Impacts of distributed thermal and electric contact resistance on performance and geometric optimization of thermoelectric generators

被引:6
|
作者
Li, Ying [1 ,2 ]
Shi, Yong [1 ]
Luo, Ding [3 ]
Wang, Xuehui [4 ]
Yan, Yuying [2 ]
机构
[1] Univ Nottingham Ningbo China, Dept Mech Mat & Mfg Engn, Ningbo 315100, Peoples R China
[2] Univ Nottingham, Fac Engn, Fluids & Thermal Engn Res Grp, Nottingham NG7 2RD, England
[3] Tsinghua Univ, Dept Engn Mech, Key Lab Thermal Sci & Power Engn, Minist Educ, Beijing 100084, Peoples R China
[4] Univ Coll Dublin, Sch Mech & Mat Engn, Dublin D04 V1W8, Ireland
关键词
Thermoelectric generator; Distributed thermal contact resistance; Distributed electric contact resistance; Performance assessment; Geometric optimization; ENERGY; CONVERSION; RECOVERY; DESIGN;
D O I
10.1016/j.applthermaleng.2024.122873
中图分类号
O414.1 [热力学];
学科分类号
摘要
Thermal and electric contact resistance (TCR/ECR) critically impact performance and geometric optimization of thermoelectric generators (TEGs). However, conventional treatments usually ignored or simplified them as lumped variables, neglecting their actual distributions across the TEG system. In this study, we proposed a multiphysical model to characterize TEG performance with explicitly specifying TCRs/ECRs at different TEG interfaces (locations). The numerical results show that the lumped-variabletreatment led to maximal overestimations of 16.9 % and 24.5 % in the TEG output power and efficiency, respectively, compared to the results with distributed TCR in this article. Importantly, it also reveals that the TEG performance was susceptible to the TCR location-the interfaces on the cold side exerted more negative impacts than those on the hot side. Furthermore, reducing both TCR and ECR could improve TEG performance and reducing TCR is more effective. It is shown that an 80 % reduction in TCR increased the maximum TEG output power by 35.6 %, while the same reduction percentage in ECR only improved it by 8.8 %. As to geometric optimization, an optimal TE leg height equal to 0.6 mm was obtained for the maximum output power. This contrasts with previous studies without considering TCR and ECR, which always favoured shorter heights. As for copper electrodes, their optimal heights were in the range of 0.2-0.4 mm corresponding to the maximum efficiency, far smaller than those (0.7-1.2 mm) obtained when TCR/ECR were neglected. The latter even further resulted in a reduction in the maximum efficiency by more than 1 % compared to its true peak. In this study, all these numerical results clearly elucidate the important impacts of distributed TCR and ECR on TEG performance, and provide a comprehensive and balanced guideline for TEG design.
引用
收藏
页数:15
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