Design and analysis of a thermoelectric energy harvesting system for powering sensing nodes in nuclear power plant

A thermoelectric energy harvester system aimed at harvesting energy for locally powering sensor nodes in nuclear power plant coolant loops has been designed, fabricated and tested. A complete modeling method that considered the impact of the heat sinks, a heat pipe and the insulating material on system performance has been proposed, and yields good accuracy in power anticipation. The effect of gamma radiation on thermoelectric harvester has been determined experimentally. The system could generate a match load voltage of 4.15V and a maximum output power of 2.25W at a temperature difference of 128.3oC in lab-based experiments with 2 TEM of 1.1” by 1.1”, which was sufficient to power all the electronics designed for this application. An optimization towards the current system was carried out based on the proposed modeling method, the maximum power is then anticipated to reach at 3.78W by integrating 6 TEMs; the maximum efficiency is anticipated to reach to 2.4% by integrating 4 TEMs.

[1]  S. Rhi,et al.  Heat-Pipe-Associated Localized Thermoelectric Power Generation System , 2014, Journal of Electronic Materials.

[2]  Hamid Jabbar,et al.  RF energy harvesting system and circuits for charging of mobile devices , 2010, IEEE Transactions on Consumer Electronics.

[3]  D. Astrain,et al.  Study of thermoelectric systems applied to electric power generation , 2009 .

[4]  Seeram Ramakrishna,et al.  A review on the enhancement of figure of merit from bulk to nano-thermoelectric materials , 2013 .

[5]  Chengkuo Lee,et al.  Design, Fabrication, and Characterization of CMOS MEMS-Based Thermoelectric Power Generators , 2010, Journal of Microelectromechanical Systems.

[6]  Mei-Jiau Huang,et al.  A simulation study of automotive waste heat recovery using a thermoelectric power generator , 2013 .

[7]  Cheng-Ting Hsu,et al.  Renewable energy of waste heat recovery system for automobiles , 2010 .

[8]  A. Bejan,et al.  Heat transfer handbook , 2003 .

[9]  F. P. Brito,et al.  Thermoelectric Exhaust Energy Recovery with Temperature Control through Heat Pipes , 2011 .

[10]  Keiko Ikoma,et al.  Thermoelectric module and generator for gasoline engine vehicles , 1998, Seventeenth International Conference on Thermoelectrics. Proceedings ICT98 (Cat. No.98TH8365).

[11]  H. M. Russell,et al.  Physics for the Life Sciences , 1975 .

[12]  L. Zuo,et al.  Thermoelectric properties of DC-sputtered filled skutterudite thin film , 2015 .

[13]  Jorge Martins,et al.  Influence of Heat Pipe Operating Temperature on Exhaust Heat Thermoelectric Generation , 2013 .

[14]  Zijun Yan,et al.  The influence of Thomson effect on the maximum power output and maximum efficiency of a thermoelectric generator , 1996 .

[15]  W. Rohsenow,et al.  Thermally Optimum Spacing of Vertical, Natural Convection Cooled, Parallel Plates , 1984 .

[16]  G. J. Snyder,et al.  Thermoelectric efficiency and compatibility. , 2003, Physical review letters.

[17]  G. J. Snyder,et al.  High-temperature electrical and thermal transport properties of fully filled skutterudites RFe4Sb12 (R = Ca, Sr, Ba, La, Ce, Pr, Nd, Eu, and Yb) , 2011 .

[18]  M. Dresselhaus,et al.  Experimental study of the effect of quantum-well structures on the thermoelectric figure of merit , 1996, Fifteenth International Conference on Thermoelectrics. Proceedings ICT '96.

[19]  Markus Bartel,et al.  Multiphysics Simulation of Thermoelectric Systems for Comparison with Experimental Device Performance , 2009 .

[20]  Bekir Sami Yilbas,et al.  The thermoelement as thermoelectric power generator: Effect of leg geometry on the efficiency and power generation , 2013 .

