【Northeastern Global News】The energy source developed by Northeastern professor Yi Zheng will use waste heat generated by space equipment and sunlight that does not reach the Earth.
【美國東北大學國際新聞】東北大學教授鄭義開發的能源將利用空間裝置產生的餘熱和無法到達地球的陽光。
A device that will absorb wasted heat from space equipment and reflected sunlight and convert it into an energy source for spacecrafts and Mars rovers is being developed for the U.S. Air Force by a Northeastern University researcher.
東北大學的科研人員正在為美國空軍研發一種裝置，該裝置將吸收來自空間裝置的浪費熱量和反射的陽光，並將其轉化為航天器和火星車的能源。
“Even if it can supply only 10% to 15% of backup energy to the electronics, we can extend the lifetime of both electronics and a spacecraft,” says Yi Zheng, an associate professor of mechanical and industrial engineering and the director of Nano Energy Laboratory at Northeastern.
“即使它只能為電子裝置提供10%到15%的備用能源，也可以延長電子裝置和航天器的壽命，”鄭義說，他是東北大學機械和工業工程學副教授兼奈米能源實驗室主任。
Zheng will work on the thermal device in collaboration with Faraday Technology Inc., an Ohio-based company that specializes in developing applied electrochemical engineering technology for the U.S. government and commercial clients.
鄭教授將與位於俄亥俄州的法拉第技術公司合作開發熱裝置，該公司專門為美國政府和商業客戶開發應用電化學工程技術。
“Our goal is to design a high-performance thermal absorber and thermal emitter that can absorb, convert and emit the energy at the desired wavelength,” Zheng says.
“我們的目標是設計一種高效能的熱吸收器和熱發射器，能夠在所需波長吸收、轉換和發射能量，”鄭教授說。
This technology will be suitable for short- and long-term space travel, he says, including use on the moon, Mars or even satellites launched out of our galaxy.
他表示，這項技術適用於短期和長期的太空旅行，包括在月球、火星甚至我們銀河系以外的衛星上使用。
In the past few years, Zheng has been developing materials to harvest and store energy, waste energy and nanoengineered materials.
過去幾年中，鄭教授一直致力於能源採集和儲存、廢能再利用以及奈米工程材料的研究。
The primary source of energy in space, he says, is usually the sun — high-performance solar panels convert sunlight into energy to power space equipment.
他說，太空的主要能源通常是太陽——高效能太陽能電池板將陽光轉化為能量，為空間裝置提供動力。
Zheng’s energy source will use the waste heat generated by space equipment that otherwise is dissipated further into space, as well as sunlight that does not reach the Earth and is reflected by the atmosphere.
鄭教授的能源將利用空間裝置產生的餘熱，這些餘熱本會進一步消散到太空中，同時還將利用無法到達地球並被大氣層反射的陽光。
Spacecrafts and space equipment, Zheng says, have to operate in extreme conditions — really low temperatures (usually minus 454 Fahrenheit; or minus 270 Celsius) and nearly total vacuum. In addition, driving space vehicles requires energy resources.
他說，航天器和太空裝置必須在極端條件下執行——溫度非常低（通常為零下454華氏度或零下270攝氏度）且幾乎完全真空。此外，駕駛航天器需要能源資源。
“We cannot simply launch another tank of oxygen [for example] to the traveling equipment,” Zheng says.
“我們不能簡單地向旅行裝置發射另一箱氧氣，”鄭教授說。
Electronics operating on board a spacecraft or high-temperature surfaces, Zheng says, will produce thermal radiation, or infrared light, which is invisible to the eye but can be detected as a sensation of warmth on the skin. This heat will be dissipated in space and be lost.
他表示，在航天器或高溫表面執行的電子裝置會產生熱輻射或紅外線，這些熱輻射肉眼看不見，但能在皮膚上感覺到溫暖。這些熱量將在太空中消散並丟失。
Waste heat exists almost everywhere, Zheng says, including Earth. For example, a hot engine or a furnace heated to a high temperature dissipates some of that temperature as well.
