Performance analysis of an annular thermoelectric generator considering Thomson effect and convection heat transfer at cold junction

Abstract

A one-dimensional steady model for an annular thermoelectric generator (ATEG) is developed based on the thermoelectric power generation and thermal science in this paper. The influence of the Thomson effect and convection heat transfer between cold junction and ambient air on the performance of an ATEG is investigated. Closed-form solutions for power output and conversion efficiency of the ATEG are obtained, and they increase with the increasing values of the temperature at the hot junction and the convection heat transfer coefficient at the cold junction. The radiation heat transfer should not be neglected when the convection heat transfer coefficient is less than 100 Wm−2 K−1. It is found that the Thomson effect has a negative impact on the power output and efficiency and should be considered for predicting the performance of an ATEG accurately. The height of thermoelectric legs should be taken into account in order to obtain the excellent performance of the ATEG. The presented model can be reduced to the model of the ATEG subjected to the constant temperatures at the hot and cold junctions when the convection heat transfer coefficient is large enough.