[21]  Jie Ji,et al.  Parametrical analysis of the design and performance of a solar heat pipe thermoelectric generator unit , 2011 .

[22]  George S. Nolas,et al.  Thermoelectrics: Basic Principles and New Materials Developments , 2001 .

[23]  Byeong Kwon Ju,et al.  Fabrication of Bismuth Telluride-Based Alloy Thin Film Thermoelectric Devices Grown by Metal Organic Chemical Vapor Deposition , 2009 .

[24]  Aliakbar Akbarzadeh,et al.  Theoretical and experimental study on heat pipe cooled thermoelectric generators with water heating using concentrated solar thermal energy , 2014 .

[25]  Dariusz Makowski,et al.  The impact of radiation on electronic devices with the special consideration of neutron and gamma radiation monitoring , 2007 .

[26]  Joaquim Guitart Corominas,et al.  Heat sink analytical modelling , 2010 .

[27]  E. P. Blizard.  NUCLEAR RADIATION SHIELDING , 1955 .

[28]  Chengkuo Lee,et al.  Characterization of heavily doped polysilicon films for CMOS-MEMS thermoelectric power generators , 2009 .

[29]  H. J. Goldsmid,et al.  A review of the new thermoelectric materials , 2001, Proceedings ICT2001. 20 International Conference on Thermoelectrics (Cat. No.01TH8589).

[30]  Magnus Thor Jonsson,et al.  Thermoelectric-Based Power Generator for Powering Microcontroller Based Security Camera , 2012 .

[31]  S. Simrock,et al.  External radiation shielding for the protection of electronic devices operating in the flash facility tunnel at desy , 2006, Proceedings of the International Conference Mixed Design of Integrated Circuits and System, 2006. MIXDES 2006..

[32]  Andreas Bitschi,et al.  Modelling of thermoelectric devices for electric power generation , 2009 .

[33]  Aliakbar Akbarzadeh,et al.  Power Generation and Heat Recovery Using Heat Pipe Thermoelectric Generator (HPTEG) , 2014 .

[34]  Lei Zuo,et al.  Fabrication of Thermoelectric Devices Using Thermal Spray: Application to Vehicle Exhaust Systems , 2013, Journal of Thermal Spray Technology.

[35]  J. Bahk,et al.  Flexible thermoelectric materials and device optimization for wearable energy harvesting , 2015 .

[36]  Fengrui Sun,et al.  Effect of heat transfer on the performance of thermoelectric generators , 2002 .

[37]  Gang Chen,et al.  Bulk nanostructured thermoelectric materials: current research and future prospects , 2009 .

[38]  G. Tan,et al.  A review of thermoelectric cooling: Materials, modeling and applications , 2014 .

[39]  Jorge Martins,et al.  Modelling of thermoelectric generator with heat pipe assist for range extender application , 2011, IECON 2011 - 37th Annual Conference of the IEEE Industrial Electronics Society.

[40]  W. Akl,et al.  Energy harvesting of gas pipeline vibration , 2010, Smart Structures and Materials + Nondestructive Evaluation and Health Monitoring.

[41]  Gang Chen,et al.  Recent advances in thermoelectric nanocomposites , 2012 .

[42]  Rajeev J. Ram,et al.  Solar Thermoelectric Generator for Micropower Applications , 2009, Journal of Electronic Materials.

[43]  D. Rowe.  CRC Handbook of Thermoelectrics , 1995 .

[44]  F. W. Sexton,et al.  Destructive single-event effects in semiconductor devices and ICs , 2003 .

[45]  J. R. Culham,et al.  Thermal modeling of isothermal cuboids and rectangular heat sinks cooled by natural convection , 1994 .

[46]  Soon-Duck Kwon,et al.  A T-shaped piezoelectric cantilever for fluid energy harvesting , 2010 .

[47]  Brian T. Helenbrook,et al.  Testing of an automobile exhaust thermoelectric generator in a light truck , 2007 .