鄭義教授說，廢熱幾乎無處不在，包括地球。例如，熱發動機或加熱到高溫的爐子也會散發部分熱量。
Recovery of that energy has been studied for the past few decades, Zheng says, and his team will apply recently developed technologies in designing their thermal system.
他說，過去幾十年來，廢熱能量的回收一直在研究中，他的團隊將應用最近開發的技術設計他們的熱系統。
First, they will test various human-engineered materials and surfaces — called metamaterials and metasurfaces, respectively — for the proposed thermal absorber. Metamaterials possess some properties that are not observed in natural materials. They do not exist naturally on Earth, Zheng says, and, therefore, have to be synthesized or nanomanufacturerd in the lab.
首先，他們將為設計的熱吸收器測試各種人造材料和表面——分別稱為超材料和超表面。超材料具有天然材料中未觀察到的一些特性。鄭教授說，它們不是天然存在於地球上的，因此必須在實驗室合成或透過奈米技術獲得。
The problem with common materials, he says, is that they do not have high-absorbance or emittance properties at the desired wavelengths of infrared energy. Zheng says the wavelength of infrared light is about 1.5 to 2.5 micrometers, which is about 12-24 times smaller than the diameter of a human hair.
他說，地球上常見材料的問題在於，它們在所需的近紅外波長下沒有高吸收或發射率特性。這裡的近紅外線的波長約為1.5至2.5微米，比人類頭髮的直徑小12-24倍。
“So that requires some theoretical and experimental work from our group,” he says. “Actually, my research interests are focused on active and the dynamic tuning of thermal, radiative and optical properties [of materials].”
“因此，這需要我們課題組的一些理論和實驗工作，”他說。“實際上，我的研究興趣集中在材料的熱、輻射和光學特性的主動和動態調節上。”
“Also, we have to balance the weight and the cost as well,” Zheng says. “We have to balance a lot of stuff. So, considering the limited selection of materials for outer space use, that kind of pushed us to think of and adopt nanotechnology to design functional materials as a thermal device.”
“此外，我們也必須平衡重量和成本，”鄭教授說。“我們必須平衡很多因素。因此，考慮到外層空間使用的材料選擇有限，這促使我們思考並採用奈米技術來設計功能材料作為熱裝置。”
Even though nanotechnologies or nanomaterials are expensive, he says, they work remarkably well. Without nanotechnology, it is impossible to absorb specific wavelengths under the extreme conditions.
他說，儘管奈米技術或奈米材料很昂貴，但它們效果非常好。在極端條件下，沒有奈米技術不可能吸收特定波長。
To fabricate nanomaterials, Zheng says, scientists use refractory, or thermally resistant materials that are stable and have a high melting point of over 2,700 degrees (or 1,500 Celsius) and a long lifetime.
他說，為了製造奈米材料，科學家們使用耐火材料或耐熱材料，這些材料穩定，熔點超過2700華氏度（或1500攝氏度），使用壽命長。
One good candidate is tungsten, Zheng says, a rare metal with the highest melting and boiling points of known elements on Earth. He wouldn’t rely on this material alone, but in combination with other materials it could be useful in the extreme conditions of space.
鄭教授說，一個很好的候選材料是鎢，這是一種稀有金屬，具有地球上已知元素的最高熔點和沸點。他不會僅僅依賴這種材料，但與其他材料相結合，它在極端的空間條件下可能會有用。
Zheng is spending this summer as a NASA faculty fellow at Glenn Research Center in Cleveland. He’s doing research on thermal management for the Artemis campaign that aims to return Americans to the moon in preparation of the first manned mission to Mars.
今年夏天，鄭教授受邀在克利夫蘭的美國國家航空航天局格倫研究中心擔任研究員。他正在為美國Artemis計劃進行熱管理的研究，該計劃旨在讓美國人重返月球，併為第一次火星載人任務做準備。
“I really hope what I’m doing for both the Air Force and NASA can contribute, actually, to the future projects for longer outer-space traveling,” Zheng says.
“我真心希望我為空軍和美國國家航空航天局所做的工作能夠為未來更長時間的外層空間探索專案做出貢獻，”鄭教授說。
原文連結: https://news.northeastern.edu/2024/07/12/space-energy-heat-converter/
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