Waste Heat Recovery of Phosphoric Acid Fuel Cell Based on Thermoelectric Generator

doi:10.3901/JME.2020.12.222

Abstract

Abstract: In the present researches about fuel cell-thermoelectric generator hybrid systems, Thomson effect is usually neglected for simple calculation, which results in a degree of imprecision. Thus, taking an integrated phosphoric acid fuel cell (PAFC) and two-stage semiconductor thermoelectric generator (TTEG) system as the objectives, Thomson effect and main irreversible losses from PAFC and TTEG are considered comprehensively to derive the formulas for power output, energy efficiency and exergy efficiency of the hybrid system. The effects of operating temperature, operating pressure and the number of the thermoelectric element on the performance characteristics of the hybrid system are investigated. The influence of Thomson effect on the hybrid system performance is analyzed. The results show that Thomson effect has negative impacts on the maximum power density as well as the corresponding energy and exergy efficiency of the hybrid system, and the reduction ratios are 5.04%, 1.21% and 1.37%, respectively. With Thomson effect taken into consideration, the results obtained can provide some theoretical bases for further exploring the performance of hybrid systems consisting of PAFC and semiconductor thermoelectric generators

Key words: phosphoric acid fuel cell, two-stage semiconductor, hybrid system, Thomson effect, exergy efficiency

CLC Number:

TM911

ZHENG Zhuang, HUANG Yuewu. Waste Heat Recovery of Phosphoric Acid Fuel Cell Based on Thermoelectric Generator[J]. Journal of Mechanical Engineering, 2020, 56(12): 222-230.

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