerative flow batteries," Applied Energy, Elsevier, vol. 355(C).
    10. Xu, Haowei & Zhang, Qiang & Yi, Longbing & Huang, Shaolin & Yang, Hao & Li, Yanan & Guo, Zhe & Hu, Haoyang & Sun, Peng & Tan, Xiaojian & Liu, Guo-qiang & Song, Kun & Jiang, Jun, 2022. "High performance of Bi2Te3-based thermoelectric generator owing to pressure in fabrication process," Applied Energy, Elsevier, vol. 326(C).
    11. Vicari, Fabrizio & Galia, Alessandro & Scialdone, Onofrio, 2021. "Development of a membrane-less microfluidic thermally regenerative ammonia battery," Energy, Elsevier, vol. 225(C).
    12. Chiolerio, Alessandro & Garofalo, Erik & Mattiussi, Fabio & Crepaldi, Marco & Fortunato, Giuseppe & Iovieno, Michele, 2020. "Waste heat to power conversion by means of thermomagnetic hydrodynamic energy harvester," Applied Energy, Elsevier, vol. 277(C).
    13. Zadeh, Ali Etemad & Touati, Khaled & Mulligan, Catherine N. & McCutcheon, Jeffrey R. & Rahaman, Md. Saifur, 2022. "Closed-loop pressure retarded osmosis draw solutions and their regeneration processes: A review," Renewable and Sustainable Energy Reviews, Elsevier, vol. 159(C).
    14. Yang, Wei & Bao, Jingjing & Liu, Hongtao & Zhang, Jun & Guo, Lin, 2023. "Low-grade heat to hydrogen: Current technologies, challenges and prospective," Renewable and Sustainable Energy Reviews, Elsevier, vol. 188(C).
    15. Yang, Rui & Meir, Avishai & Ramon, Guy Z., 2020. "Theoretical performance characteristics of a travelling-wave phase-change thermoacoustic engine for low-grade heat recovery," Applied Energy, Elsevier, vol. 261(C).
    16. Long, Rui & Zhao, Yanan & Li, Mingliang & Pan, Yao & Liu, Zhichun & Liu, Wei, 2021. "Evaluations of adsorbents and salt-methanol solutions for low-grade heat driven osmotic heat engines," Energy, Elsevier, vol. 229(C).
    17. Mai, Van-Phung & Yang, Ruey-Jen, 2020. "Boosting power generation from salinity gradient on high-density nanoporous membrane using thermal effect," Applied Energy, Elsevier, vol. 274(C).

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