IDEAS home Printed from https://ideas.repec.org/a/eee/appene/v134y2014icp374-381.html
   My bibliography  Save this article

Analytic thermoelectric couple optimization introducing Device Design Factor and Fin Factor

Author

Listed:
  • Mackey, J.
  • Sehirlioglu, A.
  • Dynys, F.

Abstract

An analytic solution of a thermocouple has been developed in order to gain a deeper understanding of the physics of a real device. The model is established for both rectangular and cylindrical couples and is made to account for thermal resistance of the hot and cold shoes and lateral heat transfer. A set of dimensionless parameters have been developed to determine couple behavior and serve as simplifying justifications. New dimensionless parameters, Device Design Factor and Fin Factor, are introduced to account for the thermal resistance and lateral heat transfer, respectively. Design guidelines on couple length and cross-sectional area have been established to account for conditions encountered by a realistic couple. As a result of thermal resistances a lower limit on the length of the couple can be established. In the case of a lateral heat transfer couple the efficiency is found to depend upon cross-sectional area of the leg in such a fashion as to suggest the need to design large area couples. The classic thermoelectric solution neglects the effect of thermal resistance and lateral heat transfer, leading to an over estimated conversion efficiency. The work presented provides a path to incorporate these neglected factors and offers a simplified estimation for couple performance based on analytic solutions of governing equations.

Suggested Citation

  • Mackey, J. & Sehirlioglu, A. & Dynys, F., 2014. "Analytic thermoelectric couple optimization introducing Device Design Factor and Fin Factor," Applied Energy, Elsevier, vol. 134(C), pages 374-381.
    • Handle: RePEc:eee:appene:v:134:y:2014:i:c:p:374-381
    DOI: 10.1016/j.apenergy.2014.08.034
    as

    Download full text from publisher

    File URL: http://www.sciencedirect.com/science/article/pii/S030626191400837X
    Download Restriction: Full text for ScienceDirect subscribers only
    File URL: https://libkey.io/10.1016/j.apenergy.2014.08.034?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. Yamashita, Osamu, 2009. "Effect of linear and non-linear components in the temperature dependences of thermoelectric properties on the cooling performance," Applied Energy, Elsevier, vol. 86(9), pages 1746-1756, September.
    2. Meng, Jing-Hui & Wang, Xiao-Dong & Zhang, Xin-Xin, 2013. "Transient modeling and dynamic characteristics of thermoelectric cooler," Applied Energy, Elsevier, vol. 108(C), pages 340-348.
    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. Wang, Tian-Hu & Wang, Qiu-Hong & Leng, Chuan & Wang, Xiao-Dong, 2015. "Parameter analysis and optimal design for two-stage thermoelectric cooler," Applied Energy, Elsevier, vol. 154(C), pages 1-12.
    2. Erturun, Ugur & Erermis, Kaan & Mossi, Karla, 2015. "Influence of leg sizing and spacing on power generation and thermal stresses of thermoelectric devices," Applied Energy, Elsevier, vol. 159(C), pages 19-27.
    3. Hwang, Junphil & Kim, Hoon & Wijethunge, Dimuthu & Nandihalli, Nagaraj & Eom, Yoomin & Park, Hwanjoo & Kim, Jungwon & Kim, Woochul, 2017. "More than half reduction in price per watt of thermoelectric device without increasing the thermoelectric figure of merit of materials," Applied Energy, Elsevier, vol. 205(C), pages 1459-1466.

