THERMAL AND POWER GENERATING PERFORMANCES OF

THERMOELECTRIC ENERGY RECOVERY MODULES

Kyoung Joon Kim
Bell Labs Ireland, Alcatel-Lucent
Blanchardstown, Dublin 15, Ireland
Email: kj.kim@alcatel-lucent.com

ABSTRACT INTRODUCTION

This paper seeks to demonstrate the performance of a Waste heat from electronic components in information and
thermoelectric energy recovery module (TERM). The TERM telecommunication equipment is not trivial. Especially,
aims to convert the waste heat from power amplifier (PA) contemporary power amplifier (PA) transistors in wireless
transistors into the useful power. The TERM contains a telecommunication equipment such as base stations (BSs)
thermoelectric generator (TEG), a heat spreader, and a heat dissipate nearly 30% of the total energy of the wireless access
sink. A first order prototype of the TERM is generated and network (WAN) as heat energy to the environment. Energy
used as a test vehicle. Experimental setup mainly consists of a recovered from the waste heat of PA transistors might be
test vehicle, a portable wind tunnel, and measurement tools. utilized for providing backup electricity in an emergency
Thermal performances and power generations of the TERM situation or providing electricity to drive electrical
are monitored at various source heat flows. The effects of a components. Effective energy recovery may improve energy
load resistance to power generation as well as thermal efficiencies of PAs, BSs, and ultimately WANs.
performance are also explored by conducting an experimental To generate electricity from heat energy, researchers have
parametric study. investigated the use of thermoelectric generators (TEGs) since
the 1960s. Many thermoelectric power generating systems
KEY WORDS: thermoelectric, energy recovery, power have been built, and generating systems have contained TEGs
generation, thermoelectric generator, TEG, TERM and heating systems. The heating system provided TEGs with
heat generated by consuming fossil fuels or radioisotopes.
Thermoelectric power generating systems have been used for
NOMENCLATURE remote terrestrial applications, space applications, and medical
applications [1]. Metal corrosion protection and powering
Ap pellet cross sectional area (m2 ) telecommunication equipment in remote area and
H pellet height (m) thermoelectric batteries for cardiac pacemakers have been
I electrical current (A) representative applications.
k thermal conductivity (W/m-K) Research activities in energy recovery from waste heat
N number of thermocouples have considerably increased since the 1990s although there
q heat rate (W) were many historical applications of TEGs using heating
qc heat rate at the cold side of a thermoelectric generator systems. There are recently reported researches such as
qh heat rate at the hot side of a thermoelectric generator thermoelectric power generation from CPU waste heat [2-4],
qtot total source heat flow Si-Ge based TEGs applied to gasoline engine vehicles [5],
PL generated power (W) bismuth telluride based TEGs applied to diesel engines [6],
R electrical resistance (Ω) thermoelectric power generation systems applied to generate
Rc electrical contact resistance (Ω) the electricity from municipal waste heat [7], a thermoelectric
RL load resistance power generator using solar heating [8], etc. Waste heat from
Rc-ρ electrical contact resistivity (Ω) electronic components may provide lower temperature
Tc temperature at the cold side of a TEG (°C) condition for the TEG hot side than other resources such as
Th temperature at the hot side of a TEG (°C) automotive waste heat do. The additional thermal resistance
Tj junction temperature (°C) due to the TEG may increase the junction temperature of the
electronic component. Hence, the energy recovery system
Greek symbols should be carefully designed.
α Seeback coefficient (V/K) Energy recovery from the waste heat of electronic hot
θTEG TEG thermal resistance (K/W) components such as PA transistors can provide crucial
ρ electrical resistivity (Ω-m) benefits. Recently reported nanostructured thermoelectric
materials [9-12] may provide higher figure of merits than
classical thermoelectric materials but the actual application of
nanostructured thermoelectric materials doesn’t seem to be
very practical yet due to difficulties in fabrication and
packaging. Hence, a system level investigation may provide

978-1-4244-5343-6/10/$26.00 ©2010 IEEE

an alternative solution to improve energy recovery
performance. However, only a few studies have been reported
regarding the system level performances of the thermoelectric
energy generation modules from the waste heat of electronic
components. There is no reported study experimentally
exploring the system level performance of the thermoelectric
energy generation module from the waste heat of PA
transistors. Hence, this work reports measurement results of
the system level performance of the thermoelectric energy
recovery module (TERM) proposed to recover the energy
from PA transistor waste heat.
This paper aims at demonstrating the performance of a
proposed TERM to generate electrical power from the waste
heat of a PA transistor. This paper shows an experimental
setup including a test vehicle, and then discusses thermal and
power generating performances of the TERM at various
source heat flows. The paper also discusses the results of an
experimental parametric study to explore load resistance
effects to the TERM performance.
BASICS OF THERMOELECTRIC GENERATOR
Fig. 1 illustrates the principle of a thermoelectric generator
(TEG). The TEG typically consists of hundreds of couples of
dissimilar materials (p-and n-type semiconductors). However,
only a thermocouple is shown for the illustration purpose. One
of the most popular thermocouple materials is bismuth
telluride (Bi2Te3). The thermocouple has two pellets being
connected electrically in series and thermally in parallel.
qh
Th
P N
Tc
qc I AP
RL
Fig. 1. A thermocouple in generation mode
A certain amount of a heat rate, qh, conducting through a
thermocouple is converted into electrical power by creating
current, I, in a generation circuit. The Peltier effect governs
the energy conversion. The amount of the electrical energy
carried by charged carriers depends on the material. This
material dependence induces the Peltier effect. qc is the
amount of the heat rate that is not converted into the electrical
power, Th and Tc are temperatures of the thermocouple’s hot
and cold sides, RL is an electric load in the generation cycle.
qh and qc can be defined as
q h = NIαTh + (Th − Tc ) / θ TEG − NI 2 R / 2 (1)
2
qc = NIαTc + (Th − Tc ) / θ TEG + NI R / 2 (2)
where N is the number of thermocouples, α is the Seebeck
coefficient, θTEG is the TEG thermal resistance, and R is the
electrical resistance of a thermocouple.
Eqs. (1) and (2) contain crucial terms to explain physics at
hot and cold sides of the TEG. First, energy terms due to the
Peltier effect, i.e., NIαTh and NIαTc are shown. Second, (Th-
Tc)/θTEG shows heat conduction due to the temperature
difference across pellets, i.e., Th-Tc. Third, NI2R/2 shows the
Joule heating effect. Readers can find more information
including the derivations of Eqs. (1) and (2) in the reference
[1].
Consequently, a current associated with a TEG in the
generation circuit, I is defined as
Nα (Th − Tc )
I = (3)
NR + R L
In Eq. (3), the numerator is the generated voltage across
the TEG, the denominator is the total electrical resistance of
the generation system. The denominator shows that the total
resistance is evaluated by adding the net electrical resistance
of the TEG, i.e., NR to RL.
In Eq. (3), R is defined as:
2 ρH (4)
R= + Rc
Ap
where ρ is the electrical resistivity of the pellet, H is a pellet
height, Ap is a pellet cross sectional area, and Rc is the
electrical contact resistance of a thermocouple.
Rc is defined as:
4 Rc− ρ (5)
Rc =
where Rc-ρ is the electrical contact resistivity of a
thermocouple.
The thermal