Abstract
Thermoelectric generator (TEG) while offering the advantage of operational reliability are constrained by limited efficiencies. This paper, which is from an undergraduate research project, focusses on the contribution of cold side thermal management of commercially available thermoelectric generators towards the thermal to electrical conversion efficiency for a range of hot side temperatures. Electric heating elements are used to vary the heat flux to the TEG while conventional active and passive methods employing air and water as a medium are used for dissipating heat from the cold side of TEGs. Both thermal and electrical performance parameters of the TEGs are recorded for various ambient conditions in an indoor facility corresponding to naturally occurring wind conditions. At the end, the utility and effectiveness of the cooling methods are quantified for the range of operating temperatures.
Highlights
With the current state of energy and its availability, there have been several attempts at developing environmentally conscious means to generate electricity from simple sources such as temperature differences
Thermoelectric generator (TEG) while offering the advantage of operational reliability are constrained by limited efficiencies
This paper, which is from an undergraduate research project, focusses on the contribution of cold side thermal management of commercially available thermoelectric generators towards the thermal to electrical conversion efficiency for a range of hot side temperatures
Summary
With the current state of energy and its availability, there have been several attempts at developing environmentally conscious means to generate electricity from simple sources such as temperature differences. From the current literature available on TEGs, the efficiency of these devices falls below 5-8% [2] leading to a major concern in their inability to provide designed performance. TEGs are seen as devices that would make use of residual heat from its surroundings to generate small voltages while providing a reasonable cost to benefit ratio. TEGs can be used to convert the waste heat given off by electrical instruments, vehicles and numerous other systems, to generate power [3, 4] as well as for heat dissipation and sensing thermal energy [5]. Research on the various uses suggests that TEGs could be used as coolers, high and low power generation, and superconductors
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