A dynamic model for thermoelectric generator applied in waste heat recovery

Thermoelectric devices can provide clean energy conversion and are environmentally friendly. However, few studies have been conducted to understand the dynamic characteristics of (thermoelectric generators) TEGs. The stability of output performance plays a very important role in TEG. Based on the thermoelectric effect and heat transfer theory, a dynamic model for waste heat recovery in a general TEG was developed to asses the influence of heat reservoir and heat sink. The validity of the theoretical model was demonstrated by experiments and it was found that the model prediction agrees well with the experimental results. The dynamic response characteristics, such as hot and cold semiconductor surface temperatures, maximum output power and system efficiency, were studied using this dynamic model. The results showed that enhancing heat dissipation on cold side is the crucial to improve the output performance of TEG, and that the fluctuation of hot reservoir leads to rapid change of output power generated by TEG, which is dangerous to electric devices. The dynamic model proposed in the present study can be used in the design and operation analysis of TEGs.

► A dynamic model is presented to simulate the thermoelectric generators.
► The experimental results have been used to validate the dynamic model.
► Some useful conclusions are presented for design and operation.