Development of Segmented Thermoelectric Multicouple Converter Technology

Fleurial, J. P.; Johnson, Ken; Mondt, Jack F.; Sakamoto, Jeffrey; Snyder, G. Jeffrey; Huang, C.‐K.; Blair, Richard G.; Stapfer, G.; Caillat, T.; Frye, Patrick; Determan, W.R.; Heshmatpour, B.; Brooks, M. S. S.; Tuttle, Karen L.

doi:10.1109/aero.2006.1656006

Cited by 4 publications

(6 citation statements)

References 3 publications

Supporting

Mentioning

Contrasting

Order By: Relevance

“…The measured thermoelectric conversion efficiency of the ptype MgAg 0.965 Ni 0.005 Sb 0.99 -based single leg device reaches 8.5 % which is significantly higher at the imposed temperature difference of 225 °C compared to in literature reported efficiencies of devices based on legs with single thermoelectric materials [18][19][20][21][22][23]25,26 (Fig. Thermoelectric legs typically require large currents (> 1 A).…”

Section: Resultsmentioning

confidence: 92%

“…Due to these challenges, few reports exist on experimental demonstrations of efficiencies of thermoelectric module, couple and single leg devices [18][19][20][21][22][23][24][25][26][27] . In addition to the challenges in fabricating thermoelectric devices with low contact resistances, efficiency measurements are difficult due to various losses via radiative heat transfer between the device and surroundings and via heat conduction through leads attached to the device.…”

Section: Introductionmentioning

confidence: 99%

See 1 more Smart Citation

High thermoelectric conversion efficiency of MgAgSb-based material with hot-pressed contacts

Kraemer

Sui

McEnaney

et al. 2015

Energy Environ. Sci.

179

132

View full text Add to dashboard Cite

The efficiency of heat-to-electricity conversion based on the thermoelectric effect depends on the materials' nondimensional figure of merit zT. While recent years saw an increasing number of reports of large peak zT in thermoelectric materials, efficiency data are scarce. High conversion efficiency requires not only a large average dimensionless figure of merit zT in the operational temperature range, but also good electrical and thermal contacts to the material. In this work, we experimentally demonstrate a record high thermoelectric conversion efficiency of 8.5 % with a single thermoelectric leg based on a recently reported p-type MgAgSb-based compound operating between 20 and 245 °C. The efficiency can exceed 10 % by increasing the hot side temperature to 295 °C. The sample is fabricated with silver contact pads using a one-step hot-press technique eliminating a typically required sample metallization process. This significantly simplifies the fabrication of thermoelectric elements with low electrical and thermal contact resistances.High conversion efficiency is demonstrated at a relatively small temperature difference for a MgAgSb-based single thermoelectric leg with hot-pressed contacts. 73x45mm (150 x 150 DPI)

show abstract

Section: Resultsmentioning

confidence: 92%

Section: Introductionmentioning

confidence: 99%

High thermoelectric conversion efficiency of MgAgSb-based material with hot-pressed contacts

Kraemer

Sui

McEnaney

et al. 2015

Energy Environ. Sci.

179

132

View full text Add to dashboard Cite

show abstract

“…This segmented thermoelectric multicouple converter (STMC) was designed for long-term steady-state operation at high temperatures (1,275 K to 725 K) and used counter-flow liquid metal heat exchangers to transfer about 30 W/cm 2 of heat between the hot-side and cold-side liquid metal loops. 28,29 The proposed system was to experience a few thermal cycles due to startup, shut-down, and safe modes of the heat source. While various candidate thermoelectric materials were considered at the time of the study, all configurations shared the same types of challenges in terms of practical integration of the thermoelectric multi-couple modules with the heat exchangers and survival under both transient and longterm steady-state operation.…”

Section: Thermoelectric Convertermentioning

confidence: 99%

“…To that effect a rapid STMC configuration evaluation tool was developed using an elastic model of the stack of material components that allows comparing trends and identifying key risk areas. 29 This was followed by a detailed thermal stress and loads analysis model at the full converter level that included an optimization for limiting parasitic thermal losses to less than 10%.…”

Section: Thermoelectric Convertermentioning

confidence: 99%

Thermoelectric power generation materials: Technology and application opportunities

Fleurial

2009

JOM

105

View full text Add to dashboard Cite

How would you… …describe the overall signifi cance of this paper? This paper highlights materials and device performance requirements for enabling penetration of thermoelectric power generation technology in various large-scale waste heat recovery applications. An overview of recent advances in materials research and development is provided, together with a brief assessment of the maturity of hightemperature thermoelectric and converter technology. …describe this work to a materials science and engineering professional with no experience in your technical specialty? Recent advances in materials synthesis techniques, theoretical modeling and design engineering of complex structure compounds, nanostructured composite materials have led to signifi cant improvements in the thermoelectric fi gure of merit of some high-temperature materials. Novel approaches to thermalto-electric device and converter technology developments that make use of these new materials are briefl y described. Selected potential large-scale waste heat recovery power applications are listed. …describe this work to a layperson? There are very signifi cant opportunities for producing electricity from waste heat recovered from a variety of energy-intensive industrial processes and the exhaust of transportation vehicles. Thermoelectric technology has some unique advantages in terms of ease of integration for retrofi tting existing industrial equipment, hybridizing with other power technologies as topping or bottoming cycles, unique scalability and modularity, and low maintenance requirements. Recent advances in thermoelectric materials and device technologies could enable cost-effective applications. Jean-Pierre Fleurial is technical group supervisor/ principal with the Jet Propulsion

show abstract

“…They indicated that the performance of a small-scale segmented device was better than that of the thermoelectric device with a single material configuration. The segmented thermoelectric multi-couple converter was investigated by Fleurial et al [8]. Their findings revealed that segmented thermoelectric multi-couple converter arrays could achieve more than 8% system efficiency.…”

Section: Introductionmentioning

confidence: 99%

Segmented thermoelectric generator: Influence of pin shape configuration on the device performance

Ali

Yilbaş

Al‐Sulaiman

2016

Energy

View full text Add to dashboard Cite

Development of Segmented Thermoelectric Multicouple Converter Technology

Cited by 4 publications

References 3 publications

High thermoelectric conversion efficiency of MgAgSb-based material with hot-pressed contacts

High thermoelectric conversion efficiency of MgAgSb-based material with hot-pressed contacts

Thermoelectric power generation materials: Technology and application opportunities

Segmented thermoelectric generator: Influence of pin shape configuration on the device performance

Contact Info

Product

Resources

About