Modeling and Experimentation of New Thermoelectric Cooler–Thermoelectric Generator Module

Khaled Teffah,Youtong Zhang,Xiao-Long Mou

doi:10.3390/en11030576

Khaled Teffah, Youtong Zhang + Show 1 more

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https://doi.org/10.3390/en11030576

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Abstract

In this work, a modeling and experimental study of a new thermoelectric cooler–thermoelectric generator (TEC-TEG) module is investigated. The studied module is composed of TEC, TEG and total system heatsink, all connected thermally in series. An input voltage (1–5 V) passes through the TEC where the electrons by means of Peltier effect entrain the heat from the upper side of the module to the lower one creating temperature difference; TEG plays the role of a partial heatsink for the TEC by transferring this waste heat to the total system heatsink and converting an amount of this heat into electricity by a phenomenon called Seebeck effect, of the thermoelectric modules. The performance of the TEG as partial heatsink of TEC at different input voltages is demonstrated theoretically using the modeling software COMSOL Multiphysics. Moreover, the experiment validates the simulation result which smooths the path for a new manufacturing thermoelectric cascade model for the cooling and the immediate electric power generation.

Highlights

Due to the necessity of cooling in several fields such as electronics [1,2,3,4], automotive [5], and photovoltaic [6,7], thermoelectric coolers (TEC) have become widespread in the last decades.Thermoelectric coolers contain a number (N) of n-p thermoelectric doped couples made of semiconductor material inserted between two thermally conducting and electrically insulating ceramic plates [7]
The conversion efficiency of thermoelectric materials is governed by a dimensionless factor called the figure of merit (ZT), which is defined as ZT “ pSσ{kqT, where S, σ, T and k are Seebeck coefficient, electrical conductivity, operating temperature and the thermal conductivity of the material, respectively [8]
The cooling efficiency of the thermoelectric coolers is known as the coefficient of performance (COP) and governed by Equation (1) with (Tave = (Tcold + Thot )/2) as follows [8]: Thot

Summary

Introduction

Due to the necessity of cooling in several fields such as electronics [1,2,3,4], automotive [5], and photovoltaic [6,7], thermoelectric coolers (TEC) have become widespread in the last decades.Thermoelectric coolers contain a number (N) of n-p thermoelectric doped couples made of semiconductor material inserted between two thermally conducting and electrically insulating ceramic plates [7]. The conversion efficiency of thermoelectric materials is governed by a dimensionless factor called the figure of merit (ZT), which is defined as ZT “ pSσ{kqT, where S, σ, T and k are Seebeck coefficient, electrical conductivity, operating temperature and the thermal conductivity of the material, respectively [8].

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