Korean Journal of Air-Conditioning and Refrigeration Engineering (설비공학논문집)

The Society of Air-Conditioning and Refrigerating Engineers of Korea (대한설비공학회)
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Performance Characteristics of Thermoelectric Generator Modules For Parallel and Serial Electrical Circuits

전기회로 구성 방법에 따른 열전발전 모듈 성능 특성

  • Kim, Yun-Ho (Department of Mechanical and Information Engineering, University of Seoul) ;
  • Kim, Myung-Kee (Division of Mechanical Engineering, Hanyang University) ;
  • Kim, Seo-Young (Energy Mechanics Center, Korea Institute of Science and Technology) ;
  • Rhee, Gwang-Hoon (Department of Mechanical and Information Engineering, University of Seoul) ;
  • Um, Suk-Kee (Division of Mechanical Engineering, Hanyang University)
  • 김윤호 (서울시립대학교 기계정보공학과) ;
  • 김명기 (한양대학교 기계공학부) ;
  • 김서영 (한국과학기술연구원 에너지메카닉스연구센터) ;
  • 리광훈 (서울시립대학교 기계정보공학과) ;
  • 엄석기 (한양대학교 기계공학부)
  • Received : 2010.01.13
  • Accepted : 2010.01.28
  • Published : 2010.05.10
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Abstract

An experiment has been performed in order to investigate the characteristics of multiple thermoelectric modules (TEMs) with electrical circuits. The open circuit voltage of TEM connected parallel circuit is equal to the sum of individual TEMs. In contrast, the open circuit voltage is equal to the average of that individual TEM for a series circuit. The power output and conversion efficiency of TEM for both parallel and series circuits increase as the operating temperature conditions for individual TEMs becomes identical. Comparing parallel with series circuits, the power generation performance is more excellent for series circuit than parallel circuit. This result is attributed to the power loss from the TEM with better power generation performance.

Keywords

References

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