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Prospects of Autonomous Volcanic Monitoring Stations: Experimental Investigation on Thermoelectric Generation from Fumaroles

Prospects of Autonomous Volcanic Monitoring Stations: Experimental Investigation on Thermoelectric Generation from Fumaroles

Authors :
Pedro A. Hernández
Jose Francisco Albert
Leyre Catalan
P. Aranguren
David Astrain
Nemesio M. Pérez
Celestino Garcia de la Noceda
Germán D. Padilla
Miguel Araiz
Universidad Pública de Navarra. Departamento de Ingeniería
Universidad Pública de Navarra / Nafarroako Unibertsitate Publikoa. ISC - Institute of Smart Cities
Nafarroako Unibertsitate Publikoa. Ingeniaritza Saila
Source :
Sensors (Basel, Switzerland), Sensors, Vol 20, Iss 3547, p 3547 (2020), Academica-e: Repositorio Institucional de la Universidad Pública de Navarra, Universidad Pública de Navarra, Academica-e. Repositorio Institucional de la Universidad Pública de Navarra, instname, Sensors, Volume 20, Issue 12
Publication Year :
2020
Publisher :
MDPI AG, 2020.

Abstract

Fumaroles represent evidence of volcanic activity, emitting steam and volcanic gases at temperatures between 70 and 100 ∘ C . Due to the well-known advantages of thermoelectricity, such as reliability, reduced maintenance and scalability, the present paper studies the possibilities of thermoelectric generators, devices based on solid-state physics, to directly convert fumaroles heat into electricity due to the Seebeck effect. For this purpose, a thermoelectric generator composed of two bismuth-telluride thermoelectric modules and heat pipes as heat exchangers was installed, for the first time, at Teide volcano (Canary Islands, Spain), where fumaroles arise in the surface at 82 ∘ C . The installed thermoelectric generator has demonstrated the feasibility of the proposed solution, leading to a compact generator with no moving parts that produces a net generation between 0.32 and 0 . 33 W per module given a temperature difference between the heat reservoirs encompassed in the 69&ndash<br />86 ∘ C range. These results become interesting due to the possibilities of supplying power to the volcanic monitoring stations that measure the precursors of volcanic eruptions, making them completely autonomous. Nonetheless, in order to achieve this objective, corrosion prevention measures must be taken because the hydrogen sulfide contained in the fumaroles reacts with steam, forming sulfuric acid.

Details

ISSN :
14248220
Volume :
20
Database :
OpenAIRE
Journal :
Sensors
Accession number :
edsair.doi.dedup.....e9f2bf767f8c90e62de2d88105a3c448
Full Text :
https://doi.org/10.3390/s20123547