Numerical Simulation and Validation of Thermoeletric Generator Based Self-Cooling System with Airflow

In this paper, a general numerical methodology is developed and validated for the simulation of steady as well as transient thermal and electrical behaviors of thermoelectric generator (TEG)-based air flow self-cooling systems. The present model provides a comprehensive framework to advance the study of self-cooling applications by combining fluid flow, heat transfer and electric circuit simulations. The methodology is implemented by equation-based coupled modeling capabilities from multidisciplinary fields to capture the dynamic thermos-electric interaction in TEG elements, enabling the simulation of overall heating/cooling/power characteristics as well as spatially distributed thermal and flow fields in the entire device. Experiments have been conducted on two types of self-cooling arrangements to measure the device temperature, voltage and power produced by TEG modules. It was found that the computational model was able to predict the experimental results within 5% error. A parametric study was carried out using the validated model to study the effect of heat sink geometry and TEG arrangements on device temperature and power produced by the device. It was found that the power for self-cooling could be maximized by proper matching of the TEG modules to the fluid mover. Although an increase in fin density results in a rise in fan power consumption, a marked increase in net power and decreases in thermal resistance are observed.