title: Developing instrumentation to characterize thermoelectric generator modules.
abstract: Based on the law of physics, known as "Seebeck effect," a thermoelectric generator (TEG) produces electricity when the temperature differential is applied across the TEG. This article reports a precision method in characterizing TEG modules. A precision instrument is constructed to study thermoelectric conversion in terms of output power and efficiency of TEG modules. The maximum allowable TEG module size is 150 mm, and the preferred size is from 30 mm to 60 mm. During measurements, the highest hot side temperature is 500 °C and the cold side temperature can be adjusted from room temperature to 100 °C. A mechanical structure is developed to control the pressure and parallelism of the clamping force of the TEG on both its hot and cold sides. A heat flux measurement module is installed at its cold side, and the heat flux through TEGs can be measured in position. Finally, the energy conversion efficiency of TEGs is calculated from experimental data of both an output power and a heat flux.
authors.affiliation: Huaneng Clean Energy Research Institute, Beijing 102209, People's Republic of China.
authors.forename: Dawei
authors.initials: D
authors.lastname: Liu
authors.affiliation: Huaneng Clean Energy Research Institute, Beijing 102209, People's Republic of China.
authors.forename: Qiming
authors.initials: Q
authors.lastname: Li
authors.affiliation: Huaneng Clean Energy Research Institute, Beijing 102209, People's Republic of China.
authors.forename: Wenbo
authors.initials: W
authors.lastname: Peng
authors.affiliation: Huaneng Clean Energy Research Institute, Beijing 102209, People's Republic of China.
authors.forename: Lianjun
authors.initials: L
authors.lastname: Zhu
authors.affiliation: Huaneng Clean Energy Research Institute, Beijing 102209, People's Republic of China.
authors.forename: Hu
authors.initials: H
authors.lastname: Gao
authors.affiliation: Materials Science and Engineer, Taiyuan University of Technology, Taiyuan 030024, People's Republic of China.
authors.forename: Qingsen
authors.initials: Q
authors.lastname: Meng
authors.affiliation: Huaneng Clean Energy Research Institute, Beijing 102209, People's Republic of China.
authors.forename: A J
authors.initials: AJ
authors.lastname: Jin