Journal Pre-proofs

Utilizing Thermoelectric Generator as Cavity Temperature Controller for

Temperature Management in Dish-Stirling Engine

Ali Mohammadnia, Behrooz M. Ziapour, Farzad Sedaghati, Lasse Rosendahl,

Alireza Rezania

PII: S1359-4311(19)33274-0
DOI: https://doi.org/10.1016/j.applthermaleng.2019.114568
Reference: ATE 114568

To appear in: Applied Thermal Engineering

Received Date: 13 May 2019

Revised Date: 19 September 2019
Accepted Date: 19 October 2019

Please cite this article as: A. Mohammadnia, B.M. Ziapour, F. Sedaghati, L. Rosendahl, A. Rezania, Utilizing
Thermoelectric Generator as Cavity Temperature Controller for Temperature Management in Dish-Stirling
Engine, Applied Thermal Engineering (2019), doi: https://doi.org/10.1016/j.applthermaleng.2019.114568

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 Utilizing Thermoelectric Generator as Cavity Temperature Controller for
Temperature Management in Dish-Stirling Engine

Ali Mohammadniaa, Behrooz M. Ziapoura,*, Farzad Sedaghatib, Lasse Rosendahlc,

Alireza Rezania c,
a Department of Mechanical Engineering, University of Mohaghegh Ardabili, Ardabil,
Iran
b Department of Electrical and Computer Engineering, Faculty of Engineering,
University of Mohaghegh Ardabili, Ardabil, Iran
c Department of Energy Technology, Aalborg University, Pontoppidanstraede 111,
Aalborg DK-9220, Aalborg, Denmark

Abstract

Harvesting energy from sustainable and accessible resources such as solar energy is one
of the most interesting research areas in the last decades. This study proposes a novel
application of thermoelectric generator (TEG) energy harvester in a dish-Stirling system to
protect the system from thermal overloading and also to improve the overall energy conversion
performance. Using the TEG as an energy harvester in the cavity makes it possible to have a
larger solar concentration over the system. In the middle of the day, temperature of the cavity
increases due to increasing of the intensity of the solar radiation. The cavity temperature
controller protects the Stirling engine from increasing its hot-side temperature over the critical
temperature defined for the system. Moreover, Control of the cavity temperature by the TEG
leads to generate more electrical power by the Stirling engine in the beginning and ending hours
of the day. Performance of the system is investigated by a coupled analytical model developed
in this study. The results illustrate the proposed dish-Stirling engine generates 14.1 kW at solar
noon. Furthermore, the proposed cavity temperature control strategy improves overall
performance of the system 20- 30 % at the beginning and ending hours of a day.

Keywords: Solar energy; Stirling engine; Cavity temperature control; Energy

harvesting; Performance improvement.

 Corresponding authors
E-mail address: behrooz_m_ziapour@yahoo.com (B.M. Ziapour), alr@et.aau.dk (A. Rezania)
1
Nomenclature 𝑧′ adjusting coefficient
𝐴 area, m2 Greek symbol
𝑎𝑒𝑙 thermoelectric element cross section, m2 𝛼𝑐𝑎𝑣 cavity absorbance
𝑏 interval between regenerator wires, m 𝛼𝑒𝑓𝑓 effective absorbance
c mass specific heat, J kg-1 K-1 𝛼𝑚 Seebeck coefficient of TEG module, VK-1
𝑐𝑝 constant pressure mass specific heat, J kg-1 𝜀 emissivity
K-1 𝜀𝑣 volumetric ratio
𝑐𝑣 constant volume mass specific heat, J kg-1 𝛾 specific heat ratio
K-1 𝜃𝑐𝑎𝑣 cavity tilt angle, 
𝐷 diameter, m 𝜂𝐶 Carnot efficiency
𝑑 diameter of regenerator wire screen, m 𝜂𝑔𝑒𝑛 generator efficiency
𝐺𝑟 Grashof number 𝜂𝐼𝐼,𝛥𝑝 pressure loss
ℎ heat transfer coefficient, W m-2 K-1 𝜂𝐼𝐼,𝑋 incomplete regeneration loss
ℎ𝑒𝑙 thermoelectric element height, m 𝜂𝑆𝑦𝑠 system efficiency
𝐼𝑑 direct solar radiation, Wm-2 𝜂𝑇𝐸𝐺 TEG conversion efficiency
𝐼𝑐𝑖𝑟 electrical current of TEG circuit, A 𝜎 Stefan–Boltzmann constant, W m-2 K-4
𝐼𝑛𝑡 intercept factor 𝜏 ratio of gas extreme temperatures
𝑘 thermal conductivity, W m-1 K-1 Subscript and Superscript
𝑚 mass, kg 1 initial state of Stirling cycle
𝑛 number of N or P element of the TEG 𝑎𝑚𝑏 Ambient
𝑁𝑀,𝑇𝐸𝐺 number of TEG modules 𝑎𝑝𝑒𝑟 Aperture
𝑁𝑠 number of regenerator screens 𝑐 cold or cold-side
𝑁𝑢 Nusselt number 𝑐𝑎𝑣 cavity
𝑛𝑟 engine rotation speed, rpm 𝑐𝑜𝑛𝑐 concentrator
𝑃 power, W 𝑐𝑜𝑛𝑣 convection
𝑝 pressure, pa 𝑓𝑜𝑟 Forced heat transfer
𝑃𝑟 Prandtl number 𝑔 gas
𝑄 heat transfer or heat loss, W ℎ hot or hot-side
𝑅 gas constant, J kg-1 K-1 𝑖𝑛 input
𝑅𝐿 external load resistance,  𝑙𝑜𝑠𝑠 heat loss
𝑅𝑒𝑓 Reflectivity 𝑚 module for TEG and mean for Stirling
𝑅𝑚 Electrical resistance of TEG module,  engine
𝑆 stroke of pistons, m 𝑛𝑎𝑡 Natural heat transfer
𝑆ℎ𝑎 shading factor 𝑅 regenerator
𝑇 temperature, K 𝑟𝑎𝑑 radiation
𝑣 speed, ms-1 𝑆𝑡𝑖𝑟𝑙𝑖𝑛𝑔 Stirling engine
𝑣𝑔 working gas kinematic viscosity, m2s-1 𝑇𝐸𝐺 thermoelectric generator
𝑤 piston speed, ms-1 𝑤𝑖𝑛 wind
𝑤𝑆,𝐿 sound speed, ms-1
𝑋1 optimistic regenerative loss
𝑋2 pessimistic regenerative loss
𝑦 adjusting coefficient

