Experimental investigation of a U-tube thermocell under various Fe(CN)63−/4− concentration

Qian, G., Yu, X., Li, Z., Wu, J., Huang, R. and Lu, Y. (2020) Experimental investigation of a U-tube thermocell under various Fe(CN)63−/4− concentration. Energy Conversion and Management, 217, 113005. (doi: 10.1016/j.enconman.2020.113005)

Abstract

Research interest in thermocell technology has been increasingly occurring due to its large Seebeck coefficient (~1 mV/K) and flexible structure, which are its unique advantages for use in wearable devices directly converting thermal energy into electricity. It is timely and critical to investigate the technology to potentially overcome the technological drawbacks of thermocell such as its relatively low power density and limited overall energy efficiency. In this paper, the correlation between the performance of a Fe(CN)63−/4− thermocell and ion concentrations are studied through factorial experiments. Solubility tests are conducted to obtain the maximum concentration. Activity coefficient is found non-negligible in the Nernst equation. The saturation line calculated through concentration solubility product shows relatively close agreement with experimental results. Total concentration, as well as the concentration ratio of ions, have a significant effect on the thermocell performance. At the optimised concentration point on the saturation line, power density, Seebeck coefficient and efficiency respectively increase by 7.38%, 8.93% and 5.69%. And the mass of solute decreases by 12.64%, compared with the widely used 1:1 concentration ratio. Results demonstrate to improve the power density of thermocell, the solution needs to be saturated and the ion concentration ratio should be taken into account.

• Item Type: Articles
• Additional Information: The support from the Newton Fund under UK-China Joint Research and Innovation Partnership Fund (Grant number 201703780098), the Royal Academy of Engineering through the Transforming Systems through Partnerships program (Grant number TSP1098) and grants from the National Natural Science Foundation of China (Grant numbers No. 51976176 and No. 51806189), the Fundamental Research Funds for the Central Universities (Grant number 2020QNA4008), China Science Foundation (Grant numbers 2018M640556 and 2019T120514) and from Zhejiang Province Science Foundation under grant number ZJ20180099 are gratefully acknowledged. The authors also would like to recognise the support from NSFC-RS Joint Project (Grant numbers No. 5151101443 and IE/151256).
• Status: Published
• Refereed: Yes
• Glasgow Author(s) Enlighten ID: Lu, Dr Yiji

Creator Roles

Lu, Y.: Writing – review and editing, Methodology, Supervision

• Authors: Qian, G., Yu, X., Li, Z., Wu, J., Huang, R., and Lu, Y.
• College/School: College of Science and Engineering > School of Engineering > Systems Power and Energy
• Journal Name: Energy Conversion and Management
• Publisher: Elsevier
• ISSN: 0196-8904
• ISSN (Online): 1879-2227
• Published Online: 29 May 2020
• Copyright Holders: Copyright © 2020 Elsevier Ltd.
• First Published: First published in Energy Conversion and Management 217:113005
• Publisher Policy: Reproduced in accordance with the publisher copyright policy