scholarly journals Development of High-efficiency Thermoelectric Materials for Vehicle Waste Heat Utililization

2009 ◽  
Author(s):  
Qiang Li ◽  
Michael Furey
Keyword(s):  
Thermoelectric Materials ◽  
High Efficiency ◽  
Waste Heat

Topology Optimization of Multimaterial Thermoelectric Structures

2020 ◽  
Vol 143 (1) ◽  
Author(s):  
Xiaoqiang Xu ◽  
Yongjia Wu ◽  
Lei Zuo ◽  
Shikui Chen
Keyword(s):  
Topology Optimization ◽  
Thermoelectric Materials ◽  
Power Plants ◽  
High Efficiency ◽  
Waste Heat ◽  
Oil Refining ◽  
Numerical Verification ◽  
Temperature Range ◽  
Multiple Materials ◽  
P Type

Abstract A large amount of energy from power plants, vehicles, oil refining, and steel or glass making process is released to the atmosphere as waste heat. The thermoelectric generator (TEG) provides a way to reutilize this portion of energy by converting temperature differences into electricity using Seebeck phenomenon. Because the figures of merit zT of the thermoelectric materials are temperature-dependent, it is not feasible to achieve high efficiency of the thermoelectric conversion using only one single thermoelectric material in a wide temperature range. To address this challenge, the authors propose a method based on topology optimization to optimize the layouts of functional graded TEGs consisting of multiple materials. The multimaterial TEG is optimized using the solid isotropic material with penalization (SIMP) method. Instead of dummy materials, both the P-type and N-type electric conductors are optimally distributed with two different practical thermoelectric materials. Specifically, Bi2Te3 and Zn4Sb3 are selected for the P-type element while Bi2Te3 and CoSb3 are employed for the N-type element. Two optimization scenarios with relatively regular domains are first considered with one optimizing on both the P-type and N-type elements simultaneously, and the other one only on single P-type element. The maximum conversion efficiency could reach 9.61% and 12.34% respectively in the temperature range from 25 °C to 400 °C. CAD models are reconstructed based on the optimization results for numerical verification. A good agreement between the performance of the CAD model and optimization result is achieved, which demonstrates the effectiveness of the proposed method.

Multimaterial Topology Optimization of Thermoelectric Generators

2019 ◽  
Author(s):  
Xiaoqiang Xu ◽  
Yongjia Wu ◽  
Lei Zuo ◽  
Shikui Chen
Keyword(s):  
Topology Optimization ◽  
Conversion Efficiency ◽  
Thermoelectric Materials ◽  
Power Plants ◽  
High Efficiency ◽  
Waste Heat ◽  
Computational Simulation ◽  
Oil Refining ◽  
Temperature Range ◽  
Multiple Materials

Abstract Over 50% of the energy from power plants, vehicles, oil refining, and steel or glass making process is released to the atmosphere as waste heat. As an attempt to deal with the growing energy crisis, the solid-state thermoelectric generator (TEG), which converts the waste heat into electricity using Seebeck phenomenon, has gained increasing popularity. Since the figures of merit of the thermoelectric materials are temperature dependent, it is not feasible to achieve high efficiency of the thermoelectric conversion using only one single thermoelectric material in a wide temperature range. To address this challenge, this paper proposes a method based on topology optimization to optimize the layouts of functional graded TEGs consisting of multiple materials. The objective of the optimization problem is to maximize the output power and conversion efficiency as well. The proposed method is implemented using the Solid Isotropic Material with Penalization (SIMP) method. The proposed method can make the most of the potential of different thermoelectric materials by distributing each material into its optimal working temperature interval. Instead of dummy materials, both the P and N-type electric conductors are optimally distributed with two different practical thermoelectric materials, namely Bi2Te3 & PbTe for P-type, and Bi2Te3 & CoSb3 for N-type respectively, with the yielding conversion efficiency around 12.5% in the temperature range Tc = 25°C and Th = 400°C. In the 2.5D computational simulation, however, the conversion efficiency shows a significant drop. This could be attributed to the mismatch of the external load and internal TEG resistance as well as the grey region from the topology optimization results as discussed in this paper.

Ternary Copper-Based Diamond-Like Semiconductors for Thermoelectric Applications

2009 ◽  
Vol 1166 ◽  
Author(s):  
Donald T Morelli ◽  
Eric J. Skoug
Keyword(s):  
Thermoelectric Materials ◽  
Waste Heat Recovery ◽  
High Efficiency ◽  
Waste Heat ◽  
Low Cost ◽  
Electrical Energy ◽  
Clean Energy ◽  
Direct Conversion ◽  
Thermoelectric Device ◽  
Climate Control

AbstractThermoelectric materials can provide sources of clean energy and increase the efficiency of existing processes. Solar energy, waste heat recovery, and climate control are examples of applications that could benefit from the direct conversion between thermal and electrical energy provided by a thermoelectric device. The widespread use of thermoelectric devices has been prevented by their lack of efficiency, and thus the search for high-efficiency thermoelectric materials is ongoing. Here we describe our initial efforts studying copper-containing ternary compounds for use as high-efficiency thermoelectric materials that could provide low-cost alternatives to their silver-containing counterparts. The compounds of interest are semiconductors that crystallize in structures that are variants of binary zincblende structure compounds. Two examples are the compounds Cu2SnSe3 and Cu3SbSe4, for which we present here preliminary thermoelectric characterization data.

