Performance of Thermoelectric Power-Generation System for Sufficient Recovery and Reuse of Heat Accumulated at Cold Side of TEG with Water-Cooling Energy Exchange Circuit

Zhe Zhang,Xiaomei Sui,Wenbin Li,Daochun Xu,Yuqi Zhang

doi:10.3390/en13215542

Abstract

Aiming to reduce thermal energy loss at the cold side of a thermoelectric generator (TEG) module during thermoelectric conversion, a thermoelectric energy conversion system for heat recovery with a water-cooling energy exchange circuit was devised. The water-cooling energy exchange circuit realized sufficient recovery and reuse of heat accumulated at the cold side of the TEG, reduced the danger of heat accumulation, improved the stability and output capacity of thermoelectric conversion, and provided a low-cost and high-yield energy conversion strategy in energy conversion and utilization. Through the control variable method to adjust the heat generation of the heat source in the thermoelectric conversion, critical parameters (e.g., inner resistance of the TEG, temperatures of thermoelectric modules, temperature differences, output current, voltage, power, and efficiency of thermoelectric conversion) were analyzed and discussed. After using the control variable method to change the ratio of load resistance and internal resistance, the impacts of the ratio of load resistance to inner resistance of the TEG on the entire energy conversion process were elaborated. The results showed that the maximum value of output reached 397.47 mV with a current of 105.56 mA, power of 41.96 mW, and energy conversion efficiency of 1.16%. The power density of the TEG module is 26.225 W/m2. The stability and practicality of the system with a water-cooling energy exchange circuit were demonstrated, providing an effective strategy for the recovery and utilization of heat energy loss in the thermoelectric conversion process.

Highlights

Motivated by the broad prospects of thermoelectric conversion technology, such as thermoelectric conversion [1,2,3], the thermoelectric recovery of heat in industry [4,5], and thermoelectric energy supply for microelectronic systems [6], the principles and applications of thermoelectric energy conversion have been widely researched
Unlike the conversion of the kinetic energy of hydropower or wind power into mechanical kinetic energy, which is converted into electrical energy, thermoelectric conversion technology directly converts thermal energy into electrical energy without requiring another energy transfer process [2,7,8]
The output parameters in the present paper indicate that the cooling level of the thermoelectric energy conversion system for heat recovery with a water-cooling energy exchange circuit has room for improvement

Summary

Introduction

Motivated by the broad prospects of thermoelectric conversion technology, such as thermoelectric conversion [1,2,3], the thermoelectric recovery of heat in industry [4,5], and thermoelectric energy supply for microelectronic systems [6], the principles and applications of thermoelectric energy conversion have been widely researched. Thermoelectric conversion technology, has obvious advantages over other energy conversion technologies, such as a long service life, no noise, low cost, and environmental protection [2,3,9,10]. On this basis, thermoelectric conversion technology has been widely adopted in energy conversion processes in the aerospace, aviation, and civil industries [11]. Sun et al and Kunt used high-temperature exhaust gas generated by an internal combustion engine as a heat source, recycling the energy of exhaust gas through a thermoelectric energy conversion module [13,14]

Methods

Results

Conclusion