Distributed Micro Generation
Trinity College Dublin
Mr. Wayne O’Connell
oconnew@tcd.ie
086 406 9902
Agenda
• Developing Energy Background
• Developing Research Goals
• Trinity College R&D
• 3 year project goals / Summary
1880-1900
A Golden age of Electricity Provisioning
Thomas Edison
Charles Parsons
Nikola Tesla
TCD
Population 1885 = 1.45bn
2010 World Electrical Grid Penetration
Off- Grid Population , 1.45bn
OECD/IEA 2010
Biomass as a Primary Energy Source
Costs of Biomass
•
Homemade paraffin
lamp
500m fires lamps / every night
–
–
–
–
–
Mother/child mortality
Accidents
Deforestation
CO2 emissions / Black Soot
Violence
Child cooking in kitchen hut
Cooking Technology
Cost of No Access
GDP / Energy Consumption
If you could change the price of one thing in the developing world
to alleviate poverty by far you would pick energy
…
Bill Gates , 2010
Universal Modern Energy Access
• Electricity
Cooking
UMEAC = 250kWhr /year
- $33bn for 20 yrs
Research Goals
• Define Project Outcome
– Physical Processes Available
– Needs Assessment
• Understand Resources available
– Technology
– People
– Money
•
Additional Constraints
– Pollution
– Economics
• Scale
Outcomes
• What is Energy
– What do we mean when we want to deliver or
provision energy?
• Important things to consider
– Amount required
– Cost to generate / convert
– Cost to operate
• Adverse impacts?
Needs Assessment Vs UMEAC (BoP)
• What is required to deliver base level services
Device
#
Voltage
(V)
Time
(hrs)
Current(
A)
Energy
(Whr)
LEDs
2
3.7
4
0.35
12
Phone
1
3.7
2
0.5
3
Fan
2
12
5
0.2
12
Radio
1
6
3
02
3
OLPC
1
7
3
3
18
Inc..
50%
Total
buffer
• 75 W Hr/ day
=
25 kWhr / year
• Assumes Biomass/Solar for Cooking
• Compare to UMEAC =
250kW/hr
75
Scope for Baseline energy Delivery to get people on the ladder
at much lower cost !!!
Stove Technology
Rocket Stove
Gasifier Stove
Fuel Oil Stove
Charcoal Stove
The A Solution !!
Heat for Cooking (10-20%)
Waste Heat (75%-90%)
Heat for
Electricity (3-5%)
Charcoal (Biochar) for Fertilizer
Carbon Negative
Why University/Trinity Research
•
•
•
•
Lots of experience on nano-materials which are vital for next gen thermoelectrics
– CRANN
– Materials Indentified / Screening
Accomplished Engineering Tradition (ZT / $)
– Centre For Energy Devices
– Collaboration with Bio-Engineering to develop differentiated low cost high
temperature device
Thermal Conductivity Instrumentation Design Capability
Ongoing Collaboration with developing world
– Irish DFA (Malawi)
– Clinton Global Initiative
– Strong industrial relationships - INTEL
•
Brand Trinity open doors overseas for collaboration
– Irish Aid / European Commission / Center For Climate Justice
– Open Carb
Thermoelectricity
Direct Heat Conversion to Electricity
Snyder, “Complex Thermoelectric Materials”
Thermal Conductivity
Most Accurate in Ireland (plane perpendicular)
R. Kempers, P. Kolodner, A. Lyons & A.J. Robinson,
2008, “A High-Precision Apparatus for the
Characterization of Thermal Interface Materials” Review
of Scientific Instruments, 80, 095111(2009).
doi:10.1063/1.3193715
Thermal Resistance
RTIM
T  T 
 a b
Q
Effective Thermal Conductivity
k eff 
QL
L

ATa  Tb  AR
Unique Features
 Precision calibrated thermistors;
temperature uncertainty of ±0.001K
 Robust uncertainty analysis for all
measured and calculated quantities
 Simultaneous measurement of
electrical resistance
Phase 2 (Tony Robinson)
 Films / Nanowires
 Test Concept Development
 In plane
 Combined ZT
 Biggest Challenge
 Personnel Resources (New Blood /Grep
/IRCSET) ????
