A novel thermoelectric harvester based on high-performance phase change material for space application

Tu, Yubin; Zhu, Wei; Lu, Tianqi; Deng, Yuan

doi:10.1016/j.apenergy.2017.10.030

Cited by 60 publications

(18 citation statements)

References 33 publications

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“…Substituting 7, (13) and (15) into (6), the thermal efficiency of the CTEG-PCM unit can finally be obtained.…”

Section: B Conversion Efficiency Of the Te Modulementioning

confidence: 99%

“…Their results confirmed the potential of the application of PCM as a cooling/heating media in TEGs. Tu et al [13] developed and experimentally analysed the application of PCM in thermoelectric power generation devices with considerable temperature changes from 100 • C to -50 • C. The PCM used was a paraffin-based composite material. Atouei et al [14] proposed a prototype of a new two-stage TEG system integrated with the PCM.…”

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confidence: 99%

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Theoretical and Experimental Evaluation of a Thermoelectric Generator Using Concentration and Thermal Energy Storage

Sui

Zhang

et al. 2020

IEEE Access

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To improve the thermoelectric conversion efficiency of solar thermoelectric power, a concentration solar thermoelectric generator (CTEG) unit based on concentrating and storing energy is designed. A Fresnel lens is used to concentrate thermal energy, and a phase change material (PCM) is used to store thermal energy to increase the temperature difference between the hot and cold ends of thermoelectric (TE) sheets. The heat stored in the PCM container will help to generate continuous solar energy at night and improve the thermal power conversion efficiency of the TEGs. The energy conversion equilibrium equation is established for the CTEG unit. By numerical calculation, we conclude that the absorption rate of the coating surface is reduced by 0.1 and the maximum thermoelectric conversion efficiency is reduced by approximately 0.4%. By selecting different heights of the heat exchanger, the unit supplies 1.025 v, 0.4204 v and 0.299 v open circuit voltages on average for approximately 30, 44 and 53 minutes, respectively. Therefore, the height of the heat exchanger affects the rate of heat energy absorption and release. The reversible operation of the CTEG-PCM unit is conducive to the day and night operation of solar power generation and is more suitable to solving the self-supplying power problem for wireless temperature sensors in forests. INDEX TERMS Energy storage, phase change material, solar power generation, thermoelectric generator. I. INTRODUCTION

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“…Substituting 7, (13) and (15) into (6), the thermal efficiency of the CTEG-PCM unit can finally be obtained.…”

Section: B Conversion Efficiency Of the Te Modulementioning

confidence: 99%

mentioning

confidence: 99%

Theoretical and Experimental Evaluation of a Thermoelectric Generator Using Concentration and Thermal Energy Storage

Sui

Zhang

et al. 2020

IEEE Access

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“…As a result, these systems have found various applications including body heat energy conversion and sensing, [1][2][3] waste heat recovery in cars, [4][5][6] solar evaporation-thermoelectric system, 7 and energy generation for space missions. 8,9 Other novel thermoelectric applications involve energy generation at night via radiative cooling 10 and also thermoelectric power plants to make energy generation more water and CO 2 parsimonious. 11 Energy conversion efficiency and thermal reliability under thermal loading are the most important design parameters for thermoelectric energy conversion systems.…”

Section: Introductionmentioning

confidence: 99%

Numerical analysis of energy conversion efficiency and thermal reliability of novel, unileg segmented thermoelectric generation systems

Aljaghtham

Çelik

2021

Int J Energy Res

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Despite their great potential to recover waste heat, thermoelectric generators (TEGs) find limited usage since thermoelectric materials are only efficient within a limited temperature range. Using multiple materials in segmented TEGs can significantly enhance the overall energy conversion efficiency. However, thermal reliability is questionable in these systems especially at elevated temperatures and in annular configurations. This study explores the feasibility of utilizing unileg (single material) segmented TEG configuration as a remedy for the thermal stress problem. This study introduces the concept of unileg, segmented thermoelectric configurations (flat and annular) for the first time, and three-dimensional finite element simulations are conducted to investigate the thermoelectric performance and thermal reliability analysis in comparison with the conventional unicouple (dual material) systems. Results indicate that thermal stresses are significantly lowered in unileg systems compared to the unicouple configuration. In addition to the enhanced thermal reliability, power generation and thermoelectric conversion efficiency are higher in unileg systems since the material with higher performance is used solely eliminating the need of poorly performing, second thermoelectric leg material.

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“…The medium is called phase change materials (PCMs) and the heat during phase change is latent heat. The PCMs usually have constant melting and crystallization temperatures and offer large energy storage density within a limited temperature change, which has made PCMs applied in various fields, such as building, refrigeration, textile, automobile, space, and food industry [7][8][9][10][11][12][13][14].…”

Section: Introductionmentioning

confidence: 99%

Optimizing the Preparation of Semi-Crystalline Paraffin/Poly(Urea-Formaldehyde) Microcapsules for Thermal Energy Storage

Zhang

Zhou

2019

Applied Sciences

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Paraffin, the most common phase change material, has been widely utilized as the core component in thermal energy storage in the form of microcapsules. In this study, semi-crystalline paraffin is capsulated into a poly(urea-formaldehyde) (PUF) shell by a two-step polymerization process. To obtain the microcapsule with good morphology and high latent heat, sodium chloride and crosslinker (a mixture of ammonium chloride and resorcinol with a weight ratio of 1:1) are incorporated and their addition amounts were optimized through differential scanning calorimetry (DSC) and SEM. The optimized microcapsules were obtained by adding 4 wt% sodium chloride, and 0.25 wt% crosslinker exhibits a diameter of several microns and a melting enthalpy of 110 J/g. This detailed study shows that sodium chloride strongly affects the morphology of paraffin emulsion by enlarging droplets, widening the size distribution, and enhancing the stability, which should be attributed to the enhancement of electric double layer strength. In addition, sodium chloride can weaken the Zeta potential of prepolymer and provides more opportunity for prepolymer to deposit on the surface of emulsion droplets. The two components in crosslinker play different roles in the polymerization process. Ammonium chloride reacts with prepolymers and reduces the pH of system, which can accelerate the curing process, while resorcinol probably participates in polymerization as a comonomer.

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A novel thermoelectric harvester based on high-performance phase change material for space application

Cited by 60 publications

References 33 publications

Theoretical and Experimental Evaluation of a Thermoelectric Generator Using Concentration and Thermal Energy Storage

Theoretical and Experimental Evaluation of a Thermoelectric Generator Using Concentration and Thermal Energy Storage

Numerical analysis of energy conversion efficiency and thermal reliability of novel, unileg segmented thermoelectric generation systems

Optimizing the Preparation of Semi-Crystalline Paraffin/Poly(Urea-Formaldehyde) Microcapsules for Thermal Energy Storage

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