A comparison of micro-structured flat-plate and cross-cut heat sinks for thermoelectric generation application

Heat sink configuration has strong impact on net power output from thermoelectric generators (TEGs). A weak cooling strategy can even cause negative net power output from the thermoelectric device. However, the net power output can be significantly improved by optimal design of the heat sink. In this study, a micro-structured plate-fin heat sink is compared to a modified design of cross-cut heat sink applied to TEGs over a range of temperatures and thermal conductivities. The particular focus of this study is to explore the net power output from the TEG module. The three-dimensional governing equations for the flow and heat transfer are solved using computational fluid dynamics (CFD) in conjunction with the thermoelectric characteristics of the TEG over a wide range of flow inlet velocities. The results show that at small flow inlet velocity, the maximum net power output in TEG with plate-fin heat sink is higher, while the TEG with cross-cut heat sink has higher maximum net power output at high flow inlet velocity. The maximum net power output is equal in the TEGs with plate-fin heat sink and cross-cut heat sink.

[1]  Zichen Chen,et al.  Nominal power density analysis of thermoelectric pins with non-constant cross sections , 2015 .

[2]  Duu-Jong Lee,et al.  Multi-parameters optimization for microchannel heat sink using inverse problem method , 2011 .

[3]  A. Rezania,et al.  New Configurations of Micro Plate-Fin Heat Sink to Reduce Coolant Pumping Power , 2012, Journal of Electronic Materials.

[4]  Yan Liu,et al.  Experimental and numerical investigation of a multi-pass branching microchannel heat sink , 2013 .

[5]  Lasse Rosendahl,et al.  Parametric optimization of thermoelectric elements footprint for maximum power generation , 2014 .

[6]  Xu Jinliang,et al.  Optimal geometric structure for nanofluid-cooled microchannel heat sink under various constraint conditions , 2013 .

[7]  B. Sundén,et al.  Computational fluid dynamics for thermal performance of a water-cooled minichannel heat sink with different chip arrangements , 2014 .

[8]  J. Meyer,et al.  Constructal design of combined microchannel and micro pin fins for electronic cooling , 2013 .

[9]  A Numerical Study of the Thermal Performance of Microchannel Heat Sinks with Multiple Length Bifurcation in Laminar Liquid Flow , 2014 .

[10]  Thermal Effect of Ceramic Substrate on Heat Distribution in Thermoelectric Generators , 2012, Journal of Electronic Materials.

[11]  M. I. Hasan.  Investigation of flow and heat transfer characteristics in micro pin fin heat sink with nanofluid , 2014 .

[12]  Y. D. Deng,et al.  Performance analysis of a waste heat recovery thermoelectric generation system for automotive application , 2015 .

[13]  J. Sakamoto,et al.  Synthesis and evaluation of lead telluride/bismuth antimony telluride nanocomposites for thermoelectric applications , 2011 .

[14]  King Jet Tseng,et al.  Design of AlN-based micro-channel heat sink in direct bond copper for power electronics packaging , 2013 .

[15]  Xiao-dong Wang,et al.  An improved design of double-layered microchannel heat sink with truncated top channels , 2015 .

[16]  X. Zhao,et al.  Improved Thermoelectric Performance of p-Type Bismuth Antimony Telluride Bulk Alloys Prepared by Hot Forging , 2011 .

[17]  L. Rosendahl,et al.  A three-dimensional numerical model of thermoelectric generators in fluid power systems , 2011 .

[18]  H. Scherrer,et al.  Thermal properties of high quality single crystals of bismuth telluride—Part I: Experimental characterization , 1988 .

[19]  Shambhoo Yadav,et al.  Experimental studies on a micro power generator using thermo-electric modules mounted on a micro-combustor , 2015 .

[20]  Gian Luca Morini,et al.  Scaling Effects for Liquid Flows in Microchannels , 2006 .

[21]  Rabah Boukhanouf,et al.  Experimental study of a domestic thermoelectric cogeneration system , 2014 .

