New approach for highly accurate efficiency determination of thermoelectric generator modules

Rauscher, L.; Kaibe, H.T.; Ishimabushi, H.; Sano, Seijirou; Müller, E.; Platzek, D.

doi:10.1109/ict.2003.1287560

Cited by 5 publications

(3 citation statements)

References 1 publication

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“…A few home‐built systems to evaluate the performance of high temperature modules have been developed at various laboratories. For example, Rauscher et al developed a novel approach to measure TE modules with their set‐up . An alternative approach which overcomes problems regarding calibration, temperature measurement and heat loss is to determine the heat production instead of measuring the electrical power.…”

Section: Design Principle Fabrication Methods and Testing Technologmentioning

confidence: 99%

Thermoelectric Devices for Power Generation: Recent Progress and Future Challenges

et al. 2015

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Thermoelectric (TE) devices for power generation have been attracting increasing attention on account of their advantages such as solid-state operation, good stability, and high reliability. This paper presents an overview of the design principle, fabrication methods and testing technology of TE power generation devices. Particular attention is paid to skutterudite-based devices regarding electrode fabrication, barrier layer design, interface optimization, protective coating, and evaluation of elements and modules. The development of Bi 2 Te 3 -based devices for power generation focusing specifically on the optimization of Bi 2 Te 3 /electrode joints and fabrication and evaluation of Bi 2 Te 3 -based modules is summarized. The future challenges concerning TE devices for power generation are discussed.

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Section: Design Principle Fabrication Methods and Testing Technologmentioning

confidence: 99%

Thermoelectric Devices for Power Generation: Recent Progress and Future Challenges

et al. 2015

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“…GHPs for heat flow measurement on TEMs involving actively controlled guard heaters for thermal shielding of the MH have been described by Anatychuk et al [ 96 ], Kwon et al [ 97 ], Rauscher et al [ 98 , 99 ], and Ziolkowski et al [ 51 ]. Anatychuk developed a GHP and tested the accuracy of the MH against a custom-made heat flux sensor, which was installed at the cold side of a tested TEM.…”

Section: Methodsmentioning

confidence: 99%

International Round Robin Test of Thermoelectric Generator Modules

et al. 2022

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The status of metrology for the characterization of thermoelectric generator modules (TEM) is investigated in this work by an international round robin (RR) test including twelve laboratories from nine countries on three continents. Measurements have been performed with three samples of a Bi2Te3-based commercial TEM type, which has prevailed over three competing types during previous tests on the short- and long-term stability. A comparison of temperature-dependent results is provided up to 200 °C hot side temperature for the maximum power output Pmax, the incident heat flow Q˙In (at maximum efficiency conditions), and the maximum efficiency ηmax. Data evaluation from all RR participants reveals maximum standard deviations for these measurands of 27.2% (Pmax), 59.2% (Q˙In), and 25.9% (ηmax). A comparison between RR data sets and reference data from manufacturer specifications shows high deviations of up to 46%, too. These deviations reflect the absence of measurement guidelines and reference samples and confirm the need for improvements in the standardization of TEM metrology. Accordingly, the results of the RR are presented against the background of our own investigations on the uncertainty budgets for the determination of the abovementioned TEM properties using inhouse-developed characterization facilities, which comprise reference and absolute measurement techniques for the determination of heat flow.

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“…The issue with this method is that the thermal conductivity of the reference block needs to be calibrated in advance, and the heat loss from the reference block and heat source is difficult to estimate and correct. The guard heater arrangement proposed by Rauscher et al [22,23] was adopted in this work to overcome these issues. The primary heater block was used to supply heating power.…”

Section: Test Setupmentioning

confidence: 99%

Experimental study of the influences of surface roughness and thermal interface material on the performance of a thermoelectric generator

Fu,

Wang,

et al. 2023

Phys. Scr.

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Reducing surface roughness and using thermal interface materials (TIMs) at the interfaces between a thermoelectric generator (TEG), heat source, and heat sink are effective strategies for decreasing the thermal contact resistance (TCR) and enhancing the TEG performance. To evaluate the influences of parameters such as the surface roughness, the thermal conductivity of TIM and loading pressure, we conducted experiments to measure the open-circuit voltage and output power of the TEG under various installation conditions. We also analysed the changes in TCR and temperature difference across the TEG module. The experimental findings were validated with numerical simulations using COMSOL Multiphysics under specific conditions. Our results revealed that reducing surface roughness and using TIM could substantially reduce the TCR, increase the temperature difference across the TEG, and increase the output power from the TEG. In our experiments, we used a temperature controller, cartridge heaters and thermocouples to regulate and record the temperatures of the heat source and heat sink. When maintaining a temperature difference of 53 K between the heat source and heat sink, and loading pressure set at 0.2 MPa, without using TIM, as the surface roughness decreased from 2.2 μm to 0.37 μm and to 0.03 μm, leading to a reduction in the TCR from 0.22 K W−1 to 0.17 K W−1 and to 0.13 K/W. Simultaneously, the open-circuit voltage increased from 1.32 V to 1.65 V and to 1.86 V, and the maximum output power increased from 0.26 W to 0.44 W and to 0.58 W. Additionally, when the surface roughness was 0.37 μm, after using TIM with thermal conductivity of 1 W/m-K, 2 W m−1-K−1, and 5 W m−1-K−1, the open-circuit voltage reached 1.44 V, 1.74 V and 1.94 V, respectively, and the maximum power reached 0.31 W, 0.51 W and 0.65 W, respectively.

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New approach for highly accurate efficiency determination of thermoelectric generator modules

Abstract: An experimental method was developed to determine the efficiency of thermoelectric generators with enhanced reliability and accuracy. In spite of previous experiments the crucial

Cited by 5 publications

References 1 publication

Thermoelectric Devices for Power Generation: Recent Progress and Future Challenges

Thermoelectric Devices for Power Generation: Recent Progress and Future Challenges

International Round Robin Test of Thermoelectric Generator Modules

Experimental study of the influences of surface roughness and thermal interface material on the performance of a thermoelectric generator

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