Course code : ACEE-16703A

NON-CONVENTIONAL ENERGY SOURCES

Lecture-01

Topics
Limitations of Conventional Energy Sources
Basics Scheme and Applications of DEC
Presented by
Bimal Kumar
Associate Professor
Dept. of EE, ACET, Amritsar
 Syllabus
• INTRODUCTION: Limitation of conventional
energy sources, need and growth of alternative
energy source, basic scheme and application of
direct energy conservation.
• MHD GENERATORS: Basic principles, gaseous,
conduction and hall effect, generator and motor
effect, different types of Magneto-Hydro-
Dynamic (MHD) generator, types of MHD
material, conversion effectiveness, analysis of
constant area MHD generator, practical MHD
generator, application and
 syllabus
• Part - II
• THERMO-ELECTRIC GENERATORS:
Thermoelectric effects, Seeback effect, Peltier
effect, Thomson effect, thermoelectric
converters, figures of merit, properties of
thermoelectric material, brief description of
the construction of thermoelectric generators,
application and economic aspect
 syllabus
• Part - III
• PHOTOVOLTAIC EFFECT AND SOLAR ENERGY:
Photovoltaic effect, different types of
photovoltaic cells, cell fabrication,
characteristics of photovoltaic cells,
conversion efficiency, solar batteries,
application, solar radiation analysis, solar
energy in India, solar collectors, solar furnaces
and applications.
 syllabus
• Part - IV
• FUEL CELLS: Principle of action, Gibb's free
energy, general description of fuel cells,types,
construction, operational characteristics and
application.
• MISCELLANEOUS SOURCES: Geothermal
system, hydro-electric plants, wind power,
tidal energy, Bio-mass energy
 Energy
• 1. Sources of Energy
– What are the major sources of energy?
– How our usage of energy has changed in time?
• 2. Energy Use
– To what purposes energy is used for?
• 3. Challenges
– What major energy challenges are we facing?
 Sources of Energy
• Nature
– Energy is movement or the possibility of creating movement:
• Exists as potential (stored) and kinetic (used) forms.
– Conversion of potential to kinetic.
– Movement states:
• Ordered (mechanical energy) or disordered (thermal energy).
• Temperature can be perceived as a level of disordered energy.
• Major tendency is to move from order to disorder (entropy).
• Importance
– Human activities are dependant on the usage of several forms
and sources of energy.
– Energy demands:
• Increased with economic development.
• The world’s power consumption is about 12 trillion watts a year, with
85% of it from fossil fuels.
 Sources of Energy
Chemical
Chemical
••Fossil
Fossilfuels
fuels(Combustion)
(Combustion)
Non-Renewable
Non-Renewable Nuclear
Nuclear
••Uranium
Uranium(Fission
(Fissionofofatoms)
atoms)

Chemical
Chemical
Energy
Energy ••Muscular
Muscular(Oxidization)
Nuclear
(Oxidization)
Nuclear
••Geothermal
Geothermal(Conversion)
(Conversion)
••Fusion
Fusion(Fusion
(Fusionofofhydrogen)
hydrogen)
Gravity
Gravity
Renewable ••Tidal,
Tidal,hydraulic
hydraulic(Kinetic)
(Kinetic)
Renewable Indirect
IndirectSolar
Solar
••Biomass
Biomass(Photosynthesis)
(Photosynthesis)
••Wind
Wind (Pressuredifferences)
(Pressure differences)
Direct
DirectSolar
Solar
••Photovoltaic
Photovoltaiccell
cell
(Conversion)
(Conversion)
 Energy Use
• Energy and work

Energy
– Energy provides work.
– Technology enables to use
energy more efficiently and for
Work more purposes.
– Traditionally, most of the work
was performed by people:
Modification
• Many efforts have been done
to alleviate work.
– Creating more work performed
Appropriation & by machines and the usage of
Processing
Transfer
even more energy.
 Challenges
• Energy Supply
– Providing supply to sustain growth and requirements.
– A modern society depends on a stable and continuous
flow of energy.
• Energy Demand
– Generate more efficient devices:
• Transportation.
• Industrial processes.
• Appliances.
• Environment
– Provide environmentally safe sources of energy.
– Going through the energy transition (from solid to gazes).
 Conventional Energy Resources
• What sources of energy have filled our
requirements so far?
• 1. Coal
• 2. Petroleum
• 3. Natural Gas
• 4. Hydropower
• 5. Nuclear Power
 Coal
• Coal use
– Thermal coal (about 90% use):
• Used mainly in power stations to produce high pressure steam, which
then drives turbines to generate electricity.
• Also used to fire cement and lime kilns.
• Until the middle of the 20th Century used in steam engines.
– Metallurgical coal:
• Used as a source of carbon, for converting a metal ore to metal.
• Removing the oxygen in the ore by forcing it to combine with the
carbon in the coal to form CO2.
– Coking coal:
• Specific type of metallurgical coal.
• Used for making iron in blast furnaces.
– New redevelopment of the coal industry:
• In view of rising energy prices.
 Petroleum
• Use
– Transportation:
• The share of transportation has increased in the total oil
consumption.
• Accounts for more the 55% of the oil used.
• In the US, this share is 70%.
• Limited possibility at substitution.
– Other uses (30%):
• Lubricant.
• Plastics.
• Fertilizers.
– Choice of an energy source:
• Depend on a number of utility factors.
• Favoring the usage of fossil fuels, notably petroleum.
 Natural Gas
• Use
– Mostly used for energy generation.
– Previously, it was often wasted - burned off.
– It is now more frequently conserved and used.
– Considered the cleanest fossil fuel to use.
– The major problem is transporting natural gas,
which requires pipelines.
– Gas turbine technology enables to use natural gas
to produce electricity more cheaply than using
coal.
 Hydropower
Sun
Evaporation
Water
Sufficient and regular
Precipitation precipitations
Rivers
Flow
Reservoirs
Accumulation Suitable local site
Dam
Gravity
Turbine