1. Introduction

High-efficient electricity production from renewable energies, such as solar energy, is

concern of many researchers. Solar dish-Stirling engine is one of the most efficient systems
that can convert the solar energy into electricity [1]. Since the Stirling engines needs high
temperature to operate efficiently, this type of engine has been integrated with the solar
concentrators, and many researches had focused on solar dish concentrators for solar
applications. For example, Malali et al. [2] investigated the optical performance of a Dish-
Stirling engine affected by circumsolar radiation. Their results indicated that increasing the
circumsolar radiation from 0.02 to 0.2 in a parabolic concentrator with rim angle of 60ᵒ and

2
low mirror optical error reduces the optimal concentration ratio and maximum overall
efficiency by about 18 % and 13 %, respectively. Under the same conditions, using a parabolic
concentrator with high mirror optical errors reduced the optimal concentration ratio and
maximum overall efficiency by about 11 % and 10 %, respectively. Ruelas et al. [3] studied
performance of solar concentrator with offset parabolic satellite dishes (OPSDs) theoretically.
They found that OPSD concentrator has the lowest cost compared to the high-temperature
concentrator, parabolic dish solar collectors, Scheffler concentrator and Scheffler–type solar
concentrator. Yan et al. [4] proposed a novel discrete dish concentrator for uniform distribution
of heat flux on solar cavity. They improved the non-uniformity factor of the absorber surface
and optimized the optical efficiency of the parabolic concentrator. Asselineau et al. [5]
analyzed exergy impact of optical parameters of a concentrator. They showed that the slope
error has the most substantial impact on performance of the concentrator. Therefore, there are
many studies showing focus of researchers on field of solar concentrators.

In spherical concentrated solar application, solar cavities are typically used as an absorber
for reduction of the radiation heat loss. Hence solar cavities have often been studied to improve
their absorption by using phase change materials [6] or nanofluids [7]. Masaddak et al. [8]
assessed the thermal heat loss in the cavity receiver numerically. They investigated the cavity
aspect ratio, operating temperature, surface emissivity and tilt angle, and found center of the
absorber has the maximum heat loss and the cavity tilt angle strongly effects on the convection
heat loss. Si-Quan et al. [9] numerically investigated thermodynamic and optical performance
of a 3D spherical cavity model. Based on their results, spherical cavity receiver has higher
optical efficiency than other shapes, where conversion efficiency of the cavity receiver varies
from 81.9 % to 84.4 %. Al-Nimr et al. [10] proposed an integration of a cavity collector with
TEG. Effects of TEG, solar intensity irradiance, the mass flow rate and wind speed on the
system performance were investigated. TEGs are interesting mechanism of energy harvesting
compatible with thermal systems. TEGs are used in various energy harvesting applications
such as solar pond power plant [11], diesel engines [12], desalination systems [13] and hybrid
solar energy conversion systems [14] due to the direct energy conversion from heat into
electricity, having no moving parts, a large lifespan, no scale effect, shape conformability and
noiseless operations. Kwan et al. [15] investigated application of TEGs to control of fuel cell
temperature. In their system, thermoelectric modules harvested energy from the fuel cells
whenever the device was temperature self-sustaining. When the system needed heating or
cooling, the modules provided a suitable operating temperature for the fuel cell system. Shittu
et al. [16] investigated a numerical model of segmented annular TEG. They found that the
efficiency of the TEG is 21.7 %, which was 82.9 % greater than that of annular TEG at 200 K
temperature difference. Mirhoseini et al. [17] investigated conversion efficiency and matched
power output of TEGs as an energy harvester in a cement rotary kiln. Their results showed that
the optimum leg length for maximum pick power is longer than the leg corresponding to
maximum cost performance at a fix fill factor.

Thermoelectric materials with both high figure of merit and high operating temperature
are desirable for energy harvesting in concentrated solar energy systems. Design of a high
performance TEG system is an interdisciplinary work across physics, chemistry and materials
science and engineering. Therefore, interaction between critical parameters in the process and
fundamental material properties of the module design needs to be evaluated [18]. Fu et al. [19]

3
report a prototype of TEG with a high figure of merit with conversion efficiency of 6.2% and
power density of 2.2 [W/cm2] at temperature difference of 665 K. Mahmoudinezhad et al. [20]
investigated the transient behavior of the oxide TEGs in a concentrated solar power generation
system. Their results show that the efficiency and power generation of the TEG escalate
significantly in high solar concentrations. Furthermore, the use of graphite absorber sheet leads
to enhance the power generation by increasing absorption of the solar radiation.

