Bismuth-telluride thermoelectric remote-pipeline sensor power

Hand-passed module: ~20°C ΔT yields 5V across plasma-sprayed aluminum / polymer-insulated Bi₂Te₃ array. Used on remote gas pipelines, heat supplied by a platinized catalytic Coleman-lantern-style mantle oxidizing pipeline gas.

Thermoelectric: anybody know what thermoelectric materials are used for? I happen to have one here. [Tom produces a thermoelectric module.] This is bismuth telluride, little rectangles in here, with aluminum plasma-sprayed between, and polymer insulators. This will put out 5 volts of electricity if you put a temperature differential of like 20 degrees centigrade across it. The bismuth telluride or lead telluride is a semiconductor material from group 2-6. In a temperature gradient it will give you 5 volts of energy. They use this on pipelines in the middle of nowhere, where you have no electricity, to power the sensors that tell you if you've got flow in your pipeline or the temperature of what's going through. It's very reliable as long as you have a source of heat.