Modeling a thermocell with proton exchange membrane and hydrogen electrodes

Abstract

Direct conversion of thermal energy to electric energy with thermoelectric generators is an attractive technique to recover low-temperature heat. Thermoelectric generators based on galvanic cells (thermocells) provide promising results with respect to the Seebeck coefficient. In this study, based on the theory of non-equilibrium thermodynamics, we simulated a thermocell with hydrogen gas electrodes and a proton exchange membrane. We calculated a maximum power density of 1461 mW/m2 and a thermal efficiency of 2% relative to the Carnot efficiency for a cell operating with the same gas composition at both the anode and the cathode, but fully saturated at the anode. We predict a Seebeck coefficient in the range of 0.7–1.8 mV/K, higher than those of classical thermoelectric generators. The thermocell presented here provides promising values regarding the Seebeck coefficient.