THERMOELECTRIC GENERATOR

THERMOELECTRIC
GENERATORS (TEG)

Presented by:
Date: 25/02/2015
JIYADH.K.SABEER
NO: MTALEEE032

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 THERMOELECTRIC GENERATOR

OVERVIEW
 Introduction
 Basic Principle of TEG
 Applications
 Advantages
 Disadvantages
 Conclusion
 Reference

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 THERMO ELECTRIC GENERATOR
INTRODUCTION
 Energy crisis-main problem.
 Increased pollution & population.
 Tremendous energy wasted in the form of heat.
 Constant uninterruptable power requirement.
 Distorts the output performance.
 Efficiency decreasing in electronic systems.
 Increased interest in renewable energy.
 Energy scavengers are modern trend.

SOLUTION???

THERMOELECTRIC GENERATORS 3
 THERMO ELECTRIC GENERATOR

Fig.1 Energy Statistics

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WHAT IS TEG??
 Devices that convert temperature differences into
electrical energy.

 Basic principle – “SEEBECK EFFECT” (power

generation).

 PELTIER EFFECT
( Heating
and cooling purposes)

Fig. 2 TEG Module

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Working principle of TEG N-Bi2Te3

P-Sb2Te3
Seebeck effect

Fig. 3 Working Principle

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THERMO ELECTRIC POWER GENERATION

 It is based on SEEBECK EFFECT.

 Heat is applied to a circuit at junction of different conductors a

current will be generated.
 THOMAS JOHANN SEEBECK invented Seebeck effect in 1822.

 The Magnitude of voltage generated is proportional to temperature

difference and depended on type of the conducting material
 Seebeck coefficient defined as the open circuit voltage produced
between two points on a conductor when a uniform temperature
difference of 1k is applied between those points.
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Thomas Johann Seebeck [ 1770 – 1831 ]

Figure 4
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 The simplest thermo electric generator
consist of thermocouple of n type and p
type elements connected electrically in
series and thermally in parallel.

 heat is input from one side and rejected

from other side.

 a voltage will be generated across

Thermocouple.

 The magnitude of the voltage is

proportional to the temperature
gradient.
Figure 5
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Seebeck Effect

Figure 6
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 THERMO ELECTRIC HEATING AND
COOLING
 These are based on PELTIER EFFECT
 That is current is passes through a two dissimilar conductors there
will be a rise or fall of temperature at junction depending on
direction of current flow
 Peltier effect discovered by Jean Peltier in 1834

 Electrons moved from p type to n type, material absorbing thermal

energy from cold junctions.
 Electrons dump their extra energy at hot junction as they flow from n
type to p type material through electric connector.

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Jean Peltier [ 1785 - 1845 ]

Figure 7

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Peltier Effect

Figure 8
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FABRICATION OF TEG

 Highest performance can be obtained in presence of heavily doped

semiconductor such as Bismuth and silicon germanium.

 TEG must be
a) Small in size
b) Light in weight
c) High silicon compatibility.

Figure 9
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 Fabrication process of thermo electric microconverters
1. The p type Sb2te3 film is deposited by thermal co-evaporation
followed by Nickel
2. Photo resist and P type elements are patterned by photolithography.
3. Nickel is etched in chromium etchant, a Thermoelectric film is
patterned by wet etching HNO3.HCL and photo resist is removed.
4. The n type film deposited by co evaporation followed by 100m
nickel layer.
5. Photo resist is applied and patterned by photolithography for n type
element.
6. N type is etched in HNO3 and photo resist is removed, contacts are
deposited starting with a layer of nickel followed by 1µm of
aluminum and photo resist is removed.
7. A protective layer of Si3N4 can also be deposited by low-temperature
hot wire chemical vapor deposition and patterned depending on
application. 15
Figure 10
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FIGURE OF MERIT
 The performance of thermoelectric devices depends on the figure of
merit (ZT) of the material , which is given by

Where,
α- Seebeck coefficient,
ρ - the electrical resistivity,
λ - the thermal conductivity, and
T – the temperature

 A good thermal material must have

1. High Seebeck coefficient,
2. Low electric resistivity,
3. Low thermal conductivity.
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CALCULATION

• For a single thermo couple

 Open circuit voltage V = ( @ * dT) ……….. (1)

• @ – Seebeck coefficient= dV/dT (volt/Kelvin )

• dT – diff in temp = Th-Tc (Kelvin)

 Current through the load, I= @ * DT ……….. (2)

