Open Access
Experimental development of a novel thermoelectric generator without moving parts to harness shallow hot dry rock fields
(2021) Alegría Cía, Patricia; Rodríguez García, Antonio; Catalán Ros, Leyre; Astrain Ulibarrena, David; Araiz Vega, Miguel; Ingeniería; Institute of Smart Cities - ISC; Ingeniaritza
Nowadays, geothermal energy in shallow hot dry rocks is not exploited enough due to the high economic and environmental impact as well as the lack of scalability of the existing technologies. Here, thermoelectricity has a great future potential due to its robustness, absence of moving parts and modularity. With this research, the feasibility of a novel and robust geothermal thermoelectric generator whose working principle is phase change has been experimentally demonstrated, as well as the importance of compactness to maximize its efficiency and thus, power generation.
Open Access
Development and experimental validation of a computational model in order to simulate ice cube production in a thermoelectric ice maker
(Elsevier, 2009) Rodríguez García, Antonio; González Vian, José; Astrain Ulibarrena, David; Ingeniería Mecánica, Energética y de Materiales; Mekanika, Energetika eta Materialen Ingeniaritza
We have developed a computational model which allows the simulation of a thermoelectric device to make ice cubes in a vapor compression domestic fridge. This model solves both the thermoelectric and heat transfer equations, including the phase change equations in the ice cube production. The inputs of the model are: the thermoelectric parameters as a function of the temperature; dimensions; material properties (thermal resistances and capacities) and the boundary conditions (room temperature and voltage supplied to the Peltier module). The outputs are the values of the temperature for all the elements of the thermoelectric ice-maker and the ice production. In the experimental phase a prototype of a thermoelectric ice maker incorporated in a vapour compression domestic fridge was constructed in order to adjust and validate the computational model, and to optimize the experimental application. This ice-maker has two Peltier modules, some aluminum cylinders, called fingers, where the ice is made, and a component that acts as heat extender and dissipater which connects the hot side of Peltier module with the freezer compartment. The ice formation on the fingers is obtained by the cooling on the Peltier modules. When the ice cubes are formed, the voltage polarity of the thermoelectric modules is switched so the fingers warm up until the ice around the fingers melts. Then the ice cubes are dropped by gravity. This paper studies the production of ice cubes using the computational model and the experiment results and analyzes the most important parameters for the optimisation of the ice-maker (voltage supplied to the Peltier module, thermal resistance of the hot side dissipater and initial water temperature).
Open Access
Study of thermoelectric systems applied to electric power generation
(Elsevier, 2009) Rodríguez García, Antonio; González Vian, José; Astrain Ulibarrena, David; Martínez Echeverri, Álvaro; Ingeniería Mecánica, Energética y de Materiales; Mekanika, Energetika eta Materialen Ingeniaritza
A computational model has been developed in order to simulate the thermal and electric behaviour of the thermoelectric generators. This model solves the non linear system of equations of the thermoelectric and heat transfer equations. The inputs of the program are the thermoelectric parameters as a function of the temperature and the boundary conditions, (room temperature and residual heat flux). The outputs are the temperature values of all the elements forming the thermoelectric generator, (performance, electric power, voltage and electric current generated). The model solves the equation system using the finite difference method and semi-empiric expressions for the convection coefficients. It has been built a thermoelectric electric power generation test bench in order to validate and determine the accuracy of the computational model, which maximum error is lower than 5%. The objective of this study is to create a design tool that allows us to solve the system of equations involved in the electric generation process without needing to impose boundary conditions that are not known in the design phase, as the temperature of the Peltier modules. With the computational model we study the influence of the heat flux supplied as well as the room temperature in the electric power generated.
Open Access
Experimental investigation of the applicability of a thermoelectric generator to recover waste heat from a combustion chamber
(Elsevier, 2015) Aranguren Garacochea, Patricia; Astrain Ulibarrena, David; Rodríguez García, Antonio; Martínez Echeverri, Álvaro; Ingeniería Mecánica, Energética y de Materiales; Mekanika, Energetika eta Materialen Ingeniaritza
A thermoelectric generator prototype has been built; it produces 21.56 W of net power, the produced thermoelectric power minus the consumption of the auxiliary equipment, using an area of 0.25 m2 (approximately 100 W/m2). The prototype is located at the exhaust of a combustion chamber and it is provided with 48 thermoelectric modules and two different kinds of heat exchangers, finned heat sinks and heat pipes. Globally, the 40 % of the primary energy used is thrown to the ambient as waste heat; one of the many different applications in which thermoelectricity can be applied is to harvest waste heat to produce electrical power. Besides, the influence on the thermoelectric and on the net power generation of key parameters such as the temperature and mass flow of the exhaust gases, the heat dissipation systems in charge of dispatching the heat into the ambient and the consumption of the auxiliary equipment has been studied. In terms of heat dissipation, the heat pipes outperform the finned dissipators, a 43 % more net power is obtained.
Open Access
Improvement of a thermoelectric and vapour compression hybrid refrigerator
(Elsevier, 2012) Astrain Ulibarrena, David; Martínez Echeverri, Álvaro; Rodríguez García, Antonio; Ingeniería Mecánica, Energética y de Materiales; Mekanika, Energetika eta Materialen Ingeniaritza
This paper presents the improvement in the performance of a domestic hybrid refrigerator that combines vapour compression technology for the cooler and freezer compartments, and thermoelectric technology for a new compartment. The heat emitted by the Peltier modules is discharged into the freezer compartment, forming a cascade refrigeration system. This configuration leads to a significant improvement in the coefficient of operation. Thus, the electric power consumption of the modules and the refrigerator decrease by 95 % and 20 % respectively, with respect to those attained with a cascade refrigeration system connected with the cooler compartment. The optimization process is based on a computational model that simulates the behaviour of the whole refrigerator. Two prototypes have been built and tested. Experimental results indicate that the temperature of the new compartment is easily set up at any value between 0 and -4 ºC, the oscillation of this temperature is always lower than 0.4 ºC, and the electric power consumption is low enough to include this hybrid refrigerator into energy efficiency class A, according European rules and regulations.
Open Access
Experimental development of a novel thermoelectric generator without moving parts to harness shallow hot dry rock fields
(Elsevier, 2022) Alegría Cía, Patricia; Catalán Ros, Leyre; Araiz Vega, Miguel; Rodríguez García, Antonio; Astrain Ulibarrena, David; Ingeniaritza; Institute of Smart Cities - ISC; Ingeniería
Nowadays, geothermal energy in shallow hot dry rock fields is not exploited enough due to the high economic and environmental impact as well as the lack of scalability of the existing technologies. Here, thermoelectricity has a great future potential due to its robustness, absence of moving parts and modularity. However, the efficiency of a thermoelectric generator depends highly on the heat exchangers. In this work, a novel geothermal thermoelectric generator is experimentally developed, characterizing different configurations of biphasic heat exchangers to obtain low thermal resistances that allow the maximum efficiency in the thermoelectric modules. As a result, robust and passive heat exchangers were obtained with thermal resistances of 0.07 K/W and 0.4 K/W in the hot and cold sides, respectively. The geothermal thermoelectric generator was built with the most effective heat exchangers and was experimented under different temperature and convection conditions, generating 36 W (17 W by a prototype with 10 modules and 19 W by a prototype with 6 modules) for a temperature difference of 160 °C between the heat source and the environment. Furthermore, the experimental development showed that it is possible to increase electricity generation with a more compact generator, since a decrease in the number of modules from 10 to 6 increases the efficiency from 3.72% to 4.06%. With this research, the feasibility of a novel and robust geothermal thermoelectric generator whose working principle is phase change has been experimentally demonstrated, as well as the importance of compactness to maximize its efficiency and thus, power generation.
Open Access
Development and experimental validation of a thermoelectric test bench for laboratory lessons
(OmniaScience, 2013) Rodríguez García, Antonio; Astrain Ulibarrena, David; Martínez Echeverri, Álvaro; Aranguren Garacochea, Patricia; Pérez Artieda, Miren Gurutze; Ingeniería Mecánica, Energética y de Materiales; Mekanika, Energetika eta Materialen Ingeniaritza
The refrigeration process reduces the temperature of a space or a given volume while the power generation process employs a source of thermal energy to generate electrical power. Because of the importance of these two processes, training of engineers in this area is of great interest. In engineering courses it is normally studied the vapor compression and absorption refrigeration, and power generation systems such as gas turbine and steam turbine. Another type of cooling and generation less studied within the engineering curriculum, having a great interest, it is cooling and thermal generation based on Peltier and Seebeck effects. The theoretical concepts are useful, but students have difculties understanding the physical meaning of their possible applications. Providing students with tools to test and apply the theory in real applications, will lead to a better understanding of the subject. Engineers must have strong theoretical, computational and also experimental skills. A prototype test bench has been built and experimentally validated to perform practical lessons of thermoelectric generation and refrigeration. Using this prototype students learn the most effective way of cooling systems and thermal power generation as well as basic concepts associated with thermoelectricity. It has been proven that students learn the process of data acquisition, and the technology used in thermoelectric devices. These practical lessons are implemented for a 60 people group of students in the development of subject of Thermodynamic including in the Degree in Engineering in Industrial Technologies of Public University of Navarra.
Open Access
Study of the degradation of heat exchanger materials in the acidic environment of Teide National Park
(2019) Catalán Ros, Leyre; Pérez Artieda, Miren Gurutze; Berlanga Labari, Carlos; Garacochea Sáenz, Amaia; Rodríguez García, Antonio; Domínguez, Vidal; Montañez, Ana Carolina; Padilla, Germán D.; Pérez, Nemesio M.; Ingeniaritza; Institute for Advanced Materials and Mathematics - INAMAT2; Institute of Smart Cities - ISC; Ingeniería
Supplying power to volcanic monitoring stations constitutes a challenge due to both the access difficulties and the acidic environment associated with volcanoes. ELECTROVOLCAN project is developing thermoelectric generators that make use of the temperature of the available fumaroles to directly supply electricity to the stations in a robust, compact and reliable way. The main element of thermoelectric generators are the thermoelectric modules, based on Seebeck effect. Nonetheless, since the efficiency of these modules increases with the temperature difference between their sides, the introduction of heat exchangers becomes essential. The present study analyses the behavior of different materials used in the construction of the heat exchangers in the acidic environment of Teide National Park.
Open Access
Oscillatory motions in restricted N-body problems
(Elsevier, 2018) Álvarez-Ramírez, Martha; Rodríguez García, Antonio; Palacián Subiela, Jesús Francisco; Yanguas Sayas, Patricia; Matematika eta Informatika Ingeniaritza; Institute for Advanced Materials and Mathematics - INAMAT2; Ingeniería Matemática e Informática
We consider the planar restricted N-body problem where the N−1 primaries are assumed to be in a central configuration whereas the infinitesimal particle escapes to infinity in a parabolic orbit. We prove the existence of transversal intersections between the stable and unstable manifolds of the parabolic orbits at infinity which guarantee the existence of a Smale’s horseshoe. This implies the occurrence of chaotic mo-tions, namely the oscillatory motions, that is, orbits for which the massless particle leaves every bounded region but it returns infinitely often to some fixed bounded region. Our achievement is based in an adequate scaling of the variables which allows us to write the Hamiltonian function as the Hamiltonian of the Kepler problem plus higher-order terms that depend on the chosen configuration. We compute the Melnikov function related to the first non-null perturbative term and characterize the cases where it has simple zeroes. Concretely, for some combinations of the configuration parameters, i.e. mass values and positions of the primaries, and for a specific value of a parameter related to the angular momentum vector, the Melnikov function vanishes, otherwise it has simple zeroes and the transversality condition is satisfied. When the Melnikov function corresponding to the principal part of the perturbation is zero we compute the next non-zero Melnikov function proving that it has simple zeroes. The theory is illustrated for various cases of restricted N-body problems, including the circular restricted three-body problem. No restrictions on the mass parameters are assumed.
Open Access
Experimental measurement of thermal conductivity of stereolithography photopolymer resins
(Springer, 2022) Oval Trujillo, Añaterve; Rodríguez García, Antonio; Pérez Artieda, Miren Gurutze; Dung Dang, Phuc Yau; Alegría Cía, Patricia; Ingeniaritza; Institute of Smart Cities - ISC; Ingeniería; Gobierno de Navarra / Nafarroako Gobernua
The rise in the use of additive manufacturing highlights the importance of knowing the properties of the materials employed in this technology. Therefore, for the commercialization of thermal applications with this technology, heat management is essential. Here, computational modelling is often utilised to simulate heat transfer in various components, and knowing precisely the values of thermal conductivity is one of the key parameters. In this line of research, this paper includes the experimental study of three different types of resin used in additive manufacturing by stereolithography. Based on a test bench designed by researchers from the Public University of Navarre, which measures thermal contact resistances and thermal conductivities, the thermal conductivity analysis of three kinds of resin is carried out. This measuring machine employs the temperature difference between the faces and the heat flux that crosses the studied sample to determine the mentioned parameters. The thermal conductivity results are successful considering the constitution of the material studied and are consistent with the conductivity values for thermal insulating materials. The ELEGOO standard resin stands out among the others due to its low thermal conductivity of 0.366 W/m K.