Selecting the optimum method of heat transfer intensification to improve efficiency of thermoelectric generator

Prospects and Problems of Increasing the Automotive Thermoelectric Generators Efficiency

“…The hot TEG heat exchanger should have a large area for the installation of serial flat TEMs. Constructions with 2 [27], 4 [28] and 6 [25,26,29,30] external faces are known. In Figure 3, the elements of TEG with such constructions are marked: 1 -hot heat exchanger; 2 -TEM; 3 -cold heat exchanger; 4 and 5 -diffuser and conceiver.…”

“…To intensify convective heat transfer in a hot heat exchanger, longitudinal [25] or oblique [29] fins and a displacer [25,29,30] are used, although they increase the hydraulic resistance. To reduce the length of the thermal way, the fins must run perpendicular to the plane of the heat exchanger, but in terms of manufacturability, it is convenient to make the fins in the form of folded plates [34][35][36] (Figure 5a).…”

“…Despite the fact that the models of gas heat exchangers have been thoroughly studied [37,38], complex geometry of the structure and nonlinearity of heat transfer in turbulent motion require the optimization of the flow channel with the use of finite volume method [27,29] for estimating the heat flow and hydraulic resistance.…”

“…In [29], eight designs of hexagonal heat exchangers with different combinations of longitudinal, oblique fins and also with dimpless are compared based on finite volume method quantification with the use of Lam-Bremhorst k − ε turbulence model. As a generalized criterion, a parameter of:…”

“…Thermal heat exchange intensifiers: (a) fins in the form of folded plates[35]; (b) oblique fins[29]; (c) dimpled surface[27].…”