A comprehensive analysis on nanostructured materials in a thermoelectric micro-system based on geometric shape, segmentation structure and load resistance

Olivares-Robles, Miguel Ángel; Badillo-Ruiz, Carlos Alberto; Ruiz-Ortega, Pablo Eduardo

doi:10.1038/s41598-020-78770-9

Cited by 13 publications

(12 citation statements)

References 31 publications

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“…The trapezoidal and X-leg geometries have been selected due to their superior performance as reported in refs. [18,19,31,32]. Thus, Figs.…”

Section: System Descriptionmentioning

confidence: 86%

“…The material properties of the thermoelements were obtained from refs. [19,23,24,33] and were imposed on the coupled solver interface. A mesh convergence study was implemented to obtain a power density of 2500 kW/m 3 when a very fine mesh size of 0.01 mm was used, corresponding to the generation of 268,934 elements.…”

Section: Numerical Methods and Boundary Conditionsmentioning

confidence: 99%

“…Thimont et al [16] showed that hollow thermoelectric leg geometries provided higher performance than solid structure leg geometries. Wang et al [17] showed that the maximum power output was generated by the X-leg TEG when the taper angle was 10 o C. Mohammad Siddique et al [18] experimentally demonstrated that a trapezoidal shaped thermoelement generated 1.24 times more voltage than a rectangular leg TEG when exposed to a temperature gradient of 10 o C. Olivares-Robles [19] enhanced the efficiency and power output of a TEG using a segmented nanostructured trapezoidal shape TEG. In summary, it is seen that the use of variable area leg geometries provided higher performance than rectangular leg geometries.…”

Section: Introductionmentioning

confidence: 99%

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Performance Evaluation of a Nanomaterial-Based Thermoelectric Generator with Tapered Legs

Ebiringa

Adimonyemma

Maduabuchi

2020

Glob. J. Energ. Technol. Res. Updat.

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A thermoelectric generator (TEG) converts thermal energy to electricity using thermoelectric effects. The amount of electrical energy produced is dependent on the thermoelectric material properties. Researchers have applied nanomaterials to TEG systems to further improve the device’s efficiency. Furthermore, the geometry of the thermoelectric legs has been varied from rectangular to trapezoidal and even X-cross sections to improve TEG’s performance further. However, up to date, a nanomaterial TEG that uses tapered thermoelectric legs has not been developed before. The most efficient nanomaterial TEGs still make use of the conventional rectangular leg geometry. Hence, for the first time since the conception of nanostructured thermoelectrics, we introduce a trapezoidal shape configuration in the device design. The leg geometries were simulated using ANSYS software and the results were post-processed in the MATLAB environment. The results show that the power density of the nanoparticle X-leg TEG was 10 times greater than that of the traditional bulk material semiconductor X-leg TEG. In addition, the optimum leg geometry configuration in a nanomaterial-based TEG is dependent on the operating solar radiation intensity.

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“…The trapezoidal and X-leg geometries have been selected due to their superior performance as reported in refs. [18,19,31,32]. Thus, Figs.…”

Section: System Descriptionmentioning

confidence: 86%

Section: Numerical Methods and Boundary Conditionsmentioning

confidence: 99%

Section: Introductionmentioning

confidence: 99%

See 1 more Smart Citation

Performance Evaluation of a Nanomaterial-Based Thermoelectric Generator with Tapered Legs

Ebiringa

Adimonyemma

Maduabuchi

2020

Glob. J. Energ. Technol. Res. Updat.

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“…The second way to improve efficiency is to optimize the operation of the TEG. In this sense, it is important to increase the temperature difference between the hot and cold sides [12], to improve the thermal contacts between the cold side of TEG and the heat sink [5], and to increase the radiation absorption on the hot side. The geometry optimization of the thermoelectric generators is the other way to improve the efficiency.…”

Section: Introductionmentioning

confidence: 99%

Legs Geometry Influence on the Performance of the Thermoelectric Module

Rjafallah

Cotfas

2022

Sustainability

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The performance of the thermoelectric module highly depends on the geometry of the legs, the module area, and implicitly on the number of the pairs, besides the properties of the materials. The geometry of the legs consists of the shape, the dimensions on three axes, and whether the legs are filled or are hollow. The legs can have one hollow or more, the hole can be from the top to bottom or not. This paper studies and compares the performance of different thermoelectric modules in function of the shape: square, triangular, trapezoid, reverse trapezoid, hourglass, inverse hourglass (filled and with the hollow from the top to the bottom or not), and with different dimensions of the length and width. The simulations are performed using the COMSOL Multiphysics software, where 3D numerical models are developed and solved using the finite element method. The results are compared with others from the specialized literature for a one pair square shape. The current-voltage and power-voltage characteristics have a good matching, which proves the simulations are good and the model can be used for other shapes. A steady-state heating condition is applied to the hot side of the thermoelectric generators, while the cold side is subjected to steady state, natural convection, and forced convection heating conditions. The square shape with an internal hollow is studied first. The best performance when the length and width are 1 mm × 1 mm, 1.5 mm × 1.5 mm, and 2 mm × 2 mm is obtained for the thermoelectric generator with filled square legs. The highest maximum power is obtained for thermoelectric generator with the sizes 2 mm × 2 mm. The gain in power for the square shape in comparison with the worst value of the TEG (Inverse Hourglass for filled and Triangular for hollow) for the three dimensions considered is for those filled 199%, 202%, and 204%, respectively, and for those that are hollow 198%, 232%, and 243%, respectively. The reduction in maximum power is 5%, for the thermoelectric generator with square legs (2 mm × 2 mm) and with hollow legs, in comparison with one filled. The maximum power increases for the thermoelectric generator with square legs which have a hollow interior, in this case 2 mm × 2 mm, with 0.2% and 1% for the thermoelectric generator with sizes of 1 mm × 1 mm. Additionally, the results obtained for the square filled shape are compared with the real ones obtained for a thermoelectric generator with sizes 40 mm × 40 mm × 4 mm. The matching is very good, which confirms that the model can be used for different geometry of the thermoelectric generators in order to help the manufacturers improve their performance.

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“…The second article [2] analyzes the performance and energy efficiency of thermoelectric generators (TEGs) by investigating the impact of various factors such as segmentation, leg structures, and cooling nanofluids. By conducting a comprehensive analysis, the study aims to provide insights into optimizing TEG performance, which is crucial for enhancing the practical viability of thermoelectric energy generation technologies.…”

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confidence: 99%