Penn State researchers invent device that converts car exhaust to electricity

Researchers at the Pennsylvania State University (Penn State) have invented a device that converts car exhaust to electricity.

According to a report on 6 March, the device called a thermoelectric generator once attached to a car’s exhaust pipe could convert heat coming from it into electricity and put it to use in the vehicle.

Improving thermoelectric generators 

Although the device is new, the idea of thermoelectric generators isn’t new. 

They are however quite inefficient, as they require a water-cooling system to maintain the temperature differential between the hot and cold side. As a result, they have not been very practical for use in vehicles. 

The new device invented by the researchers and described in the journal ACS Applied Materials & Interfaces is a cylindrical device with fin-like protrusions that wraps around a car’s tailpipe.

With the finned design, it is easy to get hot air in on one side while the other side is cooled by external air. This provides the temperature differential needed for electricity production. 

When tested, the prototype produced a maximum output of 40 Watts, which is enough for low-power applications such as phone-charging.

The output increases with the speed of the vehicle, with up to 56 Watts of power for vehicles driving at high speed, and 146 Watts for helicopters. 

This device is important because majority of vehicles on the road are gas-powered, and most of them are very inefficient. 

They only use a quarter of the fuel’s energy to turn the wheels, with the rest wasted as heat and released via an exhaust pipe.

Rather than allow this heat to be wasted, the new device helps to convert it to electricity which is used in the car.

This makes the vehicle more fuel efficient, and also saves car owners unnecessary expenses for powering their vehicles.

Penn State inventions

Penn State seems to be taking technological development more seriously recently, as is revealed by this invention and previous actions.

Just last month, the university contracted computer giant IBM to build a virtual assistant for its nearly 90,000 students to help them readily access available services.