High-efficient conversion of thermal energy into mechanical shaft work makes the
Stirling cycle an interesting area of study to integrate with many applications [21]. Hou et al.
[22] proposed a new technology based on a thermoacoustic Stirling engine that can recover
liquefied natural gas cold exergy in small-scale applications. The maximum electrical power
of 12.4 [kW] was obtained by their proposed system. Qiu et al. [23] developed a free-piston
Stirling engine for a micro CHP application. They chose a tubular heat exchanger for hot-side
and an extruded fin heat exchanger for the cold-side of Stirling engine. Their results pointed
out that the considered system produced 1 kW of electricity, with efficiency of 38.3%, and 1.1
kW thermal energy. Güven et al. [24] applied a Stirling engine as a waste-heat recover from a
heavy-duty engine. Their calculations showed that waste heat recovery with Alpha and
Gamma-type Stirling engine is less efficient than Beta-type due to lower power density. The
system provided more than 1.3% of the engine power and decreased fuel consumption of
approximately 1%. The introduced studies indicated that Stirling engines are a suitable waste
heat recovery technology in heavy internal combustion engines. Ahmadi et al. investigated
Stirling engines to maximize the power generation [25], thermo-economic optimization of solar
Stirling engine [26], multiple criteria designing of a solar Stirling heat engine [27],
thermodynamic-based optimization of Stirling engine’s output power by implementing an
evolutionary algorithm [28] and a new model based on finite-time thermodynamic [29]. Their
results show a high potential of using Stirling engine for industrial applications especially for
solar applications. For solar energy applications, a multi-objective optimization by Caballero
et al. [1] illustrated an overall efficiency of 21% for dish-Stirling system. The dish-Stirling
system was optimized for the concentrator, insulation, receiver, appropriate selection of cavity
rim and tilt angle.

Since Stirling engines usually work at high temperatures, these engines are used with
spherical concentrators for solar energy applications. Design of concentrator must provide long
operation for the Stirling engine during a day. In other words, increasing of the concentrator
diameter results entering more energy into the cavity and, therefore, the Stirling engine starts
operating sooner. The solar irradiance is higher around the solar noon; so that the operating
temperature can cause damage to the hot-side of the Stirling engine due to overheating.

In this study, a novel method is proposed to control the temperature and harvesting the
energy in a cavity by utilizing TEGs in the hot-side of Stirling engine. In this hybrid system,
for the first time, by controlling the external load resistance and current in the TEGs, the cold-
side temperature of the TEGs increases at low solar irradiance to provide higher temperature
for the hot-side of the Stirling engine. Approaching the solar noon, the TEG cold-side
temperature reaches to the upper limit of the Stirling engine by variation of load resistance. At
this time, the variation of load resistance of the TEG circuit is adapted to reduce the cold-side
temperature of the TEGs and to prevent the Stirling engine from overheating. The proposed
method helps to give a clear vision to enhance the power generation of a dish-Stirling system
4
without changing the scale of the engine. In this study, an analytical model is developed to
investigate the thermal and power generation behaviors of the Stirling engine and TEG also the
cavity heat loss during a day. Daily performance of the hybrid system is compared with
performance of the original system.

2. Solar dish-Stirling-TEG system description

The proposed system consists of a spherical concentrator, a cavity located in the

concentrator focal point, TEGs mounted behind the cavity and hot-side tubes of the Stirling
engine located behind the TEGs. Working fluid of the Stirling engine sweeps across the cold-
side of the TEGs through the pipes. A schematic view of the system is shown in Fig. 1 a), and
an exploded-view from the proposed cavity temperature controller is shown in Fig. 1 b).

Concentrator Stirling engine

Cavity

θ Cavity

a)

Spring clamps

Cold side heat

exchanger

Regenerator

Piston

b) Stirling hot side tube

TEG modules
Cavity

Fig.1 a) A Schematic view of the solar dish-Stirling-TEG system b) An exploded-view from

proposed cavity temperature controller system

Reflected solar radiation from the concentrator enters in the cavity and strikes the hot-side of
the TEGs. A fraction of the absorbed energy in the cavity wastes through different heat loss
modes such as radiation, natural convection and forced convection. The TEGs generate power
from the absorbed heat in the cavity. The Stirling engine absorbs the output heat from the cold-
side of the TEGs and converts it to the mechanical shaft power. Water removes the rejected
heat from Stirling engine at the ambient temperature. The energy flow of the system is shown
in Fig. 2. As can be seen, using the cavity temperature control increases the generated power
of the system. Since the system has operated in the worse tilt angle at 8:00 AM, the thermal
5
loss of the cavity has a significant amount. Besides, the hot-side temperature of the Stirling
engine is low at this time. Therefore, the low efficiency of the Stirling engine causes increasing
of rejected heat.

Rejected heat by
the Stirling
21.3 kW

TEG inlet energy

Inlet solar radiation to the concentrator

Stirling inlet

25.4 kW
Power of Stirling engine with

26.2kW

energy
Cavity inlet energy
cavity temperature control
5.5 kW

45.2 kW
61.8 kW

Power of Stirling engine

4.1 kW
Power of TEG Without cavity
0.8 kW temperature control

Concentrator optical losses Cavity thermal heat losses

16.6 kW 18.9 kW

Fig. 2. The energy flow through the dish-Stirling-TEG system with and without cavity
temperature control at 8:00 AM

In order to simplify the mathematical model developed in this work, following

assumptions are made:

 The temperature of the cold heat reservoir of the Stirling engine is kept at the ambient
temperature.
 The conduction heat loss from the cavity and the Stirling engine for the insulations is
negligible.
 The radiation and convection heat loss inside the TEG module is neglected, and heat
flow across the TEGs passes only through the thermoelectric material.
 Thermoelectric properties change with temperature changes according to [30].
 The effect of thermal contact resistance on the cold and hot sides of the TEG modules
is neglected.
 The hot-side of the Stirling engine has an ultimate temperature reported by the
manufacturer. The commercial STM 4-120 Stirling engine is chosen in this model. This
critical temperature was reported 800 ᵒC for the hot-side tube of STM 4-120 Stirling
engine [31].