TCD Stove Characterization
Bio-Engineering Collaboration Opp.
• Early Discussion with Kevin (O’Kelly)
• Leverage institutional knowledge of functional ceramics
– Joints
• Kevin has relationships with Schvets/Gunkos synthesis
Post Doc from a sabbatical partner
• Device Development, 2-3 stage process
– Goal is 1/10 the cost of existing devices at > 50% of output
• Absolutely disruptive !!! (Not just for this application _
– Co-Generation , Industrial Energy Harvesting
System Benefits
• Stove
– 1.0 – 3 T CO2 offset per year ($20-$60)
– 80% + reduction in particulates/ IAP
• Reduction in CO and other VOC’s
• Impact on Bronchial Health
– Reduction in Time Spent Collecting Wood
• Reduced burden on women and children
• Deforestation
– Crop Fertilization (if gassifier/biochar used)
• Carbon Sequestration (500 yr lifetime)
• Electricity
– Night Light = 3 Extra Hours
– Mobile Phones / Laptop = Information Age
– Income Generation / Socialization / Comfort
Key Differentiation of future TCD Device
•
Features
Advantage
Benefits
Ferrite TEG Material
Low Cost
Device Cost Reduction
(Ceramic)
Material Abundance
Future Cost Trajectory/Scale
Material Robustness
Long life implies lower op cost
per installed capital $
High Temp Capability Reduces Engineering
integration Cost Compared to
current material
Ceramic Material
Sandwich
Well understood
manuf. process
Low Cost and Scalable process
Direct Sintering of
Heat Sink to TEG
Reduced System cost through
simplified thermal eng
3 yr Goals
Year 1 –
3 W Power Plant (Rocket)
10 Whr battery Storage
2 LED / Mobile Phone / Radio System Validation
Proof of Concept and Utilization in Malawi
Year 2 –
10W Power Plant (30Whr Storage)
50% x cost / efficiency improvement
Gasifier / Fuel Oil Versions
Biochar / Fertilizer Model
Franchisee Model
Solar Demonstration
Patent Portfolio
CDM Application
Year 3 –
20W Power Plant (250Whr Storage)
Solar/Thermal Combination
Electric Devices Distribution
Power
3W Cost 10W
Device
RoadMap
25W
Energy
Capacity
10Wh
30Whr
75Whr
Year 1 BoM
$100
$125
$ 200
Year 1 Price
$150
$185
-
Year 2 BoM
$50
$70
$100
Year 2 Price
$70
$105
$150
Year 3 BoM
$20
$35
$68
Year 3 Price
$30
$50
$105
$37.5 bn for 300m stoves (1.5 m users)
Universal Modern Energy Access Case
• Electricity
Cooking
Reducing the Cost of Electricity Access
Globally - Who is resourced to Pay
Carbon
Philanthropy
Fossil Fuel Sub
Mobile/ICT
(Capoor and Ambrosi, 2009)
In Summary
• Today more people lack access to electricity
than were alive when Edison invented modern
electricity provisioning
• Access to energy/electricity is one of the key
determinants of developing world growth
• Micro-Generation from Biomass is a viable low
cost strategy for 1st level electricity/energy
delivery to the BoP
• Trinity is determined to play a leading academic
social and economic role in topical energy
programme with our development partner(s),
Irish Aid
Team (TCD)
• Tony Robinson/ Kempers et al
– PI/Lecturer in Thermodynamics/Test
• Chloe Kinsella / Sean ?Shane
– Gold Medal TCD Graduate - M.Sc. Student
ESBi - Energy Trading
• Seamus O’Shaughnessy/Aonghus
– Heat & Mass Transfer
• Maurice Deasy
– MSc Student
• Igor Schvets / John Boland
– CRANN (Materials)
• Kevin O’Kelly et al
– Bioengineering