Thermoelectric

Generators
Introduction and a comprehensive study of Construction
1.

Introduction
A solid state device
 Converts heat flux (temperature differences) directly into electrical energy
 Uses the phenomenon of Seebeck effect (a form of thermoelectric effect)
 Radioisotope thermoelectric generators use radioisotopes to generate the
required heat flux to power space probes
 Used in automobiles: As automotive thermoelectric generator (ATG) to
increase fuel efficiency
 Used in Power Plants: conversion of waste heat into additional electrical
power
 TEG’s function like heat engines, but are less bulkyand have no moving
part.
2. SEEBECK EFFECT
 If a conductor has a temperature gradient heat will be
conducted by lattice vibrations—the photons and also
by the charge carriers migrating from hot side to cold
side.
 charge carrier concentration gradient will create
potential difference across the conductor , stopping
the charge carrier concentration gradient increase
 The resulting equilibrium potential difference is the
so-called Seebeck voltage and Seebeck voltage across
1 K temperature gradient is called Seebeck
coefiecient.
SEEBECK EFFECT (contd.)

 Seebeck found that for semiconductor Seebeck

coeficient is high in comparison with metal.
 SEEBECK EFFECT refers to the production of an
electrical potential and consequently an electric
current in a loop consisting of two dissimilar
conductors when there junctions are maintained at
different temperature.
3. ADVANTAGES OF TEG

 They have no moving parts ,less bulky and complete silent.

 Enviourment safety
 No working fluid and gases
 Low noise operations
 Reduced size and weight
 Smooth and fine adjustment of cooling capacity and temperature
ADVANTAGES OF TEG (contd.)

 Resistance to mechanical loads

 Operation in any spatial positions
 Easy switching from cooling to heating mode
 High reliability—KRYOTHERM guarantees lifetimes of more than 200,000
hours for TEGs
4. Thermoelectric Generator Module

 A solid state device

 Converts heat flux into electrical current
 Produces DC voltage which depends on the module temperature
gradient and the number of thermoelectric elements, or legs, used
 Usually constitutes multitudes of pairs of alternating p type and n type
semiconductor legs
 Arranged thermally in parallel
 Connected electrically in series
 The open circuit voltage depends on the no. of legs used, therefore it
can be from 2.5 V to 25V
CAD model of TEG Module
Thermoelectric Generator Module
(contd.)
 The heat is supplied to the top side which is hot and removed from the
bottom or cold side
 Charge carriers will move in the same direction▲▼( Hot to cold)
 Thermoelectric material legs are soldered to copper electrodes, that
connect all the legs into a single chain
 Since the Seebeck voltage is of opposite sign for electrons and holes,
the voltages of each leg will be added up
 Thin ceramic plates provide structural support and electrical insulation
to the module assembly
Thermoelectric Generator Module
(contd.)
 Bismuth Telluride is the most commonly used material in TEG module
(Seebeck coefficient (typical) of Bi2Te3 is approximately 350 µV/K)
 Bi2Te3 module application temperature is limited to 3500 C for the
highest performance module
 Higher temperature application: heavy industries and automobiles
require use of other materials such as silicides, oxides, skutterudites,
sulphides etc.
 Typically Alumina ceramics is used, but when better substrate thermal
conductivity is needed, aluminium nitride ceramics may be used
5.Components of TEG
1.Heater
 Creates thermal gradient and sufficient heat flow by using TEG
module
 Robust enough to withstand the module clamping force which is,
at max., 20kN
 Has to operate reliably in a large temperature range
 Has to not let out any gas if operated in vaccum
2. Heater Support Plate
 Mde of 20mm thick stainless steel plate with a 3 mm chamfer all around
 Has guide tubes welded in it
 Each of the tubes has nylon bushings
 Tubes and bushings keeps the heater support plate parallel to baseplate
with minimum swivelling

3. Heating Wire Coil

 NiCr alloy and FeCrAl alloy are the heating elements
 During the first heat up oxidation reactions , an oxide film is formed
 Upon further heating this film changes to Cr2O3 protective film
4. Heater Box
 Encloses and supports all of the internal parts
 Made from a 1 mm thick stainless steel sheet.
 Manufactured from a single sheet
 Boiling, welding or riveting is not required

