The patent badge is an abbreviated version of the USPTO patent document. The patent badge does contain a link to the full patent document.
The patent badge is an abbreviated version of the USPTO patent document. The patent badge covers the following: Patent number, Date patent was issued, Date patent was filed, Title of the patent, Applicant, Inventor, Assignee, Attorney firm, Primary examiner, Assistant examiner, CPCs, and Abstract. The patent badge does contain a link to the full patent document (in Adobe Acrobat format, aka pdf). To download or print any patent click here.
Patent No.:
Date of Patent:
Jan. 01, 2013
Filed:
Sep. 07, 2011
Ahmet Erbil, Atlanta, GA (US);
David F. Walbert, Atlanta, GA (US);
Ahmet Erbil, Atlanta, GA (US);
David F. Walbert, Atlanta, GA (US);
The Neothermal Energy Company, Atlanta, GA (US);
Abstract
A method for converting heat to electricity is described. The method can be used to efficiently and economically generate electricity from thermal energy directly through ferroelectric or other polarizable materials without the need for first converting thermal energy to mechanical energy or to any other form of energy or work. The method can involve subjecting a polarizable material to a thermodynamic cycle having two isothermal steps and two steps that occur at constant polarization. In an ideal implementation, this thermodynamic cycle allows the conversion of heat to electricity at the ultimate Carnot limit. The ferroelectric material can be continuously cycled in and out of its ferroelectric phase while heat is continuously converted to electricity at high voltage. The electrical energy so generated can be used in a virtually unlimited range of different applications or be stored for later use. An apparatus for converting heat to electricity is also described.