Technical Papers and Presentations

Heat waste harvesting with thermoelectric systems is a clean, environmentally friendly energy producing option among several methods currently considered. The present study investigates the ability of COMSOL Multiphysics^® simulation software to develop models that generate data in good agreement with data collected on experimental systems. We developed a three component system (Bismuth Telluride TEG, water cooler and heat sink) and compared the electrical potential generated versus a variety of temperature and water flow values. The agreement between the model and experimental data is extremely good. An experimental set up was also developed for a thermoelectric generator with and without heat sink exposed to the sun light with a Fresnel lens. The data collected will be used in a model that incorporates Fresnel lenses.