Study of thermoelectric power generator

Thermoelectric power generation converts heat into electrical power. The thermoelectric effect was discovered back in the 1800s but has only gained significant interest in recent years due to technological advancements in the semiconductor industry and the need to find renewable sources of energy du...

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Main Author: Heng, Ri-Liang.
Other Authors: School of Mechanical and Aerospace Engineering
Format: Final Year Project
Language:English
Published: 2011
Subjects:
Online Access:http://hdl.handle.net/10356/45076
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Institution: Nanyang Technological University
Language: English
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spelling sg-ntu-dr.10356-450762023-03-04T18:48:40Z Study of thermoelectric power generator Heng, Ri-Liang. School of Mechanical and Aerospace Engineering Anutosh Chakraborty Leong Kai Choong DRNTU::Engineering::Electrical and electronic engineering::Electric power::Production, transmission and distribution Thermoelectric power generation converts heat into electrical power. The thermoelectric effect was discovered back in the 1800s but has only gained significant interest in recent years due to technological advancements in the semiconductor industry and the need to find renewable sources of energy due to depleting fossil fuels. Despite this, thermoelectric power generators are not commercially viable due to the low efficiencies (electrical power output over heat input) of the materials. In the search for better thermoelectric materials, a clearer understanding of the impact of the various effects on the amount of heat input and electrical power output has to be established. In this project, a set of equations were proposed in a simulation model that considers the effects of Thomson heat and the temperature dependency of the other coefficients such as thermal conductance and Seebeck. The reliability of this model is verified experimentally by testing a commercially available bismuth telluride thermoelectric module with varying heat inputs in a vacuum chamber. The results of the simulation was relatively close to that of the experiments. The main reasons for the discrepancy was found to be the imperfect thermal contact and uneven heat distribution of the heater used. Bachelor of Engineering (Mechanical Engineering) 2011-06-08T09:11:31Z 2011-06-08T09:11:31Z 2011 2011 Final Year Project (FYP) http://hdl.handle.net/10356/45076 en Nanyang Technological University 116 p. application/pdf
institution Nanyang Technological University
building NTU Library
continent Asia
country Singapore
Singapore
content_provider NTU Library
collection DR-NTU
language English
topic DRNTU::Engineering::Electrical and electronic engineering::Electric power::Production, transmission and distribution
spellingShingle DRNTU::Engineering::Electrical and electronic engineering::Electric power::Production, transmission and distribution
Heng, Ri-Liang.
Study of thermoelectric power generator
description Thermoelectric power generation converts heat into electrical power. The thermoelectric effect was discovered back in the 1800s but has only gained significant interest in recent years due to technological advancements in the semiconductor industry and the need to find renewable sources of energy due to depleting fossil fuels. Despite this, thermoelectric power generators are not commercially viable due to the low efficiencies (electrical power output over heat input) of the materials. In the search for better thermoelectric materials, a clearer understanding of the impact of the various effects on the amount of heat input and electrical power output has to be established. In this project, a set of equations were proposed in a simulation model that considers the effects of Thomson heat and the temperature dependency of the other coefficients such as thermal conductance and Seebeck. The reliability of this model is verified experimentally by testing a commercially available bismuth telluride thermoelectric module with varying heat inputs in a vacuum chamber. The results of the simulation was relatively close to that of the experiments. The main reasons for the discrepancy was found to be the imperfect thermal contact and uneven heat distribution of the heater used.
author2 School of Mechanical and Aerospace Engineering
author_facet School of Mechanical and Aerospace Engineering
Heng, Ri-Liang.
format Final Year Project
author Heng, Ri-Liang.
author_sort Heng, Ri-Liang.
title Study of thermoelectric power generator
title_short Study of thermoelectric power generator
title_full Study of thermoelectric power generator
title_fullStr Study of thermoelectric power generator
title_full_unstemmed Study of thermoelectric power generator
title_sort study of thermoelectric power generator
publishDate 2011
url http://hdl.handle.net/10356/45076
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