Abstract
Much attention has been paid to the application of low temperature thermal resources, especially for power generation in recent years. Most of the current commercialized thermal (including geothermal) power-generation technologies convert thermal energy to electric energy indirectly, that is, making mechanical work before producing electricity. Technology using a thermoelectric generator (TEG), however, can directly transform thermal energy into electricity through the Seebeck effect. TEG technology has many advantages such as compactness, quietness, and reliability because there are no moving parts. One of the biggest disadvantages of TEGs is the low efficiency from thermal to electric energy. For this reason, we redesigned and modified our previous 1 KW (at a temperature difference of around 120 °C) TEG system. The output power of the system was improved significantly, about 34.6% greater; the instantaneous efficiency of the TEG system could reach about 6.5%. Laboratory experiments have been conducted to measure the output power at different conditions: different connection modes between TEG modules, different mechanical structures, and different temperature differences between hot and cold sides. The TEG apparatus has been tested and the data have been presented. This kind of TEG power system can be applied in many thermal and geothermal sites with low temperature resources, including oil fields where fossil and geothermal energies are coproduced.
Highlights
Geothermal energy resources are renewable and exist widely
Other methods of waste heat recovery (WHR) that can be applied at low temperature differences with relatively high efficiency, like
Casano and Piva [26] reported an experimental investigation of the performance of a power generation device in which they used multiple Peltier modules in the Seebeck mode, and analyzed the thermoelectric generator based on the experimental data for the ‘open’ and
Summary
Geothermal energy resources are renewable and exist widely. If carefully managed, geothermal production can be sustained essentially and almost indefinitely [1]. One of the big disadvantages of TEGs is the low efficiency from thermal to electric energy because of many factors affecting the output power of thermoelectric generators. Casano and Piva [26] reported an experimental investigation of the performance of a power generation device in which they used multiple Peltier modules in the Seebeck mode, and analyzed the thermoelectric generator based on the experimental data for the ‘open’ and ‘closed’ circuit voltage, electric power output and conversion efficiency as a function of temperature. Gou et al [30] established a theoretical dynamic model of a thermoelectric generator for waste heat recovery and discussed the influence of the flow rates of hot and cold fluids, which indicated that. TEG modules, mechanical different fluid flow have been conducted to measure the output power at different conditions: different connection modes direction, and different temperature differences between hot and cold sides. The TEG apparatus has been tested and the data will be presented
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