Energy calculation of thermoelements with arbitrary temperature dependence of thermoelectric properties of materials by heat balance technique

Abstract

Disclosure is made of a method of energy calculation of thermoelements, which method is based on an approximate solution of the thermal conductivity differential equation. The relationship thus obtained allows to express all the basic parameters of a thermoelement through thermodynamic values only, which makes it easier to find the optimized conditions of operation of the thermoelement disregarding its geometry. The relationship is valid for any current mode and geometry. There have been composed energy balances for junctions, which take into account the temperature dependences of the basic thermoelectric properties.