Power loss due to

Electricity distance
 Nuclear Power

Production and storage Suitable site (NIMBY) Large quantities

Uranium Reactor Water

Fission
Waste storage and
disposal Steam

Turbine

Electricity
 Alternative Energy Resources
• What new sources of energy are likely to
satisfy future demands?
• Hydrogen and Fuel Cells
• Solar Energy
• Wind Energy
• Biomass Fuels
• Energy from Urban Waste
 Solar Energy
• Energy produced through the sunlight is called
solar energy. Under this programme, solar
photovoltaic cells are exposed to sunlight and
in the form of electricity is produced.
Photovoltaic cells are those which convert sun
light energy into electricity
• Solar energy is used for cooking, hot water
and distillation of water etc
 Wind Power
• This type of energy can be produced by
harnessing wind power. It is used for
operating water pumps for irrigation purposes
• India has second position in wind power
energy generation.
 Tidal Energy

• Energy produced by exploiting the tidal waves

of the sea is called tidal energy. Due to the
absence of cost effective technology, this
source has not yet been tapped.
 Bio Energy
It is of two kinds
• (i) Bio Gas:
• Bio Gas is obtained from Gobar Gas Plant by
putting cow dung into the plant. Besides
producing gas this plant converts gobar into
manure. It can be used for cooking, lighting
and generation of electricity. 
 Bio Energy (Contd.)

• (ii) Bio Mass:
• It is also of a source of producing energy
through plants and trees. The purpose of bio
mass programme is to encourage
afforestation for energy.
 Energy from Urban Waste

• Urban waste poses a big problem for its

disposal. Now it can be used for generation of
power. In Timarpur (Delhi) a power Ration of
3.75 capacity has been set up to generate
energy from the garbage.
Direct Energy Conversion
 Direct Energy Conversion
• Direct Energy Conversion or simply conversion
convert’s a charged particle kinetic energy
into a voltage.
• It’s a scheme for power extraction from
nuclear fusion.
Types of Direct Energy Conversion
• Thermo Electric Power Generation
• Thermo ionic Power Generation
• MHD Systems
• Photovoltaic Power System
• Fuel Cell
• Thermo Nuclear Fusion Power Generation
Thermo Electric Power Generation
• A thermoelectric generator (TEG), also called
a Seebeck generator, is a solid state device
that converts heat flux (temperature
differences) directly into electrical energy
through a phenomenon called the Seebeck
effect (a form of thermoelectric effect).
 Thermoionic Power Generation
• Thermionic power generator, or thermoelectric
engine, any of a class of devices that
convert heat directly into electricity
using thermionic emission rather than first
changing it to some other form of energy.
Thermionic Converter
Thermionic Power Converter (Contd..)
• A thermionic power converter has
two electrodes. One of these is raised to a
sufficiently high temperature to become a
thermionic electron emitter, or “hot plate.”
The other electrode, called a collector
because it receives the emitted electrons, is
operated at a significantly lower
temperature. 
Thermionic Power Converter (Contd..)
• Part of the thermal energy that is supplied to
liberate the electrons is converted directly
into electrical energy, while some of the
thermal energy heats the collector and must
be removed
 MHD Generator
• The MHD generation or, also known as
magneto hydrodynamic power generation is a
direct energy conversion system which
converts the heat energy directly into
electrical energy, without any intermediate
mechanical energy conversion, as opposed to
the case in all other power generating plants
MHD Generator (Contd..)
 MHD Generator (Contd..)
• An MHD generator, like a conventional
generator, relies on moving a conductor
through a magnetic field to generate electric
current. The MHD generator uses hot
conductive ionized gas (a plasma) as the
moving conductor. The mechanical dynamo,
in contrast, uses the motion of mechanical
devices to accomplish this.
 Photovoltaic Power System
• A photovoltaic (PV) cell, also known as a solar
cell, is an electronic component that
generates electricity when exposed to
photons, or particles of light. This conversion
is called the photovoltaic effect
 Fuel Cell
• A fuel cell is an electrochemical cell that
converts the chemical energy of a fuel (often
hydrogen) and an oxidizing agent (often
oxygen) into electricity through a pair of redox
reactions.
Thermo Nuclear Fusion Power Generation

• Fusion power is a proposed form of power

generation that would generate electricity by
using heat from nuclear fusion reactions.
• In a fusion process, two lighter atomic nuclei
combine to form a heavier nucleus, while
releasing energy. Devices designed to harness
this energy are known as fusion reactors.
Thanks