Parametric study on thermoelectric power generator and microturbine combined power generation system

Microturbine is an important power equipment for distributed energy system with the advantages of compact structure, light weight, low noise, and so on. However, its power generation efficiency is still too low while its cost is too high to be widely applied. Thermoelectric material is a solid-state energy converter which can directly convert thermal energy into electrical energy without affecting the original thermodynamic cycle. It is expected to significantly improve the system’s efficiency and reduce the power generation cost by integrating the thermoelectric generators into the microturbine system. In this study, a thermodynamic model is developed for the thermoelectric power generator and microturbine combined power generation system. The numerical results showed that the addition of thermoelectric power generators can increase the power output of microturbine system by 1-2 times. Increasing the figure of merit value of TEGs and turbine inlet temperature improve the power output and efficiency of the combined system, but there is an optimal compressor pressure ratio for the combined system.