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2012
Presentation
Titel
Modeling of thermoelectric applications for waste heat usage
Titel Supplements
Presentation held at 10th CMCEE, International Symposium on Ceramic Materials and Components for Energy and Environmental Applications, May 20-23, 2012, Dresden, Germany
Alternative
Modellierung von thermoelektrischen Anwendungen für die Abwärmenutzung
Abstract
Thermoelectric systems are characterized by the direct conversion of thermal energy into electrical energy. However, due to their low efficiency thermoelectric generators are currently applied in a small application range. The focus of development in recent years has been set on the improvement of the TE-materials (ZT value). Nevertheless a high efficiency of thermoelectric devices is not only an issue of excellent material properties. Thermal and electrical adjustment of the thermoelectric system to the general system is another important factor. An high efficiency of thermoelectric systems depends on several variables and maximum efficiency can be only achieved in a more or less narrow design parameter range. Some important factors are for instance the geometric design of the thermoelect ric legs or the thickness of the substrate plates of the thermoelectric generator. The present study shows the simulation and modeling of thermoelectric applications specifically for waste heat usage. The effect of thermal and electrical adaptation of the TEG in the overall system will be discussed. Using a simplified model consisting of inlet - outlet channel and thermoelectric module, we want to present general problems for the simulation of thermoelectric systems. For the simulation model we use COMSOL Multiphysics, which is based on the finite element method. Specifically, we want to illustrate the numerical coupling of the heat transfer from exhaust gas to the thermoelectric module. Simulation results include the fluid temperature distribution and the heat extraction performance. In a ddition, we want to analyze the influence of different material systems on the thermal management within the thermoelectric generator.