Review
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Effect of Transport Properties on Thermoelectric Generators Design, A review
Version 1
: Received: 14 August 2018 / Approved: 14 August 2018 / Online: 14 August 2018 (16:10:27 CEST)
How to cite: Karami Rad, M. Effect of Transport Properties on Thermoelectric Generators Design, A review. Preprints 2018, 2018080256. https://doi.org/10.20944/preprints201808.0256.v1 Karami Rad, M. Effect of Transport Properties on Thermoelectric Generators Design, A review. Preprints 2018, 2018080256. https://doi.org/10.20944/preprints201808.0256.v1
Abstract
Abstract Due to the relatively low efficiency of thermoelectric (TE) generators, they have mostly been used in niche applications where the unique properties of TE generators outweigh their lack of efficiency, or conditions where it is more reasonable to base the optimal design on maximum generated power rather than maximum efficiency. The aim of this work is to investigate how the different fundamental transport properties (Seebeck coefficient, thermal conductivity and electrical resistivity) in materials with equal figure of merit (ZT) impact TE module design and maximum power output. Further, we discuss and review the strategies to enhance material properties and the latest studies on the TE module performance. It is shown, that by increasing the power factor by a factor of 15 and decreasing the thermal conductivity by 13.33 in order to maintain ZT=1, power output is increased by 45%. This effect is stronger in lower module fill factor and thermal resistance of the heat source and heat sink.
Keywords
Thermoelectric module; Seebeck coefficient; Figure of merit; Power factor; thermal conductivity; Contact resistance.
Subject
Engineering, Energy and Fuel Technology
Copyright: This is an open access article distributed under the Creative Commons Attribution License which permits unrestricted use, distribution, and reproduction in any medium, provided the original work is properly cited.
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