University of Nevada, Reno Electromagnetic Energy Harvesting in Pursuit of Heat Radiation
University of Nevada, Reno Electromagnetic Energy Harvesting In Pursuit of Heat Radiation A dissertation submitted in partial fulfillment of the Requirements for the degree of Doctor of Philosophy in Electrical Engineering By Richard A. Bean Dr. Banmali S. Rawat, Ph. D., Dissertation Advisor May, 2019 Copyright by Richard A. Bean 2019 All Rights Reserved THE GRADUATE SCHOOL We recommend that the dissertation Prepared under our supervision by Richard A. Bean entitled Electromagnetic Energy Harvesting in Pursuit of Heat Radiation be accepted in partial fulfillment of the requirements for the degree of Doctor of Philosophy Banmali S. Rawat, Ph. D., Advisor Bruno S. Bauer, Ph. D., Committee Member Yantao Shen, Ph. D., Committee Member Jihwan Yoon, Ph. D., Committee Member David M. Leitner, Ph. D., Graduate School Representative David W. Zeh, Ph. D., Dean, Graduate School May, 2019 i Abstract This dissertation explores the potential harvesting of electrical energy from heat radiation. Heat is an abundant form of energy that occurs naturally. It is spontaneously emitted from the matter in a material surface, and its random photonic emissions aggregate. It is transferred from material surfaces to other material surfaces in the form of heat radiation. This heat radiation transfers through free space in the form of plane waves. These plane waves are electromagnetic in character and are fully described by Maxwell’s equations. Electromagnetic (EM) plane waves are routinely utilized in communication, radar, and optical systems. This dissertation posits that heat radiation can be captured by antennas, conducted by coax cables, and then converted to hybrid TE-TM waves inside microstrip printed circuit boards.
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