TY - JOUR
T1 - Behavior of thermoelectric generators exposed to transient heat sources
AU - Nguyen, Nguyen Q.
AU - Pochiraju, Kishore V.
PY - 2013
Y1 - 2013
N2 - This paper describes the power generation behavior of a thermoelectric generator (TEG) exposed to a transient heat source on the hot side and natural convection on the cold side. The simulation situation is typical in energy harvesting applications. Modeling thermoelectric generators (TEGs) under these conditions is complicated compared to thermoelectric coolers because of the non-linearities and the unknown electric currents in a closed-loop circuit. A transient thermoelectric model that includes Seebeck, Peltier, Thomson, and Joule effects is solved using finite-difference techniques and the power generated from a TEG is simulated. Using open-circuit experiments were used to establish key parameters governing the thermal behavior and thermoelectric coupling. Experiments with closed-circuits and load resistors were used to validate the model. The results show that inclusion of Thomson effect plays a significant role in accurately predicting the power generated by the device.
AB - This paper describes the power generation behavior of a thermoelectric generator (TEG) exposed to a transient heat source on the hot side and natural convection on the cold side. The simulation situation is typical in energy harvesting applications. Modeling thermoelectric generators (TEGs) under these conditions is complicated compared to thermoelectric coolers because of the non-linearities and the unknown electric currents in a closed-loop circuit. A transient thermoelectric model that includes Seebeck, Peltier, Thomson, and Joule effects is solved using finite-difference techniques and the power generated from a TEG is simulated. Using open-circuit experiments were used to establish key parameters governing the thermal behavior and thermoelectric coupling. Experiments with closed-circuits and load resistors were used to validate the model. The results show that inclusion of Thomson effect plays a significant role in accurately predicting the power generated by the device.
KW - Characterization of thermal-electrical properties
KW - Direct energy conversion
KW - Dynamic transient analysis
KW - Thermoelectric coupling physics
KW - Thermoelectric generators
KW - Thomson coefficient effect
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U2 - 10.1016/j.applthermaleng.2012.08.050
DO - 10.1016/j.applthermaleng.2012.08.050
M3 - Article
AN - SCOPUS:84867439280
SN - 1359-4311
VL - 51
SP - 1
EP - 9
JO - Applied Thermal Engineering
JF - Applied Thermal Engineering
IS - 1-2
ER -