Abstract
Abstract A power generator with four thermoelectric half rings was fabricated with polymer-based composite materials and used to recover waste heat from hot water pipes. The power generator delivered an output voltage of 3.4 mV and an output power of 126 nW under a temperature difference ∆T of 10.5 K. Based on the experimental data, finite element modeling was performed to study the key factors that may affect the device performance. The effects of the area of heat sink, thickness and number of the half rings, and heat transfer coefficient of air convection were investigated by simulation. These factors played an important role on the ∆T established on the thermoelectric generator, which in turn affected the device performance. Our work provided a guidance to fabricate and optimize thermoelectric power generators used for waste heat recovery from hot water pipes.
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