Electrify the heat inside you.

 Who likes to stand in the hot burning sun???

We usually move under a tree or a shade. The temperature is considerably cooler even if  the difference in distance is very less.

 Did you ever stand in-between the doors such that you are half outside and half inside??

Try this you will notice something very peculiar. The temperature difference you will feel will push your mind to think something ahead. The same thing happened to me to think a bit away.

What if we can produce energy from this temperature difference??? We know the things but find it difficult to put it in a piece.  We usually heard of thermistors. But what really is a thermistor??

I will give a brief idea of how it works??

Thermistors differ from resistance temperature detectors (RTD) in that the material used in a thermistor is generally a ceramic or polymer, while RTDs use pure metals. The temperature response is also different; RTDs are useful over larger temperature ranges, while thermistors typically achieve a higher precision within a limited temperature range, typically −90 °C to 130 °C.

We know this that change due to temperature can produce a potential drop across thermistor and eventually producing current.

APPLICATIONS:

•  This can be used in the western countries where the temperature difference between the outside and inside has a huge difference.
• A thermistor can be installed in the railway station in western countries as the temperature difference is huge. The outside temperature outside can go down below zero whereas the temperature inside is ambient. This difference can produce electricity.
• Nations which have extremely high temperatures can also use this method to produce electricity. The condition over here is straight opposite to the above example. The outside is hotter than inside. So there is possibility of producing electricity here too.
• Even in industries where temperature difference is huge.
• Coal mines and nuclear cooling stations are few of the examples where this is used.

ADVANTAGES:

• Its a clean form of energy that does not cause any harm to the environment.
• The installation cost is also not much as compared to other sources of energy.
• The maintenance cost is also very low.  

DRAWBACKS:

•  The temperature difference has to be sufficiently high so has to produce significant amount of energy.
•  This is not a constant source of energy. So one cannot wholly depend on it for all practical purpose.
• This method can only be a part and not the whole of the source totally available form of usuable energy.
• Since it is temperature dependent a small variation in temperature can cause huge difference in energy. This may lead to internal circuit problems.

~SKC

Student @ VIT University