Experimental investigation of a novel heat pipe thermoelectric generator for waste heat recovery and electricity generation

Summary The photovoltaic‐thermoelectric hybrid system (PVTE) is less sensitive to the photon wavelength than the pure PV system. This phenomenon can make the PVTE to be a good method of obtaining electrical energy from solar energy. A challenge of this system is how to distribute the energy in the working process. To solve this problem, this paper establishes a thermodynamic model to study the energy matching mechanism of the hybrid system. The influence of dynamic solar radiation has been considered in the model. The result indicates that the relationship between the PVTE efficiency and the PV bandgap looks like a “reverse U" (rises first and falls later). The impacts of the optical concentration ratio and the TE parameters on the optimal PV bandgap are studied. No matter how these two parameters change, the optimal PV bandgap of the PVTE is around 1.15 eV. It illustrates that the energy match does not depend on the solar radiation and the TE parameters. The effect of the phase change material has also been considered. The melting temperature, mass and heat capacity of the phase change material have been considered in the numerical model. The melting temperature is proved to be important for determining whether it needs to use the phase change material and how much heat should be stored.

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“…The TE efficiency is obtained from the figure of merit ( ZT ) of the TE material and the temperature distribution 27 :

η_{TE} = \frac{((), T_{PV} - T_{c}) ((), \sqrt{1 + ZT} - 1)}{T_{PV} \sqrt{1 + ZT} + T_{c}},

where T c is the temperature of the TE bottom.…”

Section: Modelmentioning

confidence: 99%

“…The TE efficiency is obtained from the figure of merit (ZT) of the TE material and the temperature distribution 27 :…”

Section: The Te Modelmentioning

confidence: 99%

The influence of the bandgap on the photovoltaic‐thermoelectric hybrid system

Zhang

Yan

et al. 2020

Int J Energy Res

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“…Moreover, they possess high reliability due to the absence of moving parts, and hence lower maintenance is needed. Recently, several applications have been introduced for TEG systems 9,10 and/or through combining them with different sources. [11][12][13] Recently, significant advancements in TE devices have been found.…”

Section: Introductionmentioning

confidence: 99%

A MPPT based on optimized FLC using manta ray foraging optimization algorithm for thermo‐electric generation systems

Aly

Rezk

2021

Int J Energy Res

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“…Maximum thermoelectric conversion of 7.5% and the maximum output power of 183.2 W were achieved. The effective Seebeck coefficient and effective thermal conductivity of the TEG were obtained for the system‐level applications 17‐19 …”

Section: Introductionmentioning

confidence: 99%

Thermoelectric performance study on a heat pipe thermoelectric generator for micro nuclear reactor application

et al. 2021

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Summary Heat pipe cooled reactor is designed to meet the future energy demands with many unique advantages such as modularization, solid and static state, high reliability and passive safety. In the innovative nuclear reactor design, heat pipes are used to cool the reactor core and transfer the fission heat passively, thermoelectric generators (TEGs) are utilized to achieve static energy conversion. In this article, a finite element model is established to investigate the detailed TEG thermoelectric performance coupled with heat pipes. A temperature field and flow field coupling model is used to simulate the heat transfer performance of the potassium heat pipe including a heat pipe wall, wick and vapor region. A heat pipe TEG experimental setup is established and the steady‐state experiment is conducted. The experimental setup is selected as the numerical simulation object and the simulated results are compared with the experimental data to verify the numerical model. The maximum simulation error is within 5%. Based on the verification and validation, the steady‐state thermoelectric performances, the effect of contact thermal resistance and external load on the skutterudite TEG thermoelectric performances are investigated. The detailed heat flux distributions, temperature distributions and potential distributions are researched in the steady‐state simulation. The temperature distributions of the TEG cross section are centrally symmetrical and the horizontal temperature difference is 26°C. The temperature difference introduced by thermal resistance at the TEG hot side increases from 33°C to 94°C with the increasing heat flux through TEG module. The influence of thermal resistance on TEG hot side is more significant than that on TEG cold side. The effect of external load on TEG output characteristics is investigated under different heat flux conditions. With the increase of heat flux from 60 to 166 kW/m2, the temperature difference of TEG module and p‐n unit increase by 432°C and 348°C, the thermoelectric conversion efficiency is improved from 3.6% to 8.5%, and output power increases by 20 W, respectively. The research results are of guiding significance for exploring the application potential of TEGs in the static heat pipe cooled reactor. This work provides research foundations for the multiphysics coupling analysis of the micro heat pipe cooled reactor.

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Experimental investigation of a novel heat pipe thermoelectric generator for waste heat recovery and electricity generation

Cited by 36 publications

References 16 publications

The influence of the bandgap on the photovoltaic‐thermoelectric hybrid system

The influence of the bandgap on the photovoltaic‐thermoelectric hybrid system

A MPPT based on optimized FLC using manta ray foraging optimization algorithm for thermo‐electric generation systems

Thermoelectric performance study on a heat pipe thermoelectric generator for micro nuclear reactor application

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