The expected outcome of the Phase II will allow applying this technology to NASA's roadmap in the area of Space Power and Energy Storage (SPES) (Energy Harvesting is listed under Power Generation) for Exploration Systems Mission Directorate, Space Operations Mission Directorate, and Aeronautics Mission Directorate. In addition, the National Research Council has identified "Increase Available Power" as a NASA Top Technical Challenge. Also, a NASA Grand Challenge is "Affordable and Abundant Power" for NASA mission activities. As such, novel energy harvesting technologies are critical toward supporting future power generation systems to begin to meet these challenges. NASA has many unique needs for power that require special technology solutions due to extreme environmental conditions. These missions would benefit from the proposed versatile, advanced thermal energy harvesting technology. It will provide valuable mechanical and electrical energy from heat harvesting from diverse sources (both in space and terrestrial) to power multiple electronic devices and operate diverse mechanical devices. Additionally, the proposed technology will help enhancing the sustainability of NASA's facilities. The proposed technology will provide a valuable supply of mechanical and electrical power obtained from harvesting waste heat from diverse sources such as jet engines, vehicle engines, rocket engines, exhaust pipes, microchips, solar cells, warm soils, power stations, boilers, cooling towers, power plants, oil refineries, steel manufacturing, glass and brick manufacturing, gas pipelines, compressors, furnaces, ovens, incinerators, refrigerators, electronic devices, etc. This in turn will reduce the net power consumption. Market sectors with attractiveness for waste heat recovery include oil and gas extraction, petroleum and coal products manufacturing, chemical plants, pulp and paper mills, steel, metal, glass, and brick manufacturing, etc. It can power multiple electronic devices (including wireless sensors) and operate diverse mechanical devices (including valves and thermal switches). Of special interest is heat waste harvested in remote locations, helping to provide independence from the electric grid.
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