Abstract Ragone plot showing power density (kW/kg) and energy density (kWh/kg) is widely used for batteries, fuel cells and other energy conversion technologies. This is particularly useful for transportation and mobile applications where the weight is a key limiting factor. Here, we present for the first time, Ragone plot for scalable fuel-burning thermoelectric power generators. Optimizing thermoelectric leg geometry, the highest power and energy densities nearly scale with the square root of the material figure-of-merit (ZT). Internal heat recovery can improve fuel economy by 350% (reaching an efficiency >20% for a temperature independent ZTavg ~0.5), however, there is a trade-off due to the additional mass of heat exchanger hence the reduced power density. Prospects for electrification of particularly compact and unmanned vehicles are discussed. We foresee the potential of using fuel to drive fully-electric vehicles with high temperature thermoelectric generators. Development of the technologies for high heat transfer, reliable and robust contacts, and high ZT over a wide temperature range presents opportunities in the future energy landscape for mobile applications.

中文翻译：

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未来电动汽车的燃料燃烧热电发电机

摘要 Ragone 图显示功率密度 (kW/kg) 和能量密度 (kWh/kg) 广泛用于电池、燃料电池和其他能量转换技术。这对于重量是关键限制因素的运输和移动应用特别有用。在这里，我们首次展示了可扩展的燃料燃烧热电发电机的 Ragone 图。优化热电腿的几何形状，最高功率和能量密度几乎与材料品质因数 (ZT) 的平方根成比例。内部热回收可以将燃料经济性提高 350%（对于温度无关的 ZTavg ~0.5 达到效率 >20%），但是，由于热交换器的额外质量因此降低了功率密度，因此存在权衡。讨论了特别紧凑和无人驾驶车辆电气化的前景。我们预见到使用燃料驱动配备高温热电发电机的全电动汽车的潜力。高传热、可靠和坚固的接触以及在宽温度范围内的高 ZT 技术的开发为移动应用的未来能源前景提供了机会。