Recent Developments in Thermoelectric Generation: A Review

Abstract

The world’s growing energy demand poses several concerns regarding the rational and efficient use of energy resources. This is also the case for many industrial processes, where energy losses and particularly thermal losses are common. Thermoelectric generators offer an alternative to address some of these challenges by recovering wasted heat and thereby increasing the overall efficiency of these processes. However, the successful operation of the thermoelectrical modules meant to carry this process is only possible when pairing these to an external control system; such a system plays an important role in predicting and operating such modules at its maximum power point. In this review paper, recent developments in the field of thermoelectric technology are discussed along with their mathematical models, applications, materials, and auxiliary devices to harvest thermal energy. Moreover, new advancements in phenomenological models are also discussed and summarized. The compiled evidence shows that the thermal dependence properties on the thermoelectric generator material’s modules and the mismatching thermal conditions play an important role in predicting power output in those systems, which prove the importance of including those parameters to enhance the accuracy of the energy production prediction. In addition, based on the evaluation of the mathematical models, it is shown that more studies are required to fill the gap between the current state-of-the-art of the technology and adjacent modeling techniques for the design and evaluation of thermal energy harvesting systems employing thermoelectric arrays under mismatching thermal conditions.

Greatly Enhanced Thermoelectric Performance of Flexible Cu2−xS Composite Film on Nylon by Se Doping

“…However, we believe that the κ of this film is low for the following reasons: (1) Cu2S has a very low κ of 0.45 W m −1 K −1 [23]. (2) The film contains grains with sizes from nano to submicron, grain boundaries, and heterointerfaces between Cu1.96S and Cu2S grains, which can scatter phonons to lower the κ.…”

“…Flexible thermoelectrics (TEs) can be used in self-powered technologies and hold promise in wearable sensors and electronics for health and environment monitoring, which has attracted more and more attention in recent years [ 1 , 2 , 3 ]. Flexible TE generators (f-TEGs), which are easily bent to well fit the curved skin surface of the human body, can utilize temperature difference (Δ T ) between the human body and environment based on the Seebeck effect [ 4 ].…”

Fundamental Aspects and Advances in Thermoelectric Materials for Power Generation: A Numerical Simulation Case Study

“…Lemine et al [15] reported a comprehensive review research highlighting the promising and future-generation TEG devices based on thin film technologies with highly flexible, transparent, non-toxic, plentiful, and light-density p-type Copper Iodide (Cul) thin films. Sanin-Villa [16] reported that research involving carbon nanotubes/polyaniline composite films has found promising results due to its low thermal conductivity.…”

A Review of Thermoelectric Generators in Automobile Waste Heat Recovery Systems for Improving Energy Utilization

“…Thermoelectric generators (TEGs) are solid-state semiconductor devices that produce a DC power output if a temperature difference exists. The working principle of a thermoelectric generator is based on three basic thermoelectric phenomena, namely, the Seebeck effect [21], the Peltier effect [22], and the Thomson effect [23]. Compared with other methods, a TEG has some inherent advantages, as it is a solid-state device, completely silent, zero-emission, compact, and capable of producing power from any heat source [24][25][26][27][28].…”