Geometric effect on cooling power and performance of an integrated thermoelectric generation-cooling system

• An integrated thermoelectric generation-cooling system is analyzed numerically.
• The system performance is improved through the geometric design.
• The effects of contact resistance and heat convection on performance are considered.
• With varied TEG length, the system performance depends on boundary conditions.
• The study provides a useful insight into the design of integrated TEG–TEC systems.

Geometric design of an integrated thermoelectric generation-cooling system is performed numerically using a finite element method. In the system, a thermoelectric cooler (TEC) is powered directly by a thermoelectric generator (TEG). Two different boundary conditions in association with the effects of contact resistance and heat convection on system performance are taken into account. The results suggest that the characteristics of system performance under varying TEG length are significantly different from those under altering TEC length. When the TEG length is changed, the entire behavior of system performance depends highly on the boundary conditions. On the other hand, the maximum distributions of cooling power and coefficient of performance (COP) are exhibited when the TEC length is altered, whether the hot surface of TEG is given by a fixed temperature or heat transfer rate. The system performance will be reduced once the contact resistance and heat convection are considered. When the lengths of TEG and TEC vary, the maximum reduction percentages of system performance are 12.45% and 18.67%, respectively. The numerical predictions have provided a useful insight into the design of integrated TEG–TEC systems.

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