In the proposed system, the target is to manage the cavity temperature to achieve the
optimal system performance by variation of load resistance of TEGs. With the sunrise, the solar
radiation is directed to the cavity by the concentrator, which leads to increase temperature of
the cavity. At the beginning hours of the day, the temperature does not reach the ultimate
temperature of the Stirling engine. Since the conversion efficiency of the Stirling engine is
higher than the TEG, it is better to generate more power by contribution of the Stirling engine.
Hence, by adapting the external load resistance in the TEG system, the cold-side temperature
of the TEGs can reach to the highest possible level. Around the solar noon, the cavity's
temperature reaches the ultimate temperature of the Stirling engine. At this moment, the load
resistance is changed to reduce the cold-side temperature of the TEGs and, consequently, to
6
prevent any damages in the Stirling engine. The cold-side temperature of the TEGs is kept, as
high as possible, around the ultimate temperature of the Stirling engine.

3. Mathematical model of solar dish-Stirling-TEG system

The governing equations of the system consist of energy balance of each system’s
component. The mathematical model was solved by Engineering Equation Solver (EES). The
inlet energy into the concentrator aperture can be calculated using the following equation,
which is used to calculate the first low efficiency of the system:

𝑄𝑐𝑜𝑛𝑐,𝑖𝑛 = 𝐴𝑐𝑜𝑛𝑐,𝑎𝑝𝑒𝑟 ∙ 𝐼𝑑 (1)

where 𝐴𝑐𝑜𝑛𝑐,𝑎𝑝𝑒𝑟 is the concentrator aperture area, and 𝐼𝑑 is direct solar irradiance. An intercept,
shading, and reflecting factor were considered for the concentrator as a coefficient with respect
to the ideal condition. Based on Reinalter et al., [32] these coefficients are assumed as 0.85,
0.93, and 0.925, respectively. Thus, the incoming solar radiation into the cavity aperture can
be calculated as follows:

𝑄𝑐𝑎𝑣,𝑖𝑛 = 𝑄𝑐𝑜𝑛𝑐,𝑖𝑛 ∙ 𝐼𝑛𝑡𝑐𝑜𝑛𝑐 ∙ 𝑆ℎ𝑎𝑐𝑜𝑛𝑐 ∙ 𝑅𝑒𝑓𝑐𝑜𝑛𝑐 (2)

The reflected photons from the concentrator trapped into the cavity and are absorbed by the
TEG absorber. High solar radiation into the cavity causes a cavity temperature increment.
Hence the radiation and convection heat loss affected the absorbed heat on the hot-side of the
TEGs. The absorbed heat can be calculated as:

𝑄𝑇𝐸𝐺,𝑖𝑛 = 𝑄𝑐𝑎𝑣,𝑖𝑛 ― 𝑄𝑐𝑎𝑣,𝑙𝑜𝑠𝑠 (3)

With calculation of the cavity heat loss, the useful heat into the TEG absorber is determined.
The cavity heat loss is the sum of the radiation and convection heat losses through the cavity
aperture, as follow:

𝑄𝑐𝑎𝑣,𝑙𝑜𝑠𝑠 = 𝑄𝑐𝑎𝑣,𝑟𝑎𝑑 + 𝑄𝑐𝑎𝑣,𝑐𝑜𝑛𝑣 (4)

Since the cavity and the hot-side of the Stirling engine are insulated, the effect of the conduction
heat loss is neglected. The emitted and reflected radiation from the cavity aperture constitute
the radiation heat loss as [1,33,34]:

𝑄𝑐𝑎𝑣,𝑟𝑎𝑑 = 𝜀𝑐𝑎𝑣 ∙ 𝜎 ∙ 𝐴𝑐𝑎𝑣,𝑎𝑝𝑒𝑟(𝑇4𝑐𝑎𝑣 ― 𝑇4𝑎𝑚𝑏) + (1 ― 𝛼𝑒𝑓𝑓)𝑄𝑇𝐸𝐺,𝑖𝑛 (5)

In the Eq. (5) 𝐴𝑐𝑎𝑣,𝑎𝑝𝑒𝑟, 𝑇𝑐𝑎𝑣, 𝑇𝑎𝑚𝑏, are the area of the cavity aperture, the cavity temperature,
and the ambient temperature, respectively. Moreover, 𝜀𝑐𝑎𝑣 and 𝜎 are the cavity emissivity and
the Stefan–Boltzmann constant, respectively. 𝛼𝑒𝑓𝑓 is the effective absorption of the cavity
given as:

7
 𝛼𝑐𝑎𝑣
𝛼𝑒𝑓𝑓 =
𝛼𝑐𝑎𝑣 + (1 ― 𝛼𝑐𝑎𝑣) (𝐴𝑐𝑎𝑣,𝑎𝑝𝑒𝑟
𝐴𝑐𝑎𝑣,𝑖𝑛 ) (6)

where 𝐴𝑐𝑎𝑣,𝑖𝑛 and 𝛼𝑐𝑎𝑣 are the internal area of the cavity and cavity absorbance, respectively.
Furthermore, the cavity convective heat loss, incorporated from the natural and forced
convection, can be calculated by the following equation:

𝑄𝑐𝑎𝑣,𝑐𝑜𝑛𝑣 = (ℎ𝑐𝑎𝑣,𝑛𝑎𝑡 + ℎ𝑐𝑎𝑣,𝑓𝑜𝑟)𝐴𝑐𝑎𝑣,𝑖𝑛(𝑇𝑐𝑎𝑣 ― 𝑇𝑎𝑚𝑏) (7)

Natural and forced heat transfer coefficients of the cavity are determined as [1]:

ℎ𝑐𝑜𝑛𝑣,𝑓𝑜𝑟 = [0.1634 + 0.7498𝑠𝑖𝑛(𝜃𝑐𝑎𝑣) ― 0.5026𝑠𝑖𝑛(2𝜃𝑐𝑎𝑣) + 0.3278𝑠𝑖𝑛(3𝜃𝑐𝑎𝑣)]𝑣1.104

𝑤 (8)
𝑁𝑢 ∙ 𝑘𝑐𝑎𝑣 (9)
ℎ𝑐𝑜𝑛𝑣,𝑛𝑎𝑡 =
𝐷𝑐𝑎𝑣
where 𝜃𝑐𝑎𝑣, 𝑣𝑤, 𝑘𝑐𝑎𝑣 and 𝐷𝑐𝑎𝑣 are the tilt angle of the cavity, wind speed, thermal conductivity
of the cavity, and cavity diameter, respectively. 𝑁𝑢 is Nusselt number in the cylindrical cavity
that can be calculated as:

1 0.18 (
1.12 ― 0.982
𝐷𝑐𝑎𝑣,𝑎𝑝𝑒𝑟
)
𝑁𝑢 = 0.088 ∙ 𝐺𝑟 3
( )𝑇𝑐𝑎𝑣
𝑇𝑎𝑚𝑏 (
(𝑐𝑜𝑠(𝜃𝑐𝑎𝑣))2.47
𝐷𝑐𝑎𝑣,𝑎𝑝𝑒𝑟
𝐷𝑐𝑎𝑣 ) 𝐷𝑐𝑎𝑣
(10)

In the Eq. (10) 𝐷𝑐𝑎𝑣,𝑎𝑝𝑒𝑟 is the diameter of the cavity aperture, and 𝐺𝑟 is the Grashof number
that is the ratio of buoyancy force to the restraining force due to the viscosity of the air.

Power generation by the TEGs can be calculated by the energy balance on its hot and cold
sides. It is assumed that the entered energy into the cavity equally divided among the TEG
modules. Hence [35,36]:

𝑄𝑇𝐸𝐺,𝑖𝑛 = 𝑁𝑀,𝑇𝐸𝐺(𝛼𝑚 ∙ 𝑇ℎ,𝑇𝐸𝐺 ∙ 𝐼𝑐𝑖𝑟 + 𝑘𝑚(𝑇𝑇𝐸𝐺,ℎ ― 𝑇𝑇𝐸𝐺,𝑐) ― 0.5 ∙ 𝑅𝑚 ∙ 𝐼2𝑐𝑖𝑟) (11)

𝑄𝑇𝐸𝐺,𝑜𝑢𝑡 = 𝑁𝑀,𝑇𝐸𝐺(𝛼𝑚 ∙ 𝑇𝑇𝐸𝐺,𝑐 ∙ 𝐼𝑐𝑖𝑟 + 𝑘𝑚(𝑇𝑇𝐸𝐺,ℎ ― 𝑇𝑇𝐸𝐺,𝑐) + 0.5 ∙ 𝑅𝑚 ∙ 𝐼2𝑐𝑖𝑟) (12)

𝑃𝑇𝐸𝐺 = 𝑁𝑀,𝑇𝐸𝐺(𝛼𝑚 ∙ 𝐼𝑐𝑖𝑟(𝑇𝑇𝐸𝐺,ℎ ― 𝑇𝑇𝐸𝐺,𝑐) ― 𝑅𝑚 ∙ 𝐼2𝑐𝑖𝑟) (13)

In the Eqs. (11-13) 𝑁𝑀,𝑇𝐸𝐺 is the number of TEG modules, 𝛼𝑚, 𝑅𝑚 and 𝑘𝑚 are the Seebeck
coefficient, electrical resistance and thermal conductivity of the TEG module, respectively.
Furthermore, 𝑇𝑇𝐸𝐺,ℎ, 𝑇𝑇𝐸𝐺,𝑐, 𝐼𝑐𝑖𝑟, 𝑄𝑇𝐸𝐺,𝑖𝑛, 𝑄𝑇𝐸𝐺,𝑜𝑢𝑡, and 𝑃𝑇𝐸𝐺 are hot-side temperature, cold-side
temperature, electrical circuit current, inlet heat, outlet heat and the generated power by the
TEG modules, respectively. Properties of the thermoelectric materials are temperature
dependent. Properties variations of Yb14MnSb11 thermoelectric couples as a function of
temperature are shown in Fig. 3 as reported by [30].

The conversion efficiency of the TEG is as follows:

8
 𝑃𝑇𝐸𝐺
𝜂𝑇𝐸𝐺 = (14)
𝑄𝑇𝐸𝐺,𝑖𝑛

Fig.3 Variation of TEG material properties as a function of temperature

The passed heat across the TEG absorbs by the working fluid of the Stirling engine. The
generated power by the Stirling engine with considering thermal and pressure drop
irreversibilities is given as [37–39]:

𝑃𝑆𝑡𝑖𝑟𝑙𝑖𝑛𝑔 = 𝜂𝐶 ∙ 𝜂𝐼𝐼,𝑋 ∙ 𝜂𝐼𝐼,𝛥𝑝 ∙ 𝑧′ ∙ 𝑚𝑔 ∙ 𝑅 ∙ 𝑇ℎ,𝑔 ∙ 𝑙𝑛𝜀𝑣 ( ) 𝑤

2𝑆
∙ 𝜂𝑔𝑒𝑛 (15)

where 𝜂𝐶, 𝜂𝑔𝑒𝑛,𝑚𝑔, 𝑅, 𝑇ℎ,𝑔, 𝜀𝑣, 𝑤, and 𝑆 are Carnot efficiency, generator efficiency, the mass
of gas, gas constant, temperature of gas in the hot-side of the Stirling engine, volumetric ratio,
piston speed, and stork of pistons, respectively. Moreover, 𝑧′ is adjusting coefficient that is set
to 0.45 in this work according to experimental data of several Stirling engines [31,39].

