ABSTRACT
The global energy and environmental issues are promoting the development of
innovative energy solutions. Thermoelectric Generators (TEGs) are regarded as a
promising alternative to conventional energy technologies. TEG is a device that
converts thermal energy directly into electric power by exploiting Seebeck effect. In
the present study, dynamic performance characteristics of a TEG are experimentally
studied under different operating conditions. The effect of input heat rate and the
influence of utilizing extended surfaces (fins) on both transient and steady state
performance of a TEG are experimentally investigated. The variation in the
temperature of the TEG hot and cold sides in addition to the output voltage is taken
as a denotation of the performance characteristics. Input heat rate of 15.0 W, 17.5 W,
20.0 W, 22.0W and 25.0 W are applied to the TEG hot side. Free air convection (FC)
is the utilized for heat dissipation from the TEG module through the cold side. From
the experimentation, it can be deduced that increasing the input heat rate provides
higher temperature difference across the module sides leading to higher power
output. Additionally, using fins to aid heat dissipations enhanced the TEG
performance by lowering the temperature of cold side and increasing the temperature
difference across the module. The experimental data obtained are compared with the
data available by the TEG module manufacturer and excellent agreement is
obtained.