To facilitate the co-design and co-optimization of fluid or combustion systems and thermoelectric devices, a three-dimensional (3D) thermoelectric generator (TEG) model has been proposed and implemented in a computational fluid dynamics (CFD) simulation environment. The model includes all temperature-dependent characteristics of the materials and nonlinear fluid–thermal– electric multiphysics coupled effects. In this paper, the device-level model is first extended to the module level by taking a general geometry, identifying regions such as positive and negative thermoelements, and assigning properties to them. The system-level model is then demonstrated by coupling the module-level model with a fluidic–thermal system model in a single CFD simulator to predict the generation performance based on the thermal equilibrium that is achieved. The linked models are validated experimentally at the system level using data from three real thermoelectric modules installed on the surface of an exhaust pipe-like rig, where the temperature profile as well as the electricity generated can be measured and compared with the simulation results. The rig is intended not only to verify the proposed system model but also to mimic a practical exhaust recovery apparatus for a proton exchange membrane fuel cell (PEMFC). Based on the data obtained from the system-level test rig, a novel low-temperature low-cost application for auxiliary electric power appliances based on the waste heat of the PEMFC can be envisaged. Within the common simulator, it is shown that the thermoelectric model can be connected to various continuum-domain CFD models of the fuel cell itself, thus enabling further possibilities to optimize system efficiency and performance.
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Acknowledgements
This work is funded in part by the Danish Council for Strategic Research, Programme Commission on Energy and Environment, under Grant No. 2104-07-0053, and is carried out in the Center for Energy Materials in collaboration with Aarhus University, Denmark. The first author is also supported by the Danish Council for Independent Research and the Danish Council for Technology and Production Sciences, under Grant No. 09-069739. The authors are grateful to Jan Christiansen, Kim Nørgaard, and Danny Rabih Friwat for assistance with the preparation of the experimental setup, and to Matthias Mandø for contributions to CFD modeling.
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Chen, M., Andreasen, S.J., Rosendahl, L. et al. System Modeling and Validation of a Thermoelectric Fluidic Power Source: Proton Exchange Membrane Fuel Cell and Thermoelectric Generator (PEMFC-TEG). J. Electron. Mater. 39, 1593–1600 (2010). https://doi.org/10.1007/s11664-010-1270-9
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DOI: https://doi.org/10.1007/s11664-010-1270-9