Numerical investigation on the dynamic response characteristics of a thermoelectric generator module under transient temperature excitations

Luo, Ding; Yan, Yuying; Wang, Ruochen; Zhou, Weiqi

Abstract

In this work, a three-dimensional transient numerical model of a thermoelectric generator module considering the temperature-dependent properties and the topological connection of load resistance is proposed to study its dynamic response characteristics. The dynamic output power and conversion efficiency of the thermoelectric generator module under steady and different transient temperature excitations are compared and studied. A time delay exists in the output response of the thermoelectric generator module, and the time delay increases when the temperature rate increases. When the heat source temperature changes rapidly, the corresponding output power, conversion efficiency, and other thermal responses will show a more stable change trend. Moreover, the dynamic response characteristic of the output power is synchronous with that of the conversion efficiency. The periodic temperature excitation may amplify the output power, where the average output power of the sine and triangle waves are 4.93% and 2.82% respectively higher than the steady-state output power. However, the average conversion efficiency of both is almost identical to the steady-state conversion efficiency. The proposed model contributes to predicting the dynamic performance of thermoelectric generators, and can be further extended to the whole thermoelectric generator system.

Citation

Luo, D., Yan, Y., Wang, R., & Zhou, W. (2021). Numerical investigation on the dynamic response characteristics of a thermoelectric generator module under transient temperature excitations. Renewable Energy, 170, 811-823. https://doi.org/10.1016/j.renene.2021.02.026

• Journal Article Type: Article
• Acceptance Date: Feb 5, 2021
• Online Publication Date: Feb 9, 2021
• Publication Date: Jun 1, 2021
• Deposit Date: Feb 19, 2021
• Publicly Available Date: Feb 10, 2022
• Journal: Renewable Energy
• Print ISSN: 0960-1481
• Publisher: Elsevier
• Peer Reviewed: Peer Reviewed
• Volume: 170
• Pages: 811-823
• DOI: https://doi.org/10.1016/j.renene.2021.02.026
• Keywords: Thermoelectric generator, Time-dependent, Numerical model, Transient, Dynamic performance.
• Public URL: https://nottingham-repository.worktribe.com/output/5319833
• Publisher URL: https://www.sciencedirect.com/science/article/abs/pii/S0960148121001932