Open Access

ARTICLE

EXPERIMENTAL INVESTIGATION OF A LIQUID COOLING SYSTEM FOR A THERMOELECTRIC POWER GENERATOR SYSTEM USING ETHYLENE GLYCOL AS A NEW COOLANT

Weera Punin^*, Somchai Maneewan, Chantana Punlek

Research and Energy Management Center, Department of Physics, Faculty of Science, Naresuan University, Phitsanulok, 65000, Thailand

* Corresponding Author: Email:

Frontiers in Heat and Mass Transfer 2018, 11, 1-5. https://doi.org/10.5098/hmt.11.22

Abstract

In the present experimental investigation, ethylene glycol cooling in a plate-fin heat sink was attached inside an aluminum cooling block for the cooling unit of a thermoelectric (TE) power generator system. The plate-fin heat sink with two different fin heights was made from aluminum with length, width and base thickness of 300, 200, and 25 mm, respectively. The ethylene glycol was used as a coolant. The effects of fin height, coolant volume flow rate, and hot side surface temperature were considered for the temperature differences between the hot side surface and cold side surface of the TE power module. The ethylene glycol cooling of the rectangular plate-fin heat sink inside the aluminum cooling block was compared to water and air cooling. The plate-fin heat sink for ethylene glycol cooling showed a significant effect on the cold side surface of the TE power module for cooling of the TE power generator system. The experiments were performed under conditions of the heat input to the hot side surface area within 60 min after steady state, for which the volumetric flow rates were 0.005, 0.010 and 0.015 m3 /min. The results indicated heat transfer rate increase with increasing coolant volume flow rate and higher fin. When compared to the water and air cooling methods, the plate-fin is attached inside the aluminum cooling block gives the highest efficiency. The results of this study could be used for guidance that will enable the design of a cooling system with improved heat transfer performance in a TE power generator system.

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