    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. Liu, Di & Zhao, Fu-Yun & Yang, Hongxing & Tang, Guang-Fa, 2015. "Theoretical and experimental investigations of thermoelectric heating system with multiple ventilation channels," Applied Energy, Elsevier, vol. 159(C), pages 458-468.
    2. Enescu, Diana & Virjoghe, Elena Otilia, 2014. "A review on thermoelectric cooling parameters and performance," Renewable and Sustainable Energy Reviews, Elsevier, vol. 38(C), pages 903-916.
    3. Chen, Leisheng & Lee, Jaeyoung, 2015. "Effect of pulsed heat power on the thermal and electrical performances of a thermoelectric generator," Applied Energy, Elsevier, vol. 150(C), pages 138-149.
    4. Montecucco, Andrea & Knox, Andrew R., 2014. "Accurate simulation of thermoelectric power generating systems," Applied Energy, Elsevier, vol. 118(C), pages 166-172.
    5. Tan, Ming & Deng, Yuan & Hao, Yanming, 2014. "Improved thermoelectric performance of a film device induced by densely columnar Cu electrode," Energy, Elsevier, vol. 70(C), pages 143-148.
    6. Lin, Shumin & Ma, Ming & Wang, Jun & Yu, Jianlin, 2016. "Experiment investigation of a two-stage thermoelectric cooler under current pulse operation," Applied Energy, Elsevier, vol. 180(C), pages 628-636.
    7. Chen, Wei-Hsin & Lin, Yi-Xian & Wang, Xiao-Dong & Lin, Yu-Li, 2019. "A comprehensive analysis of the performance of thermoelectric generators with constant and variable properties," Applied Energy, Elsevier, vol. 241(C), pages 11-24.
    8. 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).
    9. Ponnusamy, P. & de Boor, J. & Müller, E., 2020. "Using the constant properties model for accurate performance estimation of thermoelectric generator elements," Applied Energy, Elsevier, vol. 262(C).
    10. Lv, Hao & Wang, Xiao-Dong & Wang, Tian-Hu & Cheng, Chin-Hsiang, 2016. "Improvement of transient supercooling of thermoelectric coolers through variable semiconductor cross-section," Applied Energy, Elsevier, vol. 164(C), pages 501-508.
    11. Harb, Abd El-Moneim A. & Elsayed, Khairy & Sedrak, Momtaz & Ahmed, Mahmoud & Abdo, Ahmed, 2024. "Enhancing the performance of thermoelectric generators using novel segmental arrangement of multi-functional gradient materials," Renewable Energy, Elsevier, vol. 225(C).
    12. Cheng, Chin-Hsiang & Huang, Shu-Yu, 2012. "Development of a non-uniform-current model for predicting transient thermal behavior of thermoelectric coolers," Applied Energy, Elsevier, vol. 100(C), pages 326-335.
    13. Lee, Heonjoong & Sharp, Jeff & Stokes, David & Pearson, Matthew & Priya, Shashank, 2018. "Modeling and analysis of the effect of thermal losses on thermoelectric generator performance using effective properties," Applied Energy, Elsevier, vol. 211(C), pages 987-996.
    14. Wang, Xiao-Dong & Wang, Qiu-Hong & Xu, Jin-Liang, 2014. "Performance analysis of two-stage TECs (thermoelectric coolers) using a three-dimensional heat-electricity coupled model," Energy, Elsevier, vol. 65(C), pages 419-429.
    15. Jia, Xiao-Dong & Wang, Yuan-Jing & Gao, Yuan-Wen, 2017. "Numerical simulation of thermoelectric performance of linear-shaped thermoelectric generators under transient heat supply," Energy, Elsevier, vol. 130(C), pages 276-285.
    16. 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.
    17. Su, Shanhe & Liu, Tie & Wang, Junyi & Chen, Jincan, 2014. "Evaluation of temperature-dependent thermoelectric performances based on PbTe1−yIy and PbTe: Na/Ag2Te materials," Energy, Elsevier, vol. 70(C), pages 79-85.
    18. Ibáñez-Puy, Elia & Martín-Gómez, César & Bermejo-Busto, Javier & Zuazua-Ros, Amaia, 2018. "Thermal and energy performance assessment of a thermoelectric heat pump integrated in an adiabatic box," Applied Energy, Elsevier, vol. 228(C), pages 681-688.
    19. Wang, Tian-Hu & Wang, Qiu-Hong & Leng, Chuan & Wang, Xiao-Dong, 2015. "Parameter analysis and optimal design for two-stage thermoelectric cooler," Applied Energy, Elsevier, vol. 154(C), pages 1-12.
    20. Liu, Di & Zhao, Fu-Yun & Yang, Hong-Xing & Tang, Guang-Fa, 2015. "Thermoelectric mini cooler coupled with micro thermosiphon for CPU cooling system," Energy, Elsevier, vol. 83(C), pages 29-36.

    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:134:y:2014:i:c:p:374-381. 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.