Konferensartikel

Channel geometry has a strong influence on the heat transfer coefficient and cooling energy input in a heat sink. The net power output in a thermoelectric generator (TEG) can be defined as power generation minus the required cooling energy in TEG. This study aims to evaluate the net power generation in TEG for different size of hydraulic diameter of plate-fin heat sink and over a wide range of Reynolds number. The particular focus of this study is to find optimal Reynolds number in each considered channel hydraulic diameter and to explore optimal channel hydraulic diameter for maximum TEG net power output. Three-dimensional governing equations for the flow and the heat transfer and thermal-electrics are solved using the computational fluid dynamics (CFD) simulation environment. The results show that there is an optimal Reynolds number that provides maximum net power output in the TEG, and the maximum net power output occurs at smaller Reynolds number when the channel hydraulic diameter reduces.

Thermoelectric generator; plate-fin heat sink; geometry effect; net power