Experimental investigation of the external load effect on thermoelectric generator discharge time in a low power energy harvesting system

Esmaeil Yousefi, Mohammad Hassan Kayhani, Ali Abbas Nejad and Amirfarhang Nikkhoo

Energy, 2024, vol. 293, issue C

Abstract: Thermoelectric generator systems are often evaluated and studied in open circuit and close circuit modes. In the open circuit case, minimum heat flux passes across the thermoelectric module and the module does not have any thermal losses. Moreover, in the close circuit system, the external consumer is connected to the module and higher heat is pumped from its hot side to cold side. Hence, investigating the effect of external load resistance as the consumer connected to the module on its response is a significant issue in thermoelectric systems. In this study, to evaluate the effect of various consumers (4, 8, 10, 15, 20 and 30 Ω) over the module on discharge time, output voltage and temperature on both sides of the module, thermoelectric systems lacking and containing phase change material as the useful means for energy storage and thermal management of thermoelectric system were designed and exposed to constant heat loads. Results of this study show that the power consumption of the internal resistance of the module (connected to the consumer) led to an increase in the temperature of both sides of the module compared to open circuit systems. Therefore, the thermal balance and temperature distribution over the module changes and more affected. The maximum output power and discharge time were obtained at the external resistance of 4 Ω (close to the average internal resistance of the module) in the studied systems. The phase change material prevented excessive temperature on the hot side during the charging process and provided proper thermal management to enhance voltage generation and discharge time. The thermoelectric generator is an effective technology in starting consumers with low resistance, such as light bulbs and remote controls.

Keywords: Thermoelectric generator; External load resistance; Phase change material; Output power; Discharge time (search for similar items in EconPapers)
Date: 2024
References: View references in EconPapers View complete reference list from CitEc
Citations:

Downloads: (external link)
http://www.sciencedirect.com/science/article/pii/S0360544224005061
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:energy:v:293:y:2024:i:c:s0360544224005061

DOI: 10.1016/j.energy.2024.130734

Access Statistics for this article

Energy is currently edited by Henrik Lund and Mark J. Kaiser

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