[22]  Chin‐Hsiang Cheng,et al.  A three-dimensional numerical modeling of thermoelectric device with consideration of coupling of temperature field and electric potential field , 2012 .

[23]  Jiin-Yuh Jang,et al.  A study of 3-D numerical simulation and comparison with experimental results on turbulent flow of venting flue gas using thermoelectric generator modules and plate fin heat sink , 2013 .

[24]  Goodarz Ahmadi,et al.  Numerical study of heat transfer performance of single-phase heat sinks with micro pin-fin structures , 2013 .

[25]  Ali Shakouri,et al.  Co-optimized design of microchannel heat exchangers and thermoelectric generators , 2013 .

[26]  Chengbin Zhang,et al.  Three-dimensional numerical simulation of heat and fluid flow in noncircular microchannel heat sinks , 2009 .

[27]  Xiao-dong Wang,et al.  Dynamic response characteristics of thermoelectric generator predicted by a three-dimensional heat-electricity coupled model , 2014 .

[28]  Xinxin Zhang,et al.  Multi-objective and multi-parameter optimization of a thermoelectric generator module , 2014 .

[29]  Frédéric Lesage,et al.  A study on heat transfer enhancement using flow channel inserts for thermoelectric power generation , 2013 .

[30]  Sung Jin Kim,et al.  Comparison of Fluid Flow and Thermal Characteristics of Plate-Fin and Pin-Fin Heat Sinks Subject to a Parallel Flow , 2008 .

[31]  K. S. Rajan,et al.  Computational analysis of new microchannel heat sink configurations , 2014 .

[32]  G. Xia,et al.  Heat transfer enhancement in microchannel heat sinks with periodic expansion–constriction cross-sections , 2013 .

[33]  J. Ji,et al.  Analysis and discussion on the impact of non-uniform input heat flux on thermoelectric generator array , 2015 .

[34]  B. Sundén,et al.  Analysis of Flow and Thermal Performance of a Water-Cooled Transversal Wavy Microchannel Heat Sink for Chip Cooling , 2012 .

[35]  Jing-Hui Meng,et al.  Characteristics analysis and parametric study of a thermoelectric generator by considering variable material properties and heat losses , 2015 .

[36]  Duckjong Kim,et al.  Thermal Optimization of Microchannel Heat Sink With Pin Fin Structures , 2003 .

[37]  Michael W. Collins,et al.  Single-phase heat transfer in microchannels The importance of scaling effects , 2009 .

[38]  Xinbing Zhao,et al.  Improving thermoelectric properties of n-type bismuth–telluride-based alloys by deformation-induced lattice defects and texture enhancement , 2012 .

[39]  R. Saidur,et al.  Estimation of thermoelectric power generation by recovering waste heat from Biomass fired thermal oil heater , 2015 .

[40]  R. A. Serway.  Principles of Physics , 1994 .

[41]  Duu-Jong Lee,et al.  Inverse geometric optimization for geometry of nanofluid-cooled microchannel heat sink , 2013 .

[42]  Ahmad Mozaffari,et al.  Intelligent design of waste heat recovery systems using thermoelectric generators and optimization tools , 2014 .

[43]  Gequn Shu,et al.  Effect of vehicle driving conditions on the performance of thermoelectric generator , 2015 .

[44]  Terry J. Hendricks.  Thermal System Interactions in Optimizing Advanced Thermoelectric Energy Recovery Systems , 2007 .

[45]  B. Sundén,et al.  Constructal design and thermal analysis of microchannel heat sinks with multistage bifurcations in single-phase liquid flow , 2014 .

[46]  Sung Jin Kim,et al.  Fluid flow and heat transfer characteristics of cross-cut heat sinks , 2009 .

[47]  A. Rezania,et al.  Experimental investigation of thermoelectric power generation versus coolant pumping power in a microchannel heat sink , 2012 .

[48]  Christofer Hierold,et al.  Optimized thermal coupling of micro thermoelectric generators for improved output performance , 2013 .