Description
New Age International (P) Ltd., Publishers Direct Energy Conversion And Prospective Technologies by Prof. R K Singal
The current power generation systems are based on thermodynamic cycles and suffer from some serious disadvantages and the price of electricity from the power grid is high. The power supply at the same time is not fully reliable. The utility power plants are highly polluting. These plants suffer from Carnot limitation, metallurgical limitation, have many mechanical links affecting plant reliability, disturb the ecological balance, involve high costs of plants and transmission and distribution systems. Solar cells utilize energetic photon of the incident solar radiations directly on a p-n junction and produce electricity at high conversion efficiencies.
The fuel cells directly convert chemical energy of fuel into green power and do not have moving components. Thermoelectric and Thermionic power units are very simple, without any moving parts, very dependable without any need of attention during operation. Similarly Magneto-Hydro-Dynamic Generation is a direct heat-to-electricity conversion technology. The efficiency of thermal plants can be raised from present 40% to 55% by hybridization with MHD.
Heavy demand for energy poses the problem of developing new, efficient methods of green energy production satisfying thermodynamic and economic criteria. The immense magnitude of direct thermal solar energy has the potential to meet all the energy needs of the world. Nuclear Fusion Energy Technology once developed has the potential to support unlimited supply of clean energy for the world populations for all time to come.
Electrical energy is the most convenient form of energy because it can be easily controlled, transported and converted into heat and work at very high efficiencies. However, it cannot be stored in large quantities. Alternative energy of future is hydrogen energy which can also be easily stored in addition to other qualities of electricity.
The present book has been developed into following ten chapters: Energy Conversion Technologies
Solar Cells
Fuel Cells
MHD Power Generation
Thermoelectric Power Generation
Thermionic Power Generation
Exploring New Energy Technologies
Solar Thermal Energy
Nuclear Fusion Energy
Hydrogen Energy.
The book will serve as a textbook for undergraduate and postgraduate students of Mechanical Engineering, Electrical Engineering, other disciplines specializing in energy technologies and power plant engineering.