Articles techniques et présentations

Thermoelectric generators (TEG) use Seebeck’s effect to directly convert heat into electricity. TEG represent, therefore, a promising option for energy harvesting of waste heat, for example in car exhaust systems. To investigate the dynamic behavior of high temperature TEG, a test facility was numerically designed and finally constructed. Transient thermal simulations were performed in order to estimate the heating and cooling performance of the test section and to optimize the heat exchanger geometries. Furthermore, a turbulent single phase flow simulation was made to calculate the pressure drop of the cooling air flow. The simulations are in very good agreement with the behavior of the real system. The finally constructed test facility based on the simulations exceeds the requirements clearly.