汤姆逊效应和附加热阻对热电模块性能的影响

Influences of Thomson Effect and Additional Thermal Resistance on the Performance of Thermoelectric Module

针对热电模块运行过程中的影响因素,考虑汤姆逊效应和陶瓷板、金属导流片、接触表面等产生的附加热阻,建立了新的热电能量平衡方程,并据此研究了汤姆逊效应与附加热阻对热电模块的输出功率、热电转化效率及效率的影响规律.结果表明:在本文计算条件下,汤姆逊效应及附加热阻对热电模块性能的影响随着热电模块工作电流的增加而增大;同时,汤姆逊效应和附加热阻均使得热电模块的最大输出功率、最大热电转化效率对应的最佳工作电流减小,这一点在热电发电装置的设计时必须予以考虑.

Aiming at several related factors during the thermoelectric module operation,considering Thomson effect and additional thermal resistance,which are caused by ceramic plate,metal interconnects and thermal contact resis-tance,a new thermoelectric energy balance equation was established. Then,the influences of Thomson effect and additional thermal resistance on output power,thermoelectric conversion efficiency and exergy efficiency were analyzed. The results show that with the increase of working current,the influences of Thomson effect and additional thermal resistance on the performance of thermoelectric module increase. Simultaneously , Thomson effect and additional thermal resistance will reduce the optimal current corresponding to the maximum output power,the maximum thermoelectric conversion efficiency and the maximum exergy efficiency,which should be considered when designing thermoelectric generation.