THERMAL SCIENCE

International Scientific Journal

EFFECT OF CORE FLOW HEAT TRANSFER ENHANCEMENT ON POWER GENERATION CHARACTERISTICS OF THERMOELECTRIC GENERATORS WITH DIFFERENT PERFORMANCES

ABSTRACT
In this study, the effect of enhancing the core flow heat transfer with metal foam on the performance of thermoelectric generators with different power generation characteristics is studied experimentally. Filling the core flow area of the gas channel in a thermoelectric generator with metal foam can greatly improve the heat transfer capacity of the gas channel with a small pressure loss, thereby improving the power generation efficiency. The results show that, first, the heat transfer enhancement achieved by partially filling the core area of the gas channel with metal foam can significantly improve the performance of thermoelectric generators, the maximum output power is about 1.5 times higher than that of the unfilled channel. Second, for a thermoelectric generator with different modules, the friction coefficient for different filling ratios increases by about 16 times at most, while the Nu value increases by only three times at most, and according to the PEC of the gas channel, metal foam with high filling rate and low pore density is more suitable for the thermoelectric generator. Third, it is more appropriate to use the thermoelectric module with a high figure of merit as the selection criterion for deciding whether to adopt the technique of enhancing heat exchange through the gas channel. The maximum output power and efficiency of the thermoelectric generator using the high figure of merit module are 300% and 160% higher than those of the thermoelectric generator using the low figure of merit module, respectively.
KEYWORDS
PAPER SUBMITTED: 2021-03-09
PAPER REVISED: 2021-04-10
PAPER ACCEPTED: 2021-04-17
PUBLISHED ONLINE: 2021-05-16
DOI REFERENCE: https://doi.org/10.2298/TSCI210309184L
CITATION EXPORT: view in browser or download as text file
THERMAL SCIENCE YEAR 2022, VOLUME 26, ISSUE Issue 2, PAGES [1785 - 1797]
REFERENCES
  1. Hixon, J. D., Design criteria and tow year clinical results of Pu238 fuelled demand pacemaker, Proceeding of 7th IECER, San Diego, California, (1972), pp.765 770
  2. Qiu, K., Hayden, A .C. S., A Natural Gas Fired Thermoelectric Power Generation System, Journal of Electronic Materials, 38 (2009), 7, pp.1315 1319
  3. Killander, A., Bass, J. C., A stove top generator for cold areas, Fifteenth International Conference on Thermoelectrics. IEEE, (1996), pp.390 393
  4. Rinehart, G. H., Design characteristics and fabrication of radioisotope heat sources for space missions, Progress in Nuclear Energy, 39(2001), 3, pp.305 319
  5. Gürbüz, H., Ateş, D., A numerical Study on Processes of Charge and Discharge of Latent Heat Energy Storage System Using RT27 Paraffin Wax for Exhaust Waste Heat Recovery in a SI Engine, International Journal of Automotive Science And Technology, 4(2020), 4, pp.314 327
  6. Gürbüz, H., Demirtürk, S., Investigation of dual fuel combustion by different port injection fuels (neat ethanol and E85) in a DE95 diesel/ethanol blend fuelled CI engine, Journal of Energy Resources Technology, 142(2020), 12, pp.122306
  7. Gürbüz, H., Demirtürk, S., et al., Effect of port injection of ethanol on engine performance, exhaust emissions and environmental factors in a dual fuel diesel engine, Energy and Environment, 2020
  8. Gürbüz, H., Şöhret, Y., et al., Environmental and Enviroeconomic Assessment of an LPG Fueled SI Engine at Partial Load, Journal of Environmental Management, 241(2019), pp.631--636
  9. Topalcı, Ü., Gürbüz, H., et al., Theoretical optimization of the P--N type semiconductor material pair in thermoelectric generator that achievement exhaust waste heat recovery, Gazi University Journal of Science Part C: Design and Technology, 8 (2020 ), 3, pp.588--600
  10. Ge, M., Li, Z., et al., Experimental study on thermoelectric power generation based on cryogenic liquid cold energy, Energy, 220(2021), 6, pp.119746
