温差电源的整体热电耦合计算

Complete numerical simulation of the thermoelectric coupling in a thermoelectric generator

该文旨在模拟温差电源内部的耦合工作过程,了解电源内部工作参数分布,以期实现其数字设计目的。将温差电源整体热电耦合的数值分析分解为两部分:电源内部的传热采用节点网络法结合控制容积法计算;电源外表面的辐射散热采用Monte-Carlo法计算。通过构造电源外壁面温度与表面散热量的函数关系式并将其作为广义源项引入内部的热计算中,从而实现温差电源的整体数值模拟。对某型温差电源样机进行了数值分析,计算结果与实验数据接近,从而证明了该方法具有较好的可靠性,能够满足对温差电源的工程设计和计算要求。

A numerical model was developed to simulate the internal working processes for the thermoelectric field, for numerical designs of thermoelectric generators. The simulation of the entire thermoelectric coupling in the thermoelectric generator was separated to two parts： the node-network coupling inside the generator simulation using the control volume method and the heat transfer and external radiation simulation using the Monte Carol method. The external surface temperature was related to the surface thermal extrance to estimate the internal heat source term. The simulation results agree well with experimental data, so the model can be used for engineering designs for thermoelectric generators.