Thermoelectric (TE) devices can provide reliable power for applications such as waste heat recovery and portable power. Current TE devices provide low TE element/module efficiency and even smaller TE system efficiency. Low performance can be linked to the poor heat transfer between the working fluids and TE junctions. In this study, a 3D Computational Fluid Dynamics - Thermoelectric (3D CFD-TE) model is developed and used to analyze the interactions of fluid flow, heat transfer and TE power generation. A simple system with fluids in a counterflow arrangement is compared with a finned TE system and water-cooled TE system. Results show improvement in system efficiency with the finned TE system as a result of the reduction of thermal resistance due to convection, which improved both the heat transfer ratio and TE efficiency. The water-cooled TE system showed significant improvement in TE system efficiency because of the reduction of thermal resistance by convection and high heat capacity of water, both of which reduced the temperature of the cold junction of the TE system.
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