  11. Jang, J. Y., Tsai, Y. C., Optimization of thermoelectric generator module spacing and spreader thickness used in a waste heat recovery system, Applied Thermal Engineering, 51(2013), 1--2, pp.677--689
  12. Liu, X., Deng, Y.D., et al., Experiments and simulations on heat exchangers in thermoelectric generator for automotive application, Applied Thermal Engineering, 71(2014), 1, pp.364--370
  13. In, B.D., Kim, H.I., et al., The study of a thermoelectric generator with various thermal conditions of exhaust gas from a diesel engine, International Journal of Heat and Mass Transfer, 86(2015), pp.667--680
  14. Lu, X., Yu, X., et al., Experimental investigation on thermoelectric generator with non--uniform hot--side heat exchanger for waste heat recovery, Energy Conversion and Management, 150(2017), pp. 403--414
  15. Wang, Y., Li, S., et al., The influence of inner topology of exhaust heat exchanger and thermoelectric module distribution on the performance of automotive thermoelectric generator, Energy Conversion and Management, 126(2016), pp.266--277
  16. Kim, T.Y., Negash, A., et al., Direct contact thermoelectric generator (DCTEG): A concept for removing the contact resistance between thermoelectric modules and heat source, Energy Conversion and Management, 142(2017), pp.20--27
  17. Megerlin, F. E., et al., Augmentation of Heat Transfer in Channels by Use of Mesh and Brush Inserts, Journal of Heat Transfer, 96(1974), 2, pp.64--64
  18. Wang, S., et al., Heat transfer enhancement by using metallic filament insert in channel flow, International Journal of Heat & Mass Transfer, 44(2001), 7, pp.1373--1378
  19. Pavel, B. I., Mohamad, A. A., An experimental and numerical study on heat transfer enhancement for gas heat exchangers fitted with porous media, International Journal of Heat & Mass Transfer, 47(2004), 23, pp.4939--4952
  20. Hsieh, W. H., et al., Experimental investigation of heat--transfer characteristics of aluminum--foam heat sinks, International Journal of Heat & Mass Transfer, 47(2004), 23, pp.5149--5157
  21. Boomsma, K., et al., Metal foams as compact high performance heat exchangers, Mechanics of Materials, 35(2003), 12, pp.1161--1176
  22. Pavel, B. I., Mohamad, A. A., An experimental and numerical study on heat transfer enhancement for gas heat exchangers fitted with porous media, International Journal of Heat & Mass Transfer, 47(2004), 23, pp.4939--4952
  23. Mohamad, A. A., Heat transfer enhancements in heat exchangers fitted with porous media Part I: constant wall temperature, International Journal of Thermal Sciences, 42(2003), 4, pp.385--395
  24. Wei, L., Yang, K., Mechanism and numerical analysis of heat transfer enhancement in the core flow along a channel, Science China Technological Sciences, 51(2008), 8, pp.1195--1202
  25. Huang, Z. F., et al., Enhancing heat transfer in the core flow by using porous medium insert in a channel, International Journal of Heat & Mass Transfer, 53(2010), 5--6, pp.1164--1174
  26. Zheng, Z. J., et al., Optimization of Porous Insert Configuration in a Central Receiver Channel for Heat Transfer Enhancement, Energy Procedia, 75(2015), pp.502--507
  27. Li, Y.Z., et al., Experimental study on the influence of porous foam metal filled in the core flow region on the performance of thermoelectric generators, Applied Energy, 207(2017), pp.634--642
  28. Webb, R. L., Performance evaluation criteria for use of enhanced heat transfer surfaces in heat exchanger design. International Journal of Heat & Mass Transfer, 24(1981), 4, pp.715--726

© 2024 Society of Thermal Engineers of Serbia. Published by the Vinča Institute of Nuclear Sciences, National Institute of the Republic of Serbia, Belgrade, Serbia. This article is an open access article distributed under the terms and conditions of the Creative Commons Attribution-NonCommercial-NoDerivs 4.0 International licence