Apple Eyeing Heat-Electricity Conversion Chip?

[Chef Medeski]

If the Intel chips burn 100W, then 9% conversion efficiency would generate 9W of electricity. In absolute terms, that's not too bad. You can do a lot with 9W. If you have a 5 hour battery life now, and can use these on all the major power sinks, you'd get 5.5 hours of battery life.

Hold up! 9% is and Ideal Carnot Engine efficiency. Real World efficiecny would be about 1/5. So, at most you are going to get 1.8W and thats if the fans dissipate 100W of heat which is ridiculously high number. I would see it around 20W, meaning your recycled energy would be .37W. What can you do with that? Oh right power partially a fan.

 

[VAmin]

Wouldn't using the "extra" electricity to power fans to decrease heat lead to less "extra" electricity???? I hope they really think this through - and I'm sure they will. Of course powering fans isn't the only use for electricity.

Using the electricity to power fans would actually improve the efficiency if the thermoelectric device is placed between the processor and the fan. This would increase the thermal gradient and generate more power than if you were relying solely on heat dissipation to get your gradient.

The only problem with this solution is that high efficiency thermoelectric materials, by design, have low thermal conductivities, so it would not be a good idea to place this between the chip and the heat sink.

I am also skeptical about the claim of 30% efficiency. If we had thermoelectric materials that operated at that efficiency, we could all say goodbye to refrigerator compressors and turbine generators in favor of devices with no moving parts, higher reliability, and no CFCs.

 

[fixyourthinking]

Interesting concept, but their website scares me away in a hurry. What was that about making a good first impression?

What scares you about the website?

I am also skeptical about the claim of 30% efficiency. If we had thermoelectric materials that operated at that efficiency, we could all say goodbye to refrigerator compressors and turbine generators in favor of devices with no moving parts, higher reliability, and no CFCs.

30% does seem high ... solar energy doesn't even get that (at least currently available commerciallly) - I wonder if this could somehow be combined with solar voltaic cells to increase their efficiency. For instance, what about a strip on a laptop that harnessed enough light to power something as well. I mean calculators run on ambient light.

 

[guzhogi]

I remember reading either here or on Appleinsider that if this goes well enough, they can use this chip to replace batteries. The thing with that is, if we take away the battery, where does the original power come from? Correct me if I'm wrong, but it is my understanding that it'll take the heat from the cpu and convert it to electricity. If the computer was off and the cpu was the same temperature as the rest of the computer, how will it create the electricity? I'm all for using it, but as an addition to the battery, not a replacement for the battery.

 

[Analog Kid]

Hold up! 9% is and Ideal Carnot Engine efficiency. Real World efficiecny would be about 1/5. So, at most you are going to get 1.8W and thats if the fans dissipate 100W of heat which is ridiculously high number. I would see it around 20W, meaning your recycled energy would be .37W. What can you do with that? Oh right power partially a fan.

Sorry, where is this other .2 multiplier coming from? The scenario given was 9% conversion efficiency which would be 50% of the the ideal heat engine efficiency of 18% conversion efficiency.

 

[3CCD]

Fantastic Idea

Great idea to utilize the head lost in powerloss of a conductor while a computer is running through an energy conversion chip. The only problem is, every conductor has some sort of powerloss, so if we have tons of heat will it generate more heat since we are using electricity gained from powerloss? I guess if this chip works you'll be able to cut down on the imput source since your utilized heat lost in the form of electricity that is recirculated throughout the system.

 

[steelfist]

I thought of this idea a couple of years ago. glad to see it taking shape for apple. think about it. zero heat cpus and ultra-long battery life.

 

[CanadaRAM]

I remember reading either here or on Appleinsider that if this goes well enough, they can use this chip to replace batteries. The thing with that is, if we take away the battery, where does the original power come from?

From a heat source such as a butane flame or other combustion.
We're talking two different applications here
1) recover some waste heat from the CPU back to electricity
2) generate electricity by applying a much higher heat source to one side of the thing - as a potential replacemenmt for batteries, fuel cells, etc.

 

[queenieamerica]

Apple eyeing Heat-Electricity Conversion Chip?

It's about time some one is using old school technology for a modern application. The Pelletier Effect Chip or Thermoecletric Chips used in all of those portable electric cooler/warmer's ie. minie fridges, will generate electricity when heat is applied to one side. If current is applied they act as a heat pump one side of the chip cools the other side gets warm. A 40mmX40mm chip can generate 85watts of cooling/heating. Using a Pelletier Effect Chip to absorbe excess heat and generate electricity has actually been around for decades but practical applications not always apparent. If this technology is integrated into the logic board/chipset design it may be helpful extending battery life by generating some elcetricity. I'm not sure what the efficiency of heat applied to electricity supplied from the Pelletier Effect chip.

 

[Linito]

it's all about power and making the most with that power, most of the electric power of a computer goes to waste in heat dissipation a chip like this would improve a lot computer efficiancy

 

[Aniej]

Doesn't Microsfot already have this?

I thought Microsoft already announced this? ohhh no wait my bad, what I meant was a PC to Mac conversion system, I think its codename is Windows.

 

[OdduWon]

I thought Microsoft already announced this? ohhh no wait my bad, what I meant was a PC to Mac conversion system, I think its codename is Windows.

yeah, windows vista X