Numerical investigation of a geothermal thermoelectric generator using gravity heat pipe structure

Abstract

Geothermal energy is a kind of clean energy with a large amount of energy. Some energy problems can be solved by collecting its heat and using thermoelectric generators. This paper studies a thermoelectric generator that utilizes shallow geothermal energy to generate electricity. Its physical model is built including heat exchanger, generator and radiator. The heat exchanger adopts gravity heat pipe, the generator adopts thermoelectric module, and the radiator adopts fin. To improve its efficiency, the effects of different working fluids and heat pipe diameters on heat transfer and the effects of different numbers of thermoelectric modules on power generation are considered. This paper considers the effects of different working fluids, heat pipe diameters and different numbers of thermoelectric modules on heat transfer and power generation. The study found that the heat transfer effect of the heat pipe can be better when water is used as the working fluid and the large pipe diameter. Properly increasing the number of TEMs can improve the power generation. This generator does not require energy consumption and moving equipment, thus reducing maintenance requirements.

Keywords

• Geothermal energy
• Thermoelectric generator
• Phase change
• Heat pipe