The incomplete regeneration is the most crucial term in the irreversibility of the Stirling engine,
which can be calculated as [37,39]:
1
𝜂𝐼𝐼,𝑋 =
(𝑋1 ∙ 𝑦 + 𝑋2 ∙ (1 ― 𝑦)) ∙ 𝑐𝑣,𝑔
1+
𝑅 ∙ 𝑙𝑛𝜀𝑣 (1―
𝑇𝑐,𝑔
𝑇ℎ,𝑔 ) (16)

where 𝑋1 and 𝑋2 are the optimistic and pessimistic regenerative loss that can be adjusted with
𝑦. The best fit, by comparing the analytical and experimental results, occurs when 𝑦 is set to
0.27 according to [37,39]. Furthermore, 𝑐𝑣,𝑔 and 𝑇𝑐,𝑔 are constant volume specific heat of
working gas and temperature of the gas in the cold-side of the Stirling engine. 𝑋1 and 𝑋2 in Eq.
(16) are given as [37,39]:

9
 1+2∙
𝑚𝑔 ∙ 𝑐𝑣,𝑔
+𝑒
― ((1+ )
𝑚𝑔 ∙ 𝑐𝑣,𝑔 ℎ ∙ 𝐴𝑅
∙
𝑚𝑅 ∙ 𝑐𝑅 𝑚𝑔 ∙ 𝑐𝑣,𝑔 𝑤
𝑆
)
𝑚𝑅 ∙ 𝑐𝑅
𝑋1 = (17)
2 1+( 𝑚𝑔 ∙ 𝑐𝑣,𝑔
𝑚𝑅 ∙ 𝑐𝑅 )
𝑚𝑔 ∙ 𝑐𝑣,𝑔
+𝑒
― (( 1+ )
𝑚𝑔 ∙ 𝑐𝑣,𝑔 ℎ ∙ 𝐴𝑅
∙
𝑚𝑅 ∙ 𝑐𝑅 𝑚𝑔 ∙ 𝑐𝑣,𝑔 𝑤
𝑆
)
𝑚𝑅 ∙ 𝑐𝑅
𝑋2 = (18)
𝑚𝑔 ∙ 𝑐𝑣,𝑔
1+
𝑚 𝑅 ∙ 𝑐𝑅
where 𝑚𝑅, 𝑐𝑅, and 𝐴𝑅 are regenerator screens mass, mass specific heat of regenerator material,
and regenerator wires surface area, respectively. In addition, ℎ is the heat transfer coefficient
that is defined as:

0.395(4𝑝𝑚 𝑅𝑇𝑐,𝑔) ∙ 𝑤0.424 ∙ 𝑐𝑝,𝑔(𝑇𝑚) ∙ 𝑣𝑔(𝑇𝑚)0.576

ℎ=
[
(1 + 𝜏) 1 ―
𝜋
4[(𝑏 𝑑) + 1 ]]
𝐷0.576
𝑅 ∙ 𝑃𝑟
23 (19)

where 𝑝𝑚, 𝑐𝑝,𝑔, 𝑇𝑚, 𝑣𝑔, 𝑏, 𝑑, 𝐷𝑅, and 𝑃𝑟 are mean pressure of the Stirling engine, constant
pressure mass specific heat of working gas, mean temperature of regenerator, kinematic
viscosity of working gas, interval between regenerator wires, diameter of regenerator wire
screen, diameter of regenerator, and Prandtl number, respectively, and 𝜏 is 𝑇ℎ,𝑔 𝑇𝑐,𝑔.

The pressure drop irreversibility of the Stirling engine can be calculated as [37,39]:

𝑤 2
𝑤
𝑤𝑆,𝐿
12
∙ 𝛾(1 + 𝜏 ) ∙ 𝑙𝑛𝜀𝑣 + 5
𝑤𝑆,𝐿
𝑁𝑆 ( ) 3(0.94 + 0.045𝑤)105
4𝑝1 (20)
𝜂𝐼𝐼,𝛥𝑝 = 1 ― ―
𝜏 ∙ 𝜂𝐶 ∙ 𝜂𝐼𝐼,𝑋 ∙ 𝑙𝑛𝜀𝑣 𝜏 ∙ 𝜂𝐶 ∙ 𝜂𝐼𝐼,𝑋 ∙ 𝑙𝑛𝜀𝑣
where 𝑤𝑆,𝐿, 𝛾, 𝑁𝑆, and 𝑝1 are the speed of the sound at heat sink temperature, specific heat
ratio, number of regenerator screens, and working gas pressure at compression process.

The system efficiency is determined by the ratio of generated power over the inlet solar
radiation into the concentrator as follows:
𝑃𝑆𝑡𝑖𝑟𝑙𝑖𝑛𝑔 + 𝑃𝑇𝐸𝐺
𝜂𝑠𝑦𝑠 = (21)
𝑄𝑐𝑜𝑛𝑐,𝑖𝑛

4. Validation of the mathematical model

Since such a hybrid system, as proposed in this paper has not been studied yet, validation
of the system has been carried out for the dish-Stirling system and the TEG individually. Table
1 presents a comparison of the results in the current study and a report by Reinalter et al. [32]
on a dish-Stirling engine. As shown, there is a difference in cavity temperature between the

10
published literature and the results current study at 68 ᵒC. Increasing the cavity temperature
leads to increasing the power generation in the Stirling engine and heat loss in the cavity. Thus,
the power generation by the Stirling engine is compensated by increasing the cavity heat loss.
Consequently, there is a good agreement between the results of the current study and previous
published literature with the maximum deviation less than 20 % under similar conditions as
reported by [32].

