Parth Solanki
Department of Mechanical Engineering, IIT Bombay, Mumbai 400076, India
Shankar Krishnan
Department of Mechanical Engineering, Indian Institute of Technology Bombay, Mumbai, Maharashtra, India
Self-heat recuperation technology has proven to be an effective process that led to significant energy savings. In this paper, we report on a self-heat recuperative device assisted by thermoelectric modules (TEM). In this work, the feed stream recovers the energy of the effluent stream with the aid of TEMs. The presence of TEMs enables the possibility of latent heat recovery as well. For a TEM operating in a heat pump mode, the heat flux, coefficient of performance, and operating voltage are critical parameters. First, we develop a validated mathematical model for TEM working in a heat pump mode. Then, we develop an optimization methodology by sizing the thermoelectric pellets to maximize either the coefficient of performance or the heat flux delivered. Finally, we compare TEM-based self-heat recuperative heat circulation systems against a conventional compressor-driven latent heat recovery system.