scholarly journals Heat Flux Based Optimization of Combined Heat and Power Thermoelectric Heat Exchanger

Energies ◽  
2021 ◽  
Vol 14 (22) ◽  
pp. 7791
Author(s):  
Kazuaki Yazawa ◽  
Ali Shakouri
Keyword(s):  
Heat Flux ◽  
Heat Exchanger ◽  
Thermoelectric Materials ◽  
Heat Recovery ◽  
High Efficiency ◽  
Waste Heat ◽  
Combined Heat And Power ◽  
Hot Water ◽  
Maximum Power ◽  
System Efficiency

We analyzed the potential of thermoelectrics for electricity generation in a combined heat and power (CHP) waste heat recovery system. The state-of-the-art organic Rankine cycle CHP system provides hot water and space heating while electricity is also generated with an efficiency of up to 12% at the MW scale. Thermoelectrics, in contrast, will serve smaller and distributed systems. Considering the limited heat flux from the waste heat source, we investigated a counterflow heat exchanger with an integrated thermoelectric module for maximum power, high efficiency, or low cost. Irreversible thermal resistances connected to the thermoelectric legs determine the energy conversion performance. The exit temperatures of fluids through the heat exchanger are important for the system efficiency to match the applications. Based on the analytic model for the thermoelectric integrated subsystem, the design for maximum power output with a given heat flux requires thermoelectric legs 40–70% longer than the case of fixed temperature reservoir boundary conditions. With existing thermoelectric materials, 300–400 W/m2 electrical energy can be generated at a material cost of $3–4 per watt. The prospects of improvements in thermoelectric materials were also studied. While the combined system efficiency is nearly 100%, the balance between the hot and cold flow rates needs to be adjusted for the heat recovery applications.

SnSe, the rising star thermoelectric material: a new paradigm in atomic blocks, building intriguing physical properties

2021 ◽  
Author(s):  
Lin Xie ◽  
Dongsheng He ◽  
Jiaqing He
Keyword(s):  
Physical Properties ◽  
Energy Conversion ◽  
Thermoelectric Material ◽  
Thermoelectric Materials ◽  
Waste Heat ◽  
New Paradigm ◽  
Direct Energy Conversion ◽  
Structures And Properties ◽  
Direct Energy

Thermoelectric materials, which enable direct energy conversion between waste heat and electricity, are witnessing exciting developments due to innovative breakthroughs both in materials and the synergistic optimization of structures and properties.

Effect of Electron-Phonon Coupling on Transport Properties of Monolayers of ZrS2, BiI3 and PbI2: A thermoelectric Perspective

2021 ◽  
Author(s):  
Gautam Sharma ◽  
Vineet Kumar Pandey ◽  
Shouvik Datta ◽  
Prasenjit Ghosh
Keyword(s):  
Relaxation Time ◽  
Band Structure ◽  
Transport Properties ◽  
Thermoelectric Properties ◽  
Thermoelectric Materials ◽  
Waste Heat ◽  
Transport Coefficients ◽  
Electrical Energy ◽  
Phonon Coupling ◽  
Electron Phonon Coupling

Thermoelectric materials are used for conversion of waste heat to electrical energy. The transport coefficients that determine their thermoelectric properties depend on the band structure and the relaxation time of...

Hybrid direct carbon fuel cell-thermoradiative systems for high-efficiency waste-heat recovery

2019 ◽  
Vol 198 ◽  
pp. 111842
Author(s):  
Xin Zhang ◽  
Jianying Du ◽  
Yee Sin Ang ◽  
Jincan Chen ◽  
Lay Kee Ang
Keyword(s):  
Fuel Cell ◽  
Heat Recovery ◽  
Waste Heat Recovery ◽  
High Efficiency ◽  
Waste Heat ◽  
Direct Carbon Fuel Cell

High efficiency GeTe-based materials and modules for thermoelectric power generation

2021 ◽  
Author(s):  
Tong Xing ◽  
Qingfeng Song ◽  
Pengfei Qiu ◽  
Qihao Zhang ◽  
Ming Gu ◽  
...  
Keyword(s):  
Power Generation ◽  
Thermoelectric Power ◽  
Heat Recovery ◽  
Waste Heat Recovery ◽  
High Efficiency ◽  
Waste Heat ◽  
Thermoelectric Performance ◽  
Thermoelectric Generators ◽  
Thermoelectric Power Generation

GeTe-based materials have a great potential to be used in thermoelectric generators for waste heat recovery due to their excellent thermoelectric performance, but their module research is greatly lagging behind...

Realizing high-efficiency power generation in low-cost PbS-based thermoelectric materials

2020 ◽  
Vol 13 (2) ◽  
pp. 579-591 ◽  
Author(s):  
Binbin Jiang ◽  
Xixi Liu ◽  
Qi Wang ◽  
Juan Cui ◽  
Baohai Jia ◽  
...  
Keyword(s):  
Power Generation ◽  
Conversion Efficiency ◽  
Thermoelectric Materials ◽  
High Efficiency ◽  
Low Cost ◽  
Thermoelectric Module ◽  
High Conversion ◽  
High Conversion Efficiency

A high conversion efficiency of 11.2% was realized in a low-cost PbS-based segmented thermoelectric module.

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