Experimental Analysis of the Long-Term Stability of Thermoelectric Generators under Thermal Cycling in Air and Argon Atmosphere

Julian Schwab (), Christopher Fritscher, Michael Filatov, Martin Kober, Frank Rinderknecht and Tjark Siefkes
Additional contact information
Julian Schwab: German Aerospace Center (DLR), Institute of Vehicle Concepts, 70569 Stuttgart, Germany
Christopher Fritscher: German Aerospace Center (DLR), Institute of Vehicle Concepts, 70569 Stuttgart, Germany
Michael Filatov: German Aerospace Center (DLR), Institute of Vehicle Concepts, 70569 Stuttgart, Germany
Martin Kober: German Aerospace Center (DLR), Institute of Vehicle Concepts, 70569 Stuttgart, Germany
Frank Rinderknecht: German Aerospace Center (DLR), Institute of Vehicle Concepts, 70569 Stuttgart, Germany
Tjark Siefkes: German Aerospace Center (DLR), Institute of Vehicle Concepts, 70569 Stuttgart, Germany

Energies, 2023, vol. 16, issue 10, 1-10

Abstract: It is estimated that 72% of the worldwide primary energy consumption is lost as waste heat. Thermoelectric Generators (TEGs) are a possible solution to convert a part of this energy into electricity and heat for space heating. However, for their deployment a proven long-term operation is required. Therefore, this research investigates the long-term stability of TEGs on system level in air and argon atmosphere under thermal cycling up to 543 K. The layout of the examined test objects resembles a TEG in stack design. The results show that the maximal output power of the test object in air reaches a plateau at 57% of the initial power after 50 cycles caused by an increased electrical resistance of the system. Whereas the test object in argon atmosphere shows no significant degradation of electrical power or resistance. The findings represent a step towards the understanding of the long-term stability of TEGs and can be used as a guideline for design decisions.

Keywords: thermoelectric; generator; module; half-Heusler; long-term stability (search for similar items in EconPapers)
JEL-codes: Q Q0 Q4 Q40 Q41 Q42 Q43 Q47 Q48 Q49 (search for similar items in EconPapers)
Date: 2023
References: View references in EconPapers View complete reference list from CitEc
Citations:

Downloads: (external link)
https://www.mdpi.com/1996-1073/16/10/4145/pdf (application/pdf)
https://www.mdpi.com/1996-1073/16/10/4145/ (text/html)

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:gam:jeners:v:16:y:2023:i:10:p:4145-:d:1149162

Access Statistics for this article

Energies is currently edited by Ms. Agatha Cao

More articles in Energies from MDPI
Bibliographic data for series maintained by MDPI Indexing Manager ().