A Method of Power Generation From Low Temperature Medium

For a long time, how to utilize waste heat to generate electricity has been an interesting and challenging field for energy scientists. This paper presents a new method, ferrofluid power generator (FPG), which takes advantage of waste heat or solar energy to generate electricity in a multiple heating and cooling tube with alternate ferrofluid slug and vapor bubble structures. Based on this method, a new device, a thermomagnetic engine (TME) composed of a straight vacuum tube, a current induced coil, and magnet & ferrofluid slugs (MFS), was designed. Experimental results show that the expanding vapor bubbles push MFSs to generate drastic and continuous oscillating movements under the effect of heat. The pulse voltage signals from the induced coil demonstrate that the TME has a practical structure, potentially higher power generating capacity, and a stable operation.