[48]  R. Venkatasubramanian,et al.  Thin-film thermoelectric devices with high room-temperature figures of merit , 2001, Nature.

[49]  Laurent P. Houssay.  ROBOTICS AND RADIATION HARDENING IN THE NUCLEAR INDUSTRY , 2000 .

[50]  Wei-Chin Chang,et al.  A mathematic model of thermoelectric module with applications on waste heat recovery from automobile engine , 2010 .

[51]  Joseph A. Paradiso,et al.  Energy scavenging for mobile and wireless electronics , 2005, IEEE Pervasive Computing.

[52]  Wei-Hsin Chen,et al.  Design of heat sink for improving the performance of thermoelectric generator using two-stage optimization , 2012 .

[53]  Tao Zhang,et al.  Sensors for Small Modular Reactors Powered by Thermoelectric Generators , 2014 .

[54]  S. Maharaj,et al.  A prototype thermoelectric co-generation unit , 2014, Twenty-Second Domestic Use of Energy.

[55]  F. P. Brito,et al.  Heat-Pipe Assisted Thermoelectric Generators for Exhaust Gas Applications , 2010 .

[56]  N. Elvin,et al.  Energy Harvesting from Highly Unsteady Fluid Flows using Piezoelectric Materials , 2010 .

[57]  Gao Min,et al.  Evaluation of thermoelectric modules for power generation , 1998 .

[58]  Fengrui Sun,et al.  Performance optimization of a two-stage semiconductor thermoelectric-generator , 2005 .

[59]  Ernest Orlando Lawrence,et al.  Introduction to Radiation-Resistant Semiconductor Devices and Circuits , 1999 .

[60]  Yiannos Manoli,et al.  Energy Harvesting from Fluid Flow in Water Pipelines for Smart Metering Applications , 2013 .

[61]  C. Uher,et al.  Low thermal conductivity and high thermoelectric figure of merit in n-type BaxYbyCo4Sb12 double-filled skutterudites , 2008 .

[62]  Christophe Goupil,et al.  Comparison of different modeling approaches for thermoelectric elements , 2013 .

[63]  M. Dresselhaus,et al.  Thermoelectric figure of merit of a one-dimensional conductor. , 1993, Physical review. B, Condensed matter.

[64]  Saffa Riffat,et al.  Thermoelectrics: a review of present and potential applications , 2003 .

[65]  A. Bayne Neild,et al.  Portable Thermoelectric Generators , 1963 .

[66]  Cheng-Ting Hsu,et al.  Experiments and simulations on low-temperature waste heat harvesting system by thermoelectric power generators , 2011 .

[67]  G. Stucky,et al.  Large thermoelectric figure of merit at high temperature in Czochralski-grown clathrate Ba8Ga16Ge30 , 2006 .

[68]  T. Oldham,et al.  Total ionizing dose effects in MOS oxides and devices , 2003 .

[69]  S. Ben-Yaakov,et al.  Modeling and Analysis of Thermoelectric Modules , 2005, IEEE Transactions on Industry Applications.

[70]  William A. Goddard,et al.  Silicon Nanowires as Efficient Thermoelectric Materials. , 2008 .

[71]  W. Rohsenow.  A Method of Correlating Heat-Transfer Data for Surface Boiling of Liquids , 1952, Journal of Fluids Engineering.

[72]  David Reay,et al.  Heat pipes : theory, design and applications , 2014 .

[73]  J. I. Ghojel,et al.  Waste heat recovery from the exhaust of low-power diesel engine using thermoelectric generators , 2001, Proceedings ICT2001. 20 International Conference on Thermoelectrics (Cat. No.01TH8589).

[74]  P. J. Taylor,et al.  Thermoelectric quantum-dot superlattices with high ZT , 2000 .

[75]  Xiaolong Gou,et al.  Modeling, experimental study and optimization on low-temperature waste heat thermoelectric generator system , 2010 .