5. Cooler
 Maintains relatively low temperature at the cold side of module
 Effectively dissipates heat flowing through the module

6. Cooler Assembly
 Guides tube TIG welding into the CNC machined and threaded cooler
support plate
 6. Manufacturing Process
1. Ball Milling
Thermoelectric material has to be synthesised by ball milling along with its constituents
Steps involved are mentioned in the figure
Being an extensive process, reqd. characteristics are achieved once optimized material
composition is set up

2. Melting
Some degree of process fluctuation resulting in phase variation
Synthesised powders are then formed into ingoits which are diced to form
thermoelectric legs
Material Brittleness is a chief issue in the process
Manufacturing Process (contd.)

3. Processes from Semiconductor

industries
Semiconductor industries such as etching, molecular beam epitaxy ,
electroless etching, and vapour deposition are looked for and the processes
are employed from them
7. Classification of TEGs (on the basis of architecture)

 TEGs can be broadly classified on the basis of their architecture into the
following four categories:-

1.Flexible TEGs
2.Cylindrical Bulk TEGs
3.Flat Bulk TEGs
4.Thin film TEGs
Flexible TEGs
Flexible power sources for
applications such as power sensors,
and monitoring biomechanical
motions are in vogue nowadays
Flexibility along with efficiency
is offered by flexible architecture
Novel polymers and composites are
employed and are fabricated
through innovative
manufacturing methods
Additive manufacturing, printing,
thermal spraying are some of these
methods
Cylindrical Bulk TEGs
Suitable for extraction of power
from cylindrical objects such as
cooling channels and automotive
exhaustive pipes
Heat flows radially in these objects
TEG fabricated by using PbTe
modules through a sintering
process
The cartridge configuration was
developed for automotive
applications
It is optimized to work with exhaust
gas on the hot side and a water
glycol mix on the cold side
Flat Bulk TEGs
Large scale employment for high
power generation to exploit the
longitudinal Seebeck effect
Mostly cuboid in shape, with
electrical and thermal current
running parallelly
Construced with alternating legs of n
type and p type TEM by a powder
processing or sintering technique
Have been used in experiments in
the field of automotives
Generated upto 1 kW from waste
heat
Thin Film TEGs
Thickness range of a few
micrometers
High densities of cooling power
attainable due to the high heat flux
Electrochemical Deposition a more
suitable and economical method to
fabricate thin film TEGs
8. Cooling Techniques of TEGs
Air Cooling

 Passive Air Cooling

involves heat dissipation to air from the cold side through natural convection
When cooled by an isolated wind chimney, the efficiency is comparatively low
The cold side temperature increases from 30oC to 77oC, for a temperature variation of 10oC
inside the chimney
 Forced Air Cooling
Simplest method of cooling, uses fan of the reqd. capacity
Power generation of 4W using a 1W fan on a smaller TEG
Adaptable to various sizes of TEGs and environments
Use of air and its availability is an added advantage
Peak efficiency of 2.1 % was achieved, generating 44.1W at a temperature difference of
88.3 K
 Water Cooling
Most widely accepted cooling method
High heat capacity and abundance of water make it more attractive
TEG with a parabolic dish using water cooling can reach 2.81% efficiency

 Natural Convection
Large rate of heat rejection and large size makes it unattractive
Max. power of 9.5W was attained by using domestic water as coolant
 Forced Convection
Efficient in terms of heat extraction compared to other methods given above
A significant parasitic loss, however, occurs while delivering water at reqd. flow
rate
The max. efficiency of 4.44% at the power output of 146.5W was achieved by a
coolant at 30oC
 Evaporating Cooling
Uses latent heat of vaporisation of water with heat pipes
Achieves max. heat flux in comparison with others given above
More reliable due to the heat pipe design
 THANK YOU
Submitted by
 Aditya Meena (11814081, RE 3)
 Akash Mathur (11814080, RE 3)
 Kushagra Soni (11814091, RE 3)
 Manmohan Singh (11814079, RE 3)
 Harsh Gupta (11814084, RE 3)