Heat to Electricity Through Sound

Filed in archive Edge Technology on June 5, 2007

here is a real technological breakthrough. Waste heat to Energy Through Sound.I bet that caught your attention.

This article from Psyhorg.Com describes how scientists from the University of Utah developed small devices that promises to change waste heat into electricity, perfect for waste heat generated by solar cells, radars, even computers! The latest in renewable energy technologies, physics professor Orest Symko says "We are converting waste heat to electricity in an efficient, simple way by using sound. It is a new source of renewable energy from waste heat."

So how does it work? First step is to convert heat into sound. This is done through thermoacoustic prime movers which are devices that respond to pressure, including soundwaves. The pressure is then converted into an electrical current. What happens is, when waste heat is identified, it produces little sound waves (imagine holding up a lighted candle. see the air around the flame moving? that movement causes very minute sound waves) which are then picked up by very sensitive piezoelectric devices which when squeezed, produces an electrical voltage.

While the devices produced by these scientists remain palm-sized, it is envisioned that they could become significantly large enough to produce power for atleast running a normal electronic home device, say your personal computer. Neato!!!