Effect of cooling condition on the performance of thermoelectric power generation system coupling with phase change material module

Abstract

In this study, a thermoelectric power generation (TEG) system coupling with phase change material (PCM) module for thermal control and storage has been fabricated. Bismuth Telluride (Bi2Te3) TEG devices were applied to convert heat into electricity and Sn-Ag-In alloy PCM was employed for heat storage. A cooling channel with pure water and graphene nanofluids as heat exchange media was attached tightly with the cold-sides of the TEG devices. The effects of the flow rate of cooling water and the mass fraction of graphene nanofluids on the heat transfer process and the performance of the as fabricated TEG-PCM coupling system have been investigated. It is found that increasing the heat exchange capability of the cooling channel would help the PCM module to enhance the heat absorption and utilization of thermal energy from heat source, which in turn brings about the improvement of efficiency of TEG system. The output voltage of TEG system by using pure water for cooling is improved by 6.6%-13.1% with the acceleration of flow rate. Using graphene nanofluids as heat exchange media, the TEG system could achieve 7.2%-18.5% enhancement in outputvoltage with an increase in the mass fraction of the used nanofluid.