Rc+RL
• RL – load resistance
• Rc – internal resistance
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 Efficiency of the generator (Eg) is:

Eg = V x I ..............(3)
Qh

• The total heat input to the couple = Qh

T c = Temperature at cold junction

T h = Temperature at hot junction

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Applications Wireless EEG

Fig.18 Wireless EEG

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 Block Diagram of TEG -EEG
system

Thermoelectric Power
micro conditioning
converter
Signal RF CMOS
processing transceiver
and control @2.4GHz
Ultra low
power EEG
amplifiers

Figure 19 Block diagram

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• Human body temperature 270c to 360c

• Forehead & Nose have little high temperature

• Epilepsy or Sleep monitoring

• Patient while doing exercise

• Regular medical data automatically recorded

• Comfort for the subject ( human or animal )

• No need to replace or recharge the battery

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 TEG for Cooling
• Air conditioner business developed recently
• CFC emission increased
• Alternative should be found out
• Peltier effect is being used
• Beneficial to use because
1. Low maintenance
2. Long life
3. No moving parts
4. Can be used for microchip
cooling

Figure 15 23
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Low power devices such as wrist watches and hearing

aids

Fig.16. Thermic watch

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 Easy to use
 Maintenance free
 Long life
 Good for daily use
 Uninterruptable power so no risk
 Watches were first brought by
SEIKO & CITIZEN

Figure 17 thermic watch by SEIKO

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Automotive thermoelectric generators

fig 11 TEG in the exhaust of an automobile 18

Figure 12

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Thermo Electric Generator
stove

Figure 13
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Thermoelectric Phone
Charger

Figure 14 29
 THERMO ELECTRIC GENERATOR

Advantages
 Solid state construction, no moving part, no vibration.
 Available 24 hours a day.
 No noise and low maintenance.
 Convenient power supply.
 Stabilize temperature of devices.
 Increase operation life under all environment.
 Space and military applications.
 Performance output highly scalable.
 Waste Heat – Electricity.
 Space requirement is only 1/20th of a solar cell.
 Portable power.
 Less weight than a battery.
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Disadvantages
 Low efficiency.

 High cost.

 High output resistance.

 Adverse thermal conditions.

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Conclusion
 TEG to supply low power electronics ( milli watts).

 Waste heat conversion to useful energy beneficial to

present energy crisis.

 Numerous advantages over disadvantages.

 Variety of application field.

 Introduction of nanotechnology.

 Development in future will lead to interesting

applications.
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E e-books available Google

1. Waste Energy Harvesting: Mechanical and Thermal

Energies
• By Kong Ling Bing, Tao Li, Huey
Hoon Hng, Freddy Boey, Tianshu
Zhang, Sean Li

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Reference
[1] Joao Paulo Carmo,Luis Miguel Goncalves and Jose Higino Correia, “Thermoelectric microconverter
for energy harvesting systems”, IEEE transactions on industrial electronics, VOL. 57, NO. 3, march
2010
[2] Tom Torfs, Vladimir Leonov, Refet Firat Yazicioglu,Patrick Merken, Chris Van Hoof,” Wearable
Autonomous Wireless Electro-encephalography System Fully Powered by Human Body Heat”, IEEE
SENSORS 2008 Conference.
[3] L.M. Goncalves and J.G. Rocha,” Application of Microsystems Technology in the Fabrication of
Thermoelectric Micro-Converters”, Solid State Circuits Technologies, Book edited by: Jacobus W.
Swart.
[4] Tianqi Yang, Jinsheng Xiao, Wenyu Zhao, Qingjie Zhang,”Structural Optimization of Two-stage
Thermoelectric Generator for Wide Temperature Range Application”,2011 IEEE.
[5] Xiaodong Zhang, C.C. Chan, and Wenlong Li,” An Automotive Thermoelectric Energy System with
Parallel Configuration for Engine Waste Heat Recovery”, IEEE trasactions on industrial electronics
2010.
[6] Luciana Wasnievski da Silva,and Massoud Kaviany,” Fabrication and Measured Performance of a
First-Generation Microthermoelectric Cooler”, Journal of microelectro mechanical systems,VOL. 14,
NO. 5,october 2005.
[7] Design and Fabrication of Heat Storage Thermoelectric Harvesting Devices M. E. Kiziroglou,
Member, IEEE, S. W. Wright, T. T. Toh, P. D. Mitcheson, Senior Member, IEEE,Th. Becker and E.
M. Yeatman, Fellow, IEEE 2012
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