The used TEG oxide module for validation of current results is shown in Fig 4.a. CMO-
25-42s is a high-temperature module with 100 thermoelectric elements and size of 42 mm ×42
mm [40]. The TEG module is tested under heat reservoirs temperatures of 800 and 20 ᵒC. The
operating conditions of the tested module are shown in Table 2. As indicated in Fig 4.b, there
is a good agreement between the I-V and P-V curve of the current analytical study and the
experimental data under the same boundary conditions.

Table 1. Comparison of the system components results in the current study and reported data
by in the literature

Current Eurodish [32]

Parameter Unit Value Error %
study
Direct normal solar irradiance (W/m2) 906 906 0.0
Dish-Stirling engine

Power from dish (kW) 44.2 44.4 0.4

Power into the cavity (kW) 37.59 37.75 0.4
Cavity heat losses (kW) 7.23 6.12 18.1
Power into the Stirling Engine (kW) 30.36 31.63 4.0
Stirling shaft power (kW) 13.45 12.25 9.8
Thermal power out (kW) 16.91 18.53 8.7
Cavity temperature (K) 1191 1123 6.0

Table 2. Parameter characterization of a CMO-25-42S TEG module at heater temperature of

800ᵒ C

Theater [C] Vopen circuit [V] Ishort circuit [A] Thot-side [°C] Tcold-side [°C]
800 3.0255 2.1761 626 186

11
Fig 4. a) The used oxide TEG (CMO-25-42s) for validation of analytical code b) Comparison
between analytical and experimental results of oxide TEG module

5. Results and discussion

As the place where the research of this paper is carried out, location of Aalborg
University, Denmark (57° 04' N and 9° 94' E) is considered as the sample location in this study.
The concentrator has 2-axis tracking system and the weather condition is assumed sunny with
clear sky in June. Fig. 5 shows monthly average of daily solar irradiance and ambient
temperature in the selected city [41]. These values are used for daily thermal analysis of the
system. The reference values used in the simulation are shown in Table 3.

12
 Fig 5. Monthly average of daily solar irradiance and ambient temperature

Table 3. The system reference values

Components Symbol Description Value

Solar dish 𝐷𝑐𝑜𝑛𝑐 Concentrator diameter 8.9 [m]

𝐼𝑛𝑡𝑐𝑜𝑛𝑐 Intercept factor 0.85
𝑆ℎ𝑎𝑐𝑜𝑛𝑐 Shading factor 0.93
𝑅𝑒𝑓𝑐𝑜𝑛𝑐 Concentrator reflectance 0.925
Stirling engine 𝑛𝑟 Engine rotation speed 1800 [rpm]
- Working fluid H2
- Engine type STM 4-120
𝜂𝑔𝑒𝑛 Generator efficiency 0.925
TEG 𝑛 Number of TEG couples 50
𝑁𝑀,𝑇𝐸𝐺 Number of TEG Modules 100
𝑎𝑒𝑙 Element cross section 3.5×3.5 [mm2]
ℎ𝑒𝑙 Element height 1.2 [mm]
- Material Yb14MnSb11
𝑅𝐿 External Load resistance 𝑛 × 𝑅𝑚
Other parameters - Solar Time 12:00
𝑣𝑤 Wind speed 1 [m/s]

Fig. 6 illustrates variations of the cold-side and hot-side temperature of the TEG and the
temperature difference across the modules for different circuit currents. Analytical results show
that the cold-side temperature correspondingly increases with the TEG circuit current. The
lowest possible temperature of the cold-side TEG can be achieved when it is in the open circuit
condition. Whereas in the short circuit condition, the cold-side has the highest possible
temperature as shown by [42]. Decreasing the TEG current leads to increasing the temperature
difference. Variation of the load resistance and, therefore, the current not only affect the power
generation, it also change the temperature balance at the cold and hot-side of the TEGs.

Fig. 6 TEG temperature variations via circuit current

13
Fig. 7 shows power generation variations of the hybrid system versus the circuit current. This
figure demonstrates effect of the external load variation of the TEG circuit on power generation
of the system at solar noon. At an optimal current, the power generation by the TEG is
maximum. However, further increment in the circuit current leads to increasing the cold-side
temperature of the TEG. It, therefore, enhances the power generation of the Stirling engine. As
can be seen, the effect of the external load variation on the power generation is due to the
variation of thermal balance in the cavity.

Fig. 7 Power generation variations of the system components

The power of the system reaches its maximum value by 14.1 kW at the current equal to 10.4
A, which is the current between the corresponding current for maximum power generation by
the Stirling engine and the TEGs.

Daily variation of the power generation by the TEG versus the circuit current is
demonstrated in Fig. 8 without temperature controlling scenario. The maximum power
generation is 1.48 kW at the solar noon. It can be seen that the high temperature of the cavity,
which occurs at the solar noon, affects the maximum power point of the TEG power generation.
Since the Seebeck coefficient of the considered TEG material in this study decreases after a
specific temperature (~1300 K), increasing of the power generation is stopped at the solar noon.

