IDEAS home Printed from https://ideas.repec.org/a/eee/appene/v114y2014icp80-90.html
   My bibliography  Save this article

Battery charging considerations in small scale electricity generation from a thermoelectric module

Author

Listed:
  • Kinsella, C.E.
  • O’Shaughnessy, S.M.
  • Deasy, M.J.
  • Duffy, M.
  • Robinson, A.J.

Abstract

This project involves the development of a prototype electrical generator for delivering and storing small amounts of electricity. Power is generated using the thermoelectric effect. A single thermoelectric generator (TEG) is utilised to convert a small portion of the heat flowing through it to electricity. The electricity produced is used to charge a single rechargeable 3.3V lithium–iron phosphate battery. This study investigates methods of delivering maximum power to the battery for a range of temperature gradients across the thermoelectric module. The paper explores load matching and maximum power point tracking techniques. It was found that, for the TEG tested, a SEPIC DC–DC converter was only beneficial for temperature gradients less than 100 °C across the TEG. At a temperature gradient of 150 °C, the effective resistance of the battery was close to the internal resistance of the TEG. For temperature gradients in excess of 100°C a DC–DC converter is not suggested and a simple charge protection circuit is sufficient.

Suggested Citation

  • Kinsella, C.E. & O’Shaughnessy, S.M. & Deasy, M.J. & Duffy, M. & Robinson, A.J., 2014. "Battery charging considerations in small scale electricity generation from a thermoelectric module," Applied Energy, Elsevier, vol. 114(C), pages 80-90.
    • Handle: RePEc:eee:appene:v:114:y:2014:i:c:p:80-90
    DOI: 10.1016/j.apenergy.2013.09.025
    as

    Download full text from publisher

    File URL: http://www.sciencedirect.com/science/article/pii/S0306261913007721
    Download Restriction: Full text for ScienceDirect subscribers only
    File URL: https://libkey.io/10.1016/j.apenergy.2013.09.025?utm_source=ideas
    LibKey link: if access is restricted and if your library uses this service, LibKey will redirect you to where you can use your library subscription to access this item
    ---><---

    As the access to this document is restricted, you may want to search for a different version of it.

    References listed on IDEAS

    as
    1. Hsu, Cheng-Ting & Huang, Gia-Yeh & Chu, Hsu-Shen & Yu, Ben & Yao, Da-Jeng, 2011. "An effective Seebeck coefficient obtained by experimental results of a thermoelectric generator module," Applied Energy, Elsevier, vol. 88(12), pages 5173-5179.
    2. Rowe, D.M., 1994. "Thermoelectric generators as alternative sources of low power," Renewable Energy, Elsevier, vol. 5(5), pages 1470-1478.
    3. Eakburanawat, Jensak & Boonyaroonate, Itsda, 2006. "Development of a thermoelectric battery-charger with microcontroller-based maximum power point tracking technique," Applied Energy, Elsevier, vol. 83(7), pages 687-704, July.
    Full references (including those not matched with items on IDEAS)

    Citations

    Citations are extracted by the CitEc Project, subscribe to its RSS feed for this item.
    as


    Cited by:

