SBIR Phase I: Integrated Thermoelectric Heat Exchanger (iTEG-HX) for Carbon Neutral Electricity Production through Recovery of Cold Energy from Regasification of LNG

The broader impact/commercial potential of this Small Business Innovation Research (SBIR) project is to demonstrate a reliable, low cost solid-state device for harvesting the wasted thermal energy released during regasification of LNG at gas terminals around the world. The proposed device will include thermoelectric elements incorporated directly into the LNG gasification heat exchanger, in order to harvest the temperature difference between cryogenic liquid and vaporized natural gas. Today, approximately 180 Billion kWh of energy (roughly equivalent to 5% of the total annual electricity consumption of the United States) is wasted annually at regasification terminals around the world, representing a huge addressable market for the proposed technology. Additionally, the proposed technology will benefit the US economy by making American LNG more cost-competitive in export markets. This STTR Phase I project proposes to evaluate and demonstrate the feasibility of a thermoelectric generator integrated directly into an LNG regasification heat exchanger in order to effectively recover the latent energy released during regasification of LNG and convert it to electricity. The current state-of-the-art is based on gas turbines and expanders that rely on a combination of Rankine cycle and Brayton cycle. These technologies are complex, capital intensive, and costly to maintain. Consequently, they are seldom deployed at regasification terminals, resulting in massive energy waste. Direct conversion of the waste thermal energy to electricity through ?cryogenic? thermoelectrics is a practical and cost effective option. The proposed research will develop and demonstrate a laboratory prototype device integrated within a model plate-type LNG regasification heat exchanger. The main tasks include design of the system architecture, characterization of thermoelectric materials in cryogenic temperatures, modeling of heat transfer, prototype fabrication, and testing. Research will target design and process intensification, in order to minimize device cost.