Open AccessPerformance analysis on series and parallel circuit configurations of a four-cell thermoelectric generator module design
Author(s) -
Muhammad Hadrami Hamdan,
Nur Aqilah Mat Som,
Amirul Abdul Rashid,
Gilbert Jugi Jimmy
Publication year - 2021
Language(s) - English
DOI - 10.24191/jaeds.v1i1.18
Subject(s) - proton exchange membrane fuel cell , thermoelectric generator , nuclear engineering , waste heat , forced convection , heat sink , waste heat recovery unit , heat exchanger , natural convection , thermoelectric effect , stack (abstract data type) , materials science , thermoelectric cooling , voltage , mechanical engineering , convection , electrical engineering , mechanics , engineering , computer science , thermodynamics , fuel cells , physics , chemical engineering , programming language
This study presents a technique in recovering energy from low-grade waste heat of a Proton Exchange Membrane Fuel Cell (PEMFC). The goal is to study the functionality and performance using a multiple cell thermoelectric generator (TEG) module. The test bench consists of a heating element, a test section, and a cooling section. The heating element supplies a hot stream temperature of 53°C and 58°C that represents the waste heat from an actual PEMFC stack. The module comprises four TEG cells with heat pipes coupled with a heat sink system. The main variables were the TEG cooling modes of natural convection (0 m/s) and forced convection (at 5 m/s and 10 m/s) and the series and parallel circuit configurations of the module. At 58°C waste heat temperature, forced convection cooling at 10 m/s gave the highest voltage and power output of 140 mV and 1960 µW. The outputs of the series circuit was 159% higher than the parallel circuit. This initial simple TEG module design has shown that it has a good prospect to compensate for the ultra-low waste heat temperature of a PEMFC. Future designs of the modules need to identify a more optimized approach to improve the outputs and contribute to the long-term sustainability of PEMFC systems.