14
 Fig. 8 Daily power generation of the TEG with variation of the circuit current

For investigation of cavity temperature controlling system by TEGs, the system is

investigated in both with and without load changing scenario. In without load changing (WIO
L CH) scenario, the external load resistance is kept constant equivalent to the internal resistance
of TEG modules during the day. In with load changing (W L CH) scenario, the external load
changes during the day. At beginning and ending hours of the day, the TEG operates under
short circuit to enable the temperature difference of the TEG reaching its minimum value, as
shown in Fig. 6. This change increases the hot-side temperature of the Stirling engine and
improves the power generation of the system. Over the time, increment in the solar irradiance
boosts the temperature of the cavity. The temperature increment continues until the hot-side of
Stirling engine reaches its ultimate temperature. At this time, the load resistance applied on the
TEG circuit to decrease the electrical current. Consequently, decreasing of the TEG current
leads increasing of the TEG temperature difference, while the hot-side temperature of Stirling
engine is kept in the highest allowable temperature. During the ending hours of the day and
decreasing of the cavity temperature, reduction of the load resistance causes higher hot-side
temperature of the Stirling engine and enhances its performance.

Fig. 9 shows the power generation of the system components with and without the cavity
temperature controlling strategy by the TEGs. As shown, the power generation of the system
enhances at the beginning and ending hours of the day by controlling of the cavity temperature.
The TEG circuit switches to the short circuit mode and thermal balance in the thermoelectric
materials increases the hot-side temperature of the Stirling engine. Since the power generated
by the TEG in this mode is zero, power generation of the system is only from the Stirling engine
power. During the middle of the day, the cavity temperature controller keeps the cold-side
temperature of the TEGs at 800 ℃, by applying load resistance on the TEG circuit. It causes
that the power generation by the TEG increases while the power generation by the system
reduces due to reduction of the power generation of the Stirling engine. By calculating under-
the-curve area of the generated power of the system, the results show that the daily power

15
generation of the system enhances by 73 kJ (1.25%) with cavity temperature control strategy.
Furthermore, the hot-side temperature of the Stirling engine is limited at 800 ℃.

The Percentage of the changes in the power generation of the system with cavity
temperature controller in comparison with the system without cavity temperature control
during a day is shown in Fig 10. It is seen that, during the beginning and ending hours of the
day, the Stirling engine performance is enhanced that results in the enhancement of the system
performance. Furthermore, since the power generation by the TEG is zero in the short circuit
mode, percentage of the power variation of the TEG power is negative.

Fig. 9 Power generation of the system with and without the temperature of the cavity
controlling strategy

At the solar noon, the performance of the TEG increases, but due to decreasing the performance
of the Stirling engine and its impact on the system power, the overall system power generation
is negative in comparison with the system without the control strategy. As can be seen, the
TEG power generation reaches its maximum two times during the day and it is decreases at
the solar noon. This phenomenon occurs to keep the hot-side temperature of the Stirling engine
under the critical defined temperature for the system.

16
 Fig. 10 System power change with cavity temperature controller during a day

Since the cavity temperature control is done by changing the TEGs load resistance, deviation
from the optimum load resistance leads to reduction of the TEGs power generation. It is known
that the highest power generation by the TEGs is achieved by the load resistance equal to the
internal electrical resistance of the TEGs. The optimum circuit current for maximum power
generation in the TEGs is shown in Fig 7.

Fig. 11 shows the cold-side and hot-side temperatures and the TEG temperature
difference with and without the cavity temperature controlling strategy. During the beginning
and ending hours of the day, the TEG cold-side temperature with cavity temperature controlling
has a higher level compare to the case without controlling of the cavity temperature. The cold-
side temperature of the TEG during the mid-hours of the day is fixed in 800 ℃.

Fig. 11 TEG temperature and the temperature difference variation with and without cavity
temperature controlling during the day

Furthermore, the temperature difference across the TEGs during the beginning and ending
hours of the day has a lower level when the cavity temperature is controlled. This is while
during the mid-hours of the day, when the cavity temperature increases, the load resistance is
applied on the TEG circuit. Therefore, the TEG temperature difference across the TEG rises
suddenly. It can be seen that hot-side of the TEG has a higher temperature when the cavity
temperature is controlled. As a result, heat losses in the cavity increases at the beginning and
ending hours of the day.

Variation of the heat loss during the day is shown in Fig 12. At the mid-hours of the day,
the convective heat loss in the cavity decreases due to its tilt angle. The cavity tilt angle is
approximately 60° at these hours for the considered geographical location in this study. As can
be seen, at the beginning and ending hours of the day the cavity heat loss is increased due to
its higher temperature. This condition for the system with cavity temperature control is similar

17
to the traditional model because there is approximately the same temperature of cavity in both
situations at the mid-hours of the day.

Fig. 12 The cavity heat loss and tilt angle variation during a day

6. Conclusions

In this study, the use of TEG in a cavity of a dish-Stirling engine is theoretically

investigated as a temperature controller of the system. Using the TEG as an energy harvester
in the system makes it possible to use a larger concentrator in the system to utilize more solar
radiation and to prevent the Stirling engine from thermal overloading. In the proposed system,
the cavity temperature is controlled by variation of the external electrical load resistance on the
TEGs. The temperature control system can harvest approximately 1.2 kW at mid-hours of the
day. The results show that, the power generation by the Stirling engine during the beginning
and ending hours of the day was enhanced by 20- 30%. Moreover, the hot-side of the Stirling
engine was protected from thermal overloading caused by high solar irradiance at the solar
noon. Due to better energy management of the cavity by this novel energy harvester technique,
the hybrid dish-Stirling-TEG system generated 1.25 % more electrical energy during the day.
Consequently, the dish-Stirling system with concentrator diameter around 9 m generates 14.1
kW at mid-hours of a day in June. The performance improvement of the system by the TEGs
in the cavity improves the performance of the system at low irradiance hours (beginning and
ending hours of a day). While June is one of the high irradiance months during a year, it is
possible that the system performance improves further in cold season of a year by this novel
energy harvesting method.

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Highlights

 A novel energy harvester is evaluated in the solar dish-Stirling

system.
 The thermoelectric generator is used as a temperature controller in
the cavity.
 The TEG temperature controller protects the Stirling engine from
overheating.

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