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Bidirectional operation of the thermoelectric device for active temperature control of fuel cells

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  • Kwan, Trevor Hocksun
  • Wu, Xiaofeng
  • Yao, Qinghe

Abstract

The thermoelectric (TE) device enables a conversion interface between the heat transfer and the electricity domain. Specifically, it can operate bi-directionally – Heat can be converted to electricity via the thermoelectric generator (TEG) effect and vice versa via the thermoelectric cooling (TEC) effect. In most state of the art research, the TE device is operated either in the TEG mode or TEC mode but very seldom in both modes for a single control objective. This paper proposes a thermal management system for a fuel cell who exploits the bi-directional characteristics of the TE device to achieve both temperature control and the possibility for energy harvesting when active control is not required. The studied scenarios involve a time-based simulation involving heat generation levels that are typical of a 500 W rated operating proton exchange membrane fuel cell (PEMFC). The overall dynamic system is simulated using Simscape library components in Simulink and the controller itself is implemented using MATLAB s-functions. An experiment involving electric heaters to emulate the fuel cell’s body heat is also conducted to verify the proposed combined TEG-TEC control approach.

Suggested Citation

  • Kwan, Trevor Hocksun & Wu, Xiaofeng & Yao, Qinghe, 2018. "Bidirectional operation of the thermoelectric device for active temperature control of fuel cells," Applied Energy, Elsevier, vol. 222(C), pages 410-422.
    • Handle: RePEc:eee:appene:v:222:y:2018:i:c:p:410-422
    DOI: 10.1016/j.apenergy.2018.04.016
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    Cited by:

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    3. Hossein Pourrahmani & Hamed Shakeri & Jan Van herle, 2022. "Thermoelectric Generator as the Waste Heat Recovery Unit of Proton Exchange Membrane Fuel Cell: A Numerical Study," Energies, MDPI, vol. 15(9), pages 1-21, April.
    4. Saufi Sulaiman, M. & Singh, B. & Mohamed, W.A.N.W., 2019. "Experimental and theoretical study of thermoelectric generator waste heat recovery model for an ultra-low temperature PEM fuel cell powered vehicle," Energy, Elsevier, vol. 179(C), pages 628-646.
    5. Li, Linjun & Wang, Shixue & Yue, Like & Wang, Guozhuo, 2019. "Cold-start method for proton-exchange membrane fuel cells based on locally heating the cathode," Applied Energy, Elsevier, vol. 254(C).
    6. Kwan, Trevor Hocksun & Katsushi, Fujii & Shen, Yongting & Yin, Shunan & Zhang, Yongchao & Kase, Kiwamu & Yao, Qinghe, 2020. "Comprehensive review of integrating fuel cells to other energy systems for enhanced performance and enabling polygeneration," Renewable and Sustainable Energy Reviews, Elsevier, vol. 128(C).
    7. Hsu, Ping-Chia & Saragih, Ahmad Abror & Huang, Mei-Jiau & Juang, Jia-Yang, 2022. "New machine functions using waste heat recovery: A case study of atmospheric pressure plasma jet," Energy, Elsevier, vol. 239(PD).
    8. Kwan, Trevor Hocksun & Shen, Yongting & Yao, Qinghe, 2019. "An energy management strategy for supplying combined heat and power by the fuel cell thermoelectric hybrid system," Applied Energy, Elsevier, vol. 251(C), pages 1-1.
    9. Kwan, Trevor Hocksun & Wu, Xiaofeng & Yao, Qinghe, 2018. "Integrated TEG-TEC and variable coolant flow rate controller for temperature control and energy harvesting," Energy, Elsevier, vol. 159(C), pages 448-456.

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