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Thomson effect and nonlinear performance of thermoelectric generator

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A Correction to this article was published on 25 November 2021

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Abstract

Compared to other energy conversion devices, the efficiency of thermoelectric generators (TEGs) is relatively low. Thus, several papers have sought to improve device performance by investigating the effects of Thomson effect on thermoelectric efficiency. However, the synergistic relationship between the temperature dependent Seebeck coefficient (SC) and Thomson effect (TE) is yet to be explored. Thus, in this paper, four possible cases of modelling a thermoelectric generator (TEG) are presented. Case 1 models equal hot and cold junction Seebeck coefficient ignoring Thomson effect, case 2 adopts equal hot and cold junction SC including TE, case 3 defines unequal hot and cold junction SC neglecting TE while case 4 represents unequal hot and cold junction SC with TE. The theoretical model used is thoroughly validated by comparing the values obtained with experimental data provided by previous similar studies. Results show that including TE in the analysis of the TEG for temperature gradients less than 300 K reduced the system performance. However, including TE in the modelling of the TEG for temperature gradients higher than 400 K increased the system performance. Also, accounting for TE in the geometric optimization of the TEG, resulted in an inverse correlation between the TEG maximum power generation and efficiency. Thus, not just the TE, but also the SC configuration needs to be considered in maximising TEG performance.

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Data availability

The data presented in this paper is available upon reasonable request from the corresponding author.

Change history

Abbreviations

A th :

Thermeolement area (m2)

G :

Area to length ratio (m)

I :

Electrical current (A)

J :

Current density (A/m2)

K :

Thermal conductivity (Wm−1K−1)

m :

Dimensionless resistance

n :

Number of thermocouples

Q :

Heat flow (W)

R :

Electrical Resistance (Ω)

S :

Seebeck coefficient (VK-1)

T :

Temperature (K)

W n :

Electrical power output (W)

V n :

Voltage power output (W)

Δ:

Change

η :

Conversion efficiency

ρ :

Electrical resistivity (Ωm)

τ :

Thomson coefficient (VK−1)

θ :

Dimensionless temperature

ξ :

Electric potential (V)

c :

TEG cold side

h :

TEG hot side

max :

Maximum

mp :

Maximum power

L :

Load

n :

N-type material

opt :

Optimum

p :

P-type material

r :

Reference

SC :

Seebeck coefficient

TE :

Thomson coefficient

TEC :

Thermoelectric cooler

TED :

Thermoelectric device

TEG :

Thermoelectric generator

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Acknowledgements

The authors are grateful to the reviewers for their comments which greatly improved the quality of this work. The first, fifth and seventh authors would like to acknowledge and appreciate the support offered by the Africa Centre of Excellence for Sustainable Power and Energy Development (ACE-SPED), University of Nigeria, Nsukka, towards the successful completion of this work.

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Authors and Affiliations

  1. Africa Centre of Excellence for Sustainable Power and Energy Development, University of Nigeria, Nsukka, Nigeria

    Chika Maduabuchi, Chigbogu Ozoegwu & Emenike C. Ejiogu

  2. Laboratory of Industrial Electronics, Power Devices and New Energy Systems (LIEPNES), University of Nigeria, Nsukka, Nigeria

    Chika Maduabuchi & Emenike C. Ejiogu

  3. Department of Electrical Engineering, Malaviya National Institute of Technology, Jaipur, 302017, India

    Ravita Lamba

  4. Department of Mechanical Engineering, University of Nigeria, NsukkaEnugu, 410001, Nigeria

    Chigbogu Ozoegwu & Mkpamdi Eke

  5. Department of Mechanical Engineering Science, University of Johannesburg, Auckland Park, 2006, South Africa

    Chigbogu Ozoegwu & Howard O. Njoku

  6. Applied Renewable and Sustainable Energy Research Group, Department of Mechanical Engineering, University of Nigeria, Nsukka, 410001, Nigeria

    Howard O. Njoku

  7. Departamento de Física, Centro de Investigación Y de Estudios Avanzados del IPN, CDMX, Av. IPN 2508, 07360, México, México

    Yuri G. Gurevich

  8. Department of Electrical and Electronic Engineering Science, University of Johannesburg, Johannesburg, South Africa

    Emenike C. Ejiogu

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  1. Chika Maduabuchi
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Correspondence to Chika Maduabuchi or Mkpamdi Eke.

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Maduabuchi, C., Lamba, R., Ozoegwu, C. et al. Thomson effect and nonlinear performance of thermoelectric generator. Heat Mass Transfer 58, 967–980 (2022). https://doi.org/10.1007/s00231-021-03153-3

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