Performance analysis of two-stage TECs (thermoelectric coolers) using a three-dimensional heat-electricity coupled model

This work for the first time uses a three-dimensional multi-physics model to optimize the performance of three kinds of two-stage TECs, connected electrically in series, in parallel, and separated, respectively. The optimizations are performed for the two-stage TEC with 30 thermoelectric elements. The number ratio and current ratio are searched to reach the optimal cooling capacity, COP, and maximum temperature difference, respectively. A marked three-dimensional temperature distribution is observed for the two-stage TEC with number ratio larger or smaller 1.00. In addition, temperature-dependent material properties are proven to be extremely important for predicting the two-stage TEC performance. Therefore, thermal resistance models extensively adopted in the previous two-stage TEC studies can not predict the two-stage TEC performance accurately because they assume the one-dimensional temperature distribution and constant material properties. The results also show that the thermoelectric element number on the hot stage should be larger than that on the cold stage for improving the cooling capacity and COP, and the optimal number ratio is found to be about 1.73–2.33 for the series configuration. The performance can be further improved by supplying a higher current to the hot stage, and the optimal current ratio ranges from 1.50 to 2.00.

[1]  Yi-Hsiang Cheng,et al.  A Novel Application of Gzenetic Algorithms to Optimizing Two-Stage Thermoelectric Coolers , 2006, 2006 6th World Congress on Intelligent Control and Automation.

[2]  D. Astrain,et al.  Study of the influence of heat exchangers' thermal resistances on a thermoelectric generation system , 2010 .

[3]  Gang Chen,et al.  Multistage thermoelectric microcoolers , 2004 .

[4]  Kim Choon Ng,et al.  The maximum temperature difference and polar characteristic of two-stage thermoelectric coolers , 2002 .

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

[6]  Keith W. Lindler.  Use of multi-stage cascades to improve performance of thermoelectric heat pumps , 1998 .

[7]  Fengrui Sun,et al.  Multivariable optimization of two-stage thermoelectric refrigerator driven by two-stage thermoelectric generator with external heat transfer , 2010 .

[8]  J. T. Wang,et al.  Comparison of the optimal performance of single- and two-stage thermoelectric refrigeration systems , 2002 .

[9]  Chen Yeh Liao,et al.  A numerical study on the performance of miniature thermoelectric cooler affected by Thomson effect , 2012 .

[10]  Chin-Hsiang Cheng,et al.  Development of a non-uniform-current model for predicting transient thermal behavior of thermoelectric coolers , 2012 .

[11]  Xiangchun Xuan,et al.  Analyses of the performance and polar characteristics of two-stage thermoelectric coolers , 2002 .

[12]  Chang-Da Wen,et al.  Examination of the Cooling Performance of a Two-Stage Thermoelectric Cooler Considering the Thomson Effect , 2011 .

[13]  Federico Vázquez,et al.  Optimization of Two-Stage Peltier Modules: Structure and Exergetic Efficiency , 2012, Entropy.

[14]  R. Venkata Rao,et al.  Multi-objective optimization of two stage thermoelectric cooler using a modified teaching-learning-based optimization algorithm , 2013, Eng. Appl. Artif. Intell..

[15]  Wei-Hsin Chen,et al.  Experimental study on thermoelectric modules for power generation at various operating conditions , 2012 .

[16]  An-Bang Wang,et al.  The influence of the Thomson effect on the performance of a thermoelectric cooler , 2005 .

[17]  Fengrui Sun,et al.  Performance optimization for a two-stage thermoelectric heat-pump with internal and external irreversibilities , 2008 .

[18]  D. Rowe.  Thermoelectrics Handbook , 2005 .

[19]  Yi-Hsiang Cheng,et al.  Maximizing the cooling capacity and COP of two-stage thermoelectric coolers through genetic algorithm , 2006 .

[20]  Jing-Hui Meng,et al.  Transient modeling and dynamic characteristics of thermoelectric cooler , 2013 .

[21]  Osamu Yamashita,et al.  High-performance bismuth-telluride compounds with highly stable thermoelectric figure of merit , 2005 .

[22]  Liang Rui-Sheng,et al.  Analysis of performance and optimum configuration of two-stage semiconductor thermoelectric module , 2008 .

[23]  Jincan Chen,et al.  Optimum design on the performance parameters of a two-stage combined semiconductor thermoelectric heat pump , 2004 .

[24]  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 .

[25]  Arsalan Razani,et al.  A thermodynamic model for the effect of thermal boundary resistance on multistage thermoelectric cryogenic refrigerators , 2012 .

[26]  Fengrui Sun,et al.  Effect of heat transfer on the performance of two-stage semiconductor thermoelectric refrigerators , 2005 .

[27]  L. Chen,et al.  A novel configuration and performance for a two-stage thermoelectric heat pump system driven by a two-stage thermoelectric generator , 2009 .

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

[29]  L. Bell.  Cooling, Heating, Generating Power, and Recovering Waste Heat with Thermoelectric Systems , 2008, Science.

[30]  Kim Choon Ng,et al.  Optimization of two-stage thermoelectric coolers with two design configurations , 2002 .

[31]  Lasse Rosendahl,et al.  Thermal effect of a thermoelectric generator on parallel microchannel heat sink , 2012 .

[32]  Fengrui Sun,et al.  Performance optimization for two-stage thermoelectric refrigerator system driven by two-stage thermoelectric generator. , 2009 .

[33]  Xiangchun Xuan,et al.  Optimum staging of multistage exo-reversible refrigeration systems , 2003 .

[34]  D. Astrain,et al.  Experimental and analytical study on thermoelectric self cooling of devices , 2011 .

[35]  Jianlin Yu,et al.  Analysis of optimum configuration of two-stage thermoelectric modules , 2007 .

[36]  Lingen Chen,et al.  Performance analysis for two-stage TEC system driven by two-stage TEG obeying Newton's heat transfer law , 2010, Math. Comput. Model..

[37]  Yi-Hsiang Cheng,et al.  Optimizing the Arrangement of Two-Stage Thermoelectric Coolers through a Genetic Algorithm , 2006 .

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

[39]  F. Sun,et al.  Heat transfer effect on optimal performance of two-stage thermoelectric heat pumps , 2007 .

[40]  Chin-Hsiang Cheng,et al.  Geometry optimization of thermoelectric coolers using simplified conjugate-gradient method , 2013 .

[41]  D. Astrain,et al.  Dynamic model for simulation of thermoelectric self cooling applications , 2013 .

[42]  Kim Choon Ng,et al.  A two-stage cuboid-styled thermoelectric cooler with switched polarity , 2001, Proceedings ICT2001. 20 International Conference on Thermoelectrics (Cat. No.01TH8589).