Theoretical and experimental investigations of thermoelectric heating system with multiple ventilation channels

Di Liu, Fu-Yun Zhao, Hongxing Yang and Guang-Fa Tang

Applied Energy, 2015, vol. 159, issue C, 458-468

Abstract: In the present work, an open-type thermoelectric heating system with multiple channels was developed. A mathematical model of heat transfer, based on one-dimensional treatment of thermal and electric power, is conducted. The heating coefficient and production are both correlated in terms of temperature difference, thermal conductivity, electric resistance and electric current. The looped air circulation was designed to simultaneously recycle heat and enhance heater system performance. Experimental investigations were conducted to identify thermal performance of the thermoelectric heater. Effects of airflow rates through the heating side and cooling side, temperatures of heating side and cooling side on the performance were investigated. The heating coefficient was calculated upon that surface temperatures of hot and cold sides were recorded. The results show that the average heating coefficient of the thermoelectric heating system could reach to 1.3, which is greater than that of a typical electric heater with heating coefficient of less than one. The optimal isolation thickness for this thermoelectric heater, i.e., 14mm, is confirmed by the experimental rig system. Generally, heating coefficient was found to increase first and decrease afterwards when the current was continuously increasing. Analytical and experimental results demonstrate that the optimum performance of the thermoelectric heat recovery heater strongly depends on the intensities of these operating parameters.

Keywords: Thermoelectric heater; Heating coefficient; Looped air circulation; Isolation thickness (search for similar items in EconPapers)
Date: 2015
References: View references in EconPapers View complete reference list from CitEc
Citations: View citations in EconPapers (16)

Downloads: (external link)
http://www.sciencedirect.com/science/article/pii/S0306261915010612
Full text for ScienceDirect subscribers only

Related works:
This item may be available elsewhere in EconPapers: Search for items with the same title.

Export reference: BibTeX RIS (EndNote, ProCite, RefMan) HTML/Text

Persistent link: https://EconPapers.repec.org/RePEc:eee:appene:v:159:y:2015:i:c:p:458-468

Ordering information: This journal article can be ordered from
http://www.elsevier.com/wps/find/journaldescription.cws_home/405891/bibliographic
http://www.elsevier. ... 405891/bibliographic

DOI: 10.1016/j.apenergy.2015.08.125

Access Statistics for this article

Applied Energy is currently edited by J. Yan

More articles in Applied Energy from Elsevier
Bibliographic data for series maintained by Catherine Liu ().