Exact Optimum Design of Segmented Thermoelectric Generators

Table 2

Design and performance characteristics of 1-1 and 1-2 generators at maximum efficiency, calculated through both exact and Swanson et al.’s [13] methods. The differences between Swanson et al.’s and exact results are shown in parenthesis. and are assumed as constant inputs of the optimization process.

Parameters	Swanson method	Exact method	Swanson method	Exact method
	(1-1)	(1-1)	(1-2)	(1-2)
(mm) (input)	10	10	10	10
(mm^2) (input)	100	100	100	100
Calculated (W)	37.61 (4.1)	39.24	38.15 (1.2)	38.63
Calculated (W)	31.48 (2.9)	30.58	31.13 (4.8)	29.71
Calculated (W)	8.57 (1.03)	8.65	9.12 (2.3)	8.92
Residual power (W)	−2.43	—	−2.10	—
Calculated peak efficiency, (%)	22.77 (3.2)	22.06	23.91 (3.6)	23.00
(mm^2)	83.49 (7.7)	77.51	92.81 (14.5)	81.08
(mm)	2.656, 3.263, 1.529, 0.808, 1.7350 (5.05)	2.636, 3.199, 1.514, 0.823, 1.827	2.661, 3.262, 1.532, 0.807, 1.728 (5.4)	2.636, 3.199, 1.514, 0.823, 1.827
(mm)	0.488, 5.716, 2.504, 1.283 (9.12)	0.447, 5.734, 2.543, 1.275	0.533, 6.231, 1.667, 1.559 (8.09)	0.493, 6.240, 1.711, 1.556
(A)	28.11 (7.1)	30.27	28.75 (5.01)	30.27
(mΩ)	10.8 (14.9)	9.4	11.0 (13.4)	9.7