Design and Numerical Evaluation of Cascade-Type Thermoelectric Modules

Fujisaka, Takeyuki; Sui, Hongtao; Suzuki, Ryosuke O.

doi:10.1007/s11664-012-2400-3

Cited by 34 publications

(17 citation statements)

References 18 publications

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“…Fig. 4 thus confirmed the previous prediction by the authors [20], and as the current is quite sensitive to obtain P max , the control of external resistance should be considered in the practical TEG using solar heat.…”

Section: Contact Resistancesupporting

confidence: 89%

“…As reported theoretically in the previous papers [14,20], however, the P max would be obtained at the larger external resistance than the internal resistance if we consider both the effects of Seebeck and Peltier. When the resistance in the circuit is the larger, the voltage introduced by Seebeck effect will be consumed at the internal resistance, and the current induced into the circuit becomes the smaller.…”

Section: Contact Resistancementioning

confidence: 64%

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Dimensional Analysis of Thermoelectric Modules Under Constant Heat Flux

Suzuki

Fujisaka

Ito

et al. 2014

Journal of Elec Materi

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Thermoelectric power generation (TEG) is examined in case of the radiation heating.A constant heat flux is assumed in addition to the consideration of Seebeck effect, Peltier effect and Joule heat with the temperature dependencies of materials' properties.Numerical evaluations are conducted using combination of the finite-volume method (FVM) and an original simultaneous solver among the heat transfer, thermoelectric and electric transportation phenomena. The comparison with the experimental results shows that a new solver in numerical calculation could work well. The calculations predict that Seebeck effect becomes the larger because of the larger temperature difference when the thermoelectric (TE) elements are the longer. The heat transfer to the cold surface is critical to determine the junction temperatures under a constant heat flux from the hot surface. The negative contribution by Peltier cooling and heating can be minimized when the current is smaller at the longer elements. Therefore, the thicker TE module can generate the larger electric power even under a constant heat flux.(163 words)

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Section: Contact Resistancesupporting

confidence: 89%

Section: Contact Resistancementioning

confidence: 64%

Dimensional Analysis of Thermoelectric Modules Under Constant Heat Flux

Suzuki

Fujisaka

Ito

et al. 2014

Journal of Elec Materi

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“…By referring to the reported codes [12,13] , we evaluated the current density via our custom-written C program [7,14] , and subsequently, our codes were combined with the conventional functions of FLUENT because this commercial package does not account for this TE phenomena. The final results were obtained after several thousand iterations until sufficient convergence was achieved for each complex calculation of the entire TE process.…”

Section: Constitutive Equationmentioning

confidence: 99%

Simulation Analysis of Tilted Polyhedron-Shaped Thermoelectric Elements

Meng

Suzuki

2014

Journal of Elec Materi

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The generation of thermoelectricity is considered as a promising approach to harness the waste heat generated in industries, automobiles, gas fields, and other man-made processes. The waste heat can be converted to electricity via a thermoelectric (TE) generator. In this light, the generator performance depends on the geometric configuration of its constituent elements as well as their material properties. Our previous work reported TE behaviors for modules consisting of parallelogram-shaped elements because elements with tilted laminate structures provide increased mechanical stability and efficient heat transferring ability from the hot surface to the cold surface. Here, we study TE elements in the shape of a polyhedron that is obtained by mechanically truncating the edges of a parallelogram element in order to further enhance the generator performance and reduce TE material usage. The TE performance of the modules consisting of these polyhedron elements is numerically simulated by using the finite-volume method. The output power, voltage, and current of the polyhedral TE module are greater than those of the parallelogram-element module. The polyhedron shape positively affects heat transfer and the flow of electric charges in the light of increasing the efficiency of conversion from heat to electricity. By varying the shape of the truncated portions, we determine the optimal shape that enables homogeneous heat flux distribution and slow diffusion of thermal energy to obtain the better efficiency of conversion of heat into electricity. We believe that the findings of our study can significantly contribute to the designing policy in TE generation.

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“…The contribution of the TE phenomenon was originally coded in FLUENT and combined with the conventional codes of FLUENT. The current density was originally evaluated in our project 13 because the optional function delivered by ANSYS Co. Ltd. did not contain the calculation of current density.…”

Section: Modelingmentioning

confidence: 99%

Thermoelectric Analysis for Π-type Thermoelectric Module with Tilted Elements

Meng

Fujisaka

Ito

et al. 2014

Materials Research Innovations

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Thermoelectric (TE) legs in the P-type module for TE generation are tilted as a shape of parallelogram, and three-dimensional flows of heat and electric charge are examined by using a numerical analysis of finite-volume method. The distributions of temperature and current density are significantly dependent on the module configuration and leg shape. The shortest path is chosen preferentially as mainstream of current. The P-type module is the most favorable because the maximum performance is obtained in case that the tilting angle is 90u. Under the constant temperature difference, the charge-transporting ability of the stream is governed by the path length.

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Design and Numerical Evaluation of Cascade-Type Thermoelectric Modules

Cited by 34 publications

References 18 publications

Dimensional Analysis of Thermoelectric Modules Under Constant Heat Flux

Dimensional Analysis of Thermoelectric Modules Under Constant Heat Flux

Simulation Analysis of Tilted Polyhedron-Shaped Thermoelectric Elements

Thermoelectric Analysis for Π-type Thermoelectric Module with Tilted Elements

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