    1. Merotto, L. & Fanciulli, C. & Dondè, R. & De Iuliis, S., 2016. "Study of a thermoelectric generator based on a catalytic premixed meso-scale combustor," Applied Energy, Elsevier, vol. 162(C), pages 346-353.
    2. Al-Nimr, Moh'd A. & Tashtoush, Bourhan M. & Jaradat, Ahmad A., 2015. "Modeling and simulation of thermoelectric device working as a heat pump and an electric generator under Mediterranean climate," Energy, Elsevier, vol. 90(P2), pages 1239-1250.
    3. O’Shaughnessy, S.M. & Deasy, M.J. & Doyle, J.V. & Robinson, A.J., 2015. "Performance analysis of a prototype small scale electricity-producing biomass cooking stove," Applied Energy, Elsevier, vol. 156(C), pages 566-576.
    4. Ricardo Marroquín-Arreola & Jinmi Lezama & Héctor Ricardo Hernández-De León & Julio César Martínez-Romo & José Antonio Hoyo-Montaño & Jorge Luis Camas-Anzueto & Elías Neftalí Escobar-Gómez & Jorge Eva, 2022. "Design of an MPPT Technique for the Indirect Measurement of the Open-Circuit Voltage Applied to Thermoelectric Generators," Energies, MDPI, vol. 15(10), pages 1-20, May.
    5. Fanciulli, C. & Abedi, H. & Merotto, L. & Dondè, R. & De Iuliis, S. & Passaretti, F., 2018. "Portable thermoelectric power generation based on catalytic combustor for low power electronic equipment," Applied Energy, Elsevier, vol. 215(C), pages 300-308.
    6. Ding, L.C. & Akbarzadeh, A. & Tan, L., 2018. "A review of power generation with thermoelectric system and its alternative with solar ponds," Renewable and Sustainable Energy Reviews, Elsevier, vol. 81(P1), pages 799-812.
    7. Montecucco, Andrea & Siviter, Jonathan & Knox, Andrew R., 2015. "Constant heat characterisation and geometrical optimisation of thermoelectric generators," Applied Energy, Elsevier, vol. 149(C), pages 248-258.
    8. Abedi, H. & Migliorini, F. & Dondè, R. & De Iuliis, S. & Passaretti, F. & Fanciulli, C., 2019. "Small size thermoelectric power supply for battery backup," Energy, Elsevier, vol. 188(C).
    9. Kütt, Lauri & Millar, John & Karttunen, Antti & Lehtonen, Matti & Karppinen, Maarit, 2018. "Thermoelectric applications for energy harvesting in domestic applications and micro-production units. Part I: Thermoelectric concepts, domestic boilers and biomass stoves," Renewable and Sustainable Energy Reviews, Elsevier, vol. 98(C), pages 519-544.
    10. Al-Nimr, Moh’d A. & Tashtoush, Bourhan M. & Khasawneh, Mohammad A. & Al-Keyyam, Ibrahim, 2017. "A hybrid concentrated solar thermal collector/thermo-electric generation system," Energy, Elsevier, vol. 134(C), pages 1001-1012.
    11. Compadre Torrecilla, Marcos & Montecucco, Andrea & Siviter, Jonathan & Knox, Andrew R. & Strain, Andrew, 2019. "Novel model and maximum power tracking algorithm for thermoelectric generators operated under constant heat flux," Applied Energy, Elsevier, vol. 256(C).
    12. Raman, Perumal & Ram, Narasimhan K. & Gupta, Ruchi, 2014. "Development, design and performance analysis of a forced draft clean combustion cookstove powered by a thermo electric generator with multi-utility options," Energy, Elsevier, vol. 69(C), pages 813-825.
    13. Twaha, Ssennoga & Zhu, Jie & Yan, Yuying & Li, Bo, 2016. "A comprehensive review of thermoelectric technology: Materials, applications, modelling and performance improvement," Renewable and Sustainable Energy Reviews, Elsevier, vol. 65(C), pages 698-726.
    14. Zhang, Xiaoshun & Tan, Tian & Yang, Bo & Wang, Jingbo & Li, Shengnan & He, Tingyi & Yang, Lei & Yu, Tao & Sun, Liming, 2020. "Greedy search based data-driven algorithm of centralized thermoelectric generation system under non-uniform temperature distribution," Applied Energy, Elsevier, vol. 260(C).
    15. Liu, Yi-Hua & Chiu, Yi-Hsun & Huang, Jia-Wei & Wang, Shun-Chung, 2016. "A novel maximum power point tracker for thermoelectric generation system," Renewable Energy, Elsevier, vol. 97(C), pages 306-318.
    16. Gao, Junling & Tang, Kechen & Yan, Yonggao & Zhang, Shimin, 2020. "New method for quickly measuring the maximum conversion power of a thermoelectric module/generator," Energy, Elsevier, vol. 197(C).
    17. Montecucco, A. & Siviter, J. & Knox, A.R., 2017. "Combined heat and power system for stoves with thermoelectric generators," Applied Energy, Elsevier, vol. 185(P2), pages 1336-1342.

    Most related items

    These are the items that most often cite the same works as this one and are cited by the same works as this one.
    1. O’Shaughnessy, S.M. & Deasy, M.J. & Kinsella, C.E. & Doyle, J.V. & Robinson, A.J., 2013. "Small scale electricity generation from a portable biomass cookstove: Prototype design and preliminary results," Applied Energy, Elsevier, vol. 102(C), pages 374-385.
    2. O’Shaughnessy, S.M. & Deasy, M.J. & Doyle, J.V. & Robinson, A.J., 2015. "Performance analysis of a prototype small scale electricity-producing biomass cooking stove," Applied Energy, Elsevier, vol. 156(C), pages 566-576.
    3. Kütt, Lauri & Millar, John & Karttunen, Antti & Lehtonen, Matti & Karppinen, Maarit, 2018. "Thermoelectric applications for energy harvesting in domestic applications and micro-production units. Part I: Thermoelectric concepts, domestic boilers and biomass stoves," Renewable and Sustainable Energy Reviews, Elsevier, vol. 98(C), pages 519-544.
    4. Ezzat, M.F. & Dincer, I., 2019. "Development and exergetic assessment of a new hybrid vehicle incorporating gas turbine as powering option," Energy, Elsevier, vol. 170(C), pages 112-119.
    5. Ge, Ya & Liu, Zhichun & Sun, Henan & Liu, Wei, 2018. "Optimal design of a segmented thermoelectric generator based on three-dimensional numerical simulation and multi-objective genetic algorithm," Energy, Elsevier, vol. 147(C), pages 1060-1069.
    6. Hongkun Lv & Guoneng Li & Youqu Zheng & Jiangen Hu & Jian Li, 2018. "Compact Water-Cooled Thermoelectric Generator (TEG) Based on a Portable Gas Stove," Energies, MDPI, vol. 11(9), pages 1-19, August.
    7. Ye-Qi Zhang & Jiao Sun & Guang-Xu Wang & Tian-Hu Wang, 2022. "Advantage of a Thermoelectric Generator with Hybridization of Segmented Materials and Irregularly Variable Cross-Section Design," Energies, MDPI, vol. 15(8), pages 1-18, April.
    8. Kim, Shiho, 2013. "Analysis and modeling of effective temperature differences and electrical parameters of thermoelectric generators," Applied Energy, Elsevier, vol. 102(C), pages 1458-1463.
    9. Cotfas, D.T. & Enesca, A. & Cotfas, P.A., 2024. "Enhancing the performance of the solar thermoelectric generator in unconcentrated and concentrated light," Renewable Energy, Elsevier, vol. 221(C).
    10. Delfani, Fatemeh & Rahbar, Nader & Aghanajafi, Cyrus & Heydari, Ali & KhalesiDoost, Abdollah, 2021. "Utilization of thermoelectric technology in converting waste heat into electrical power required by an impressed current cathodic protection system," Applied Energy, Elsevier, vol. 302(C).
    11. Oh, Ki-Yong & Epureanu, Bogdan I., 2016. "Characterization and modeling of the thermal mechanics of lithium-ion battery cells," Applied Energy, Elsevier, vol. 178(C), pages 633-646.
    12. Ge, Ya & He, Kui & Xiao, Liehui & Yuan, Wuzhi & Huang, Si-Min, 2022. "Geometric optimization for the thermoelectric generator with variable cross-section legs by coupling finite element method and optimization algorithm," Renewable Energy, Elsevier, vol. 183(C), pages 294-303.
    13. Lan, Song & Yang, Zhijia & Chen, Rui & Stobart, Richard, 2018. "A dynamic model for thermoelectric generator applied to vehicle waste heat recovery," Applied Energy, Elsevier, vol. 210(C), pages 327-338.
    14. Deasy, M.J. & Baudin, N. & O'Shaughnessy, S.M. & Robinson, A.J., 2017. "Simulation-driven design of a passive liquid cooling system for a thermoelectric generator," Applied Energy, Elsevier, vol. 205(C), pages 499-510.
    15. Merienne, R. & Lynn, J. & McSweeney, E. & O'Shaughnessy, S.M., 2019. "Thermal cycling of thermoelectric generators: The effect of heating rate," Applied Energy, Elsevier, vol. 237(C), pages 671-681.
    16. Ma, Xiaonan & Shu, Gequn & Tian, Hua & Xu, Wen & Chen, Tianyu, 2019. "Performance assessment of engine exhaust-based segmented thermoelectric generators by length ratio optimization," Applied Energy, Elsevier, vol. 248(C), pages 614-625.
    17. Zarifi, Soudmand & Mirhosseini Moghaddam, Maziar, 2020. "Utilizing finned tube economizer for extending the thermal power rate of TEG CHP system," Energy, Elsevier, vol. 202(C).
    18. Temizer, İlker & İlkılıç, Cumali, 2016. "The performance and analysis of the thermoelectric generator system used in diesel engines," Renewable and Sustainable Energy Reviews, Elsevier, vol. 63(C), pages 141-151.
    19. Chen, Wei-Hsin & Chiou, Yi-Bin, 2020. "Geometry design for maximizing output power of segmented skutterudite thermoelectric generator by evolutionary computation," Applied Energy, Elsevier, vol. 274(C).
    20. Liao, Xinzhong & Liu, Yuxuan & Ren, Jiahang & Guan, Liuping & Sang, Xuehao & Wang, Bowen & Zhang, Hang & Wang, Qiuwang & Ma, Ting, 2020. "Investigation of a double-PCM-based thermoelectric energy-harvesting device using temperature fluctuations in an ambient environment," Energy, Elsevier, vol. 202(C).

    Corrections

    All material on this site has been provided by the respective publishers and authors. You can help correct errors and omissions. When requesting a correction, please mention this item's handle: RePEc:eee:appene:v:114:y:2014:i:c:p:80-90. See general information about how to correct material in RePEc.

    If you have authored this item and are not yet registered with RePEc, we encourage you to do it here. This allows to link your profile to this item. It also allows you to accept potential citations to this item that we are uncertain about.

    If CitEc recognized a bibliographic reference but did not link an item in RePEc to it, you can help with this form .

    If you know of missing items citing this one, you can help us creating those links by adding the relevant references in the same way as above, for each refering item. If you are a registered author of this item, you may also want to check the "citations" tab in your RePEc Author Service profile, as there may be some citations waiting for confirmation.

    For technical questions regarding this item, or to correct its authors, title, abstract, bibliographic or download information, contact: Catherine Liu (email available below). General contact details of provider: http://www.elsevier.com/wps/find/journaldescription.cws_home/405891/description#description .

    Please note that corrections may take a couple of weeks to filter through the various RePEc services.

    IDEAS is a RePEc service. RePEc uses bibliographic data supplied by the respective publishers.