THERMAL PERFORMANCE OF TWO-PHASE CLOSED THERMOSYPHON IN APPLICATION OF CONCENTRATED THERMOELECTRIC POWER GENERATOR USING PHASE CHANGE MATERIAL THERMAL STORAGE

摘要

A passive cooling system which uses two-phase closed thermosyphon and phase change material thermal storage for operating concentrated thermoelectric generator (CTEG) is proposed and discussed in the paper. The CTEG system can generate thermoelectricity by provide a temperature difference across thermoelectric cells which can be achieved via concentrated solar flux and the proposed passive cooling system using latent heat storage concept. To enhance the heat transfer process, thermosyphon (wickless heat pipe) is implemented as an effective heat transporting device for transferring excess heat from the cold side of the thermoelectric module to the PCM storage tank for heat storage. The aim of this investigation is to evaluate the thermal performance and electrical power output of the proposed passive cooling system. The numerical simulation shows that solar concentration of 75 suns is able to deliver maximum temperature difference of 150oC across thermoelectric module which does not exceed the thermoelectric cell’s malfunction temperature of 250oC as recommended by the manufacturers.