High cooling performances of H‐shape heat sink for thermoelectric energy harvesting system (TEHs) at asphalt pavement

• Published in: International journal of energy research Vol. 45; no. 2; pp. 3242 - 3256
• Main Authors: Khamil, Khairun Nisa, Mohd Sabri, Mohd Faizul, Md Yusop, Azdiana, Mohd Sa'at, Fatimah Al‐Zahrah, Isa, Ahmad Nizam
• Format: Journal Article
• Language: English
• Published: Chichester, UK John Wiley & Sons, Inc 01.02.2021; Hindawi Limited
• Subjects: Aluminium; Aluminum; Asphalt; asphalt pavement harvesting; Asphalt pavements; Cooling; Cooling systems; Design; Diameters; Dimensions; Energy; Energy harvesting; Feasibility studies; Finite element method; Heat distribution; Heat sinks; Heat transfer; H‐shape element cooling; Mathematical models; Metal plates; Shape; Shape factor; Simulation; subterranean cooling; Temperature differences; Thermal energy; thermoelectric energy harvesting; Thermoelectricity; Waste heat
• ISSN: 0363-907X; 1099-114X
• DOI: 10.1002/er.6021

Summary There has been an increased recognition in road thermal energy harvesting for the past decades due to the massive waste heat from the asphalt pavement. This study aims to design a thermoelectric energy harvesting system (TEHs) that converts the waste heat from the surface of asphalt pavement into useful electrical energy. The TEHs utilizes the H‐shape element in subterranean cooling in order to achieve a high‐temperature difference (ΔT). In this proposed cooling element method, an aluminum plate was welded in between two 1.25 in. of diameters H‐shape structures, and two cascaded thermoelectric modules (TEM), APH‐127‐10‐25‐S, were placed in between the top plate and bottom plate. The heat transfer analysis for the TEHs is performed using finite element analysis (FEA) simulation and validated with an experimental investigation. Based on simulation results, the H‐shape cooling element has a 75% improvement of ΔT from a single rod cooling element design. Furthermore, using a top plate with 100 × 200 mm dimension, also given an extra 8°C of ΔT than the top plate with a 65 × 200 mm dimension, it appears that the conduction shape factor, S, may have influenced the heat distribution in the cooling element. While, in field testing, the results can corroborate with the simulation where the maximum ΔT has reached a similar ΔT of 23°C, with a maximum relative error of 0.057%. Based on the feasibility studies with an application, the TEHs has effectively fully charged 5 F supercapacitors, within 3 hours, for the use of automatic street lights, which substantiated the significance of TEHs design. The present study represents a new perspective for self‐sustainable TEHs design integrated with high cooling performances of the H‐shape element in subterranean cooling. The proposed thermoelectric energy harvesting system (TEHs) consists of a cooling element, an aluminum plate welded between two cylindrical rods of 1.25 in. in diameter, which is seen as H‐shape from the bottom view. Two cascaded thermoelectric modules (TEM) were sandwiched between the top plate and the bottom plate, which were welded to the H‐Shape cooling. The field testing can corroborate with the simulation as the maximum ΔT reached 23°C, which is 75% improvement from single rod cooling design.