Thermal performance of two heat exchangers for thermoelectric generators

Li, W. et al. (2016) Thermal performance of two heat exchangers for thermoelectric generators. Case Studies in Thermal Engineering, 8, pp. 164-175. (doi: 10.1016/j.csite.2016.06.008)

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Abstract

Thermal performance of heat exchanger is important for potential application in integrated solar cell/module and thermoelectric generator (TEG) system. Usually, thermal performance of a heat exchanger for TEGs is analysed by using a 1D heat conduction theory which ignores the detailed phenomena associated with thermo-hydraulics. In this paper, thermal and mass transports in two different exchangers are simulated by means of a steady-state, 3D turbulent flow k -e model with a heat conduction module under various flow rates. In order to simulate an actual working situation of the heat exchangers, hot block with an electric heater is included in the model. TEG model is simplified by using a 1D heat conduction theory, so its thermal performance is equivalent to a real TEG. Natural convection effect on the outside surfaces of the computational model is considered. Computational models and methods used are validated under transient thermal and electrical experimental conditions of a TEG. It is turned out that the two heat exchangers designed have a better thermal performance compared with an existing heat exchanger for TEGs, and more importantly, the fin heat exchanger is more compact and has nearly half temperature rise compared with the tube heat exchanger.

Item Type:Articles
Status:Published
Refereed:Yes
Glasgow Author(s) Enlighten ID:Knox, Professor Andrew and Siviter, Dr Jonathan and Li, Dr Wenguang and Montecucco, Dr Andrea and Han, Dr Guang and Paul, Professor Manosh and Gregory, Professor Duncan
Authors: Li, W., Paul, M.C., Siviter, J., Montecucco, A., Knox, A.R., Sweet, T., Baig, H., Mallick, T.K., Han, G., Gregory, D.H., Azough, F., and Freer, R.
College/School:College of Science and Engineering > School of Chemistry
College of Science and Engineering > School of Engineering > Electronics and Nanoscale Engineering
College of Science and Engineering > School of Engineering > Systems Power and Energy
Journal Name:Case Studies in Thermal Engineering
Publisher:Elsevier
ISSN:2214-157X
ISSN (Online):2214-157X
Published Online:22 June 2016
Copyright Holders:Copyright © 2016 The Authors
First Published:First published in Case Studies in Thermal Engineering 8: 164-175
Publisher Policy:Reproduced under a Creative Commons License

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Project CodeAward NoProject NamePrincipal InvestigatorFunder's NameFunder RefLead Dept
614241Scalable Solar Thermoelectrics and Photovaltaics (SUNTRAP)Andrew KnoxEngineering & Physical Sciences Research Council (EPSRC)EP/K022156/1ENG - ENGINEERING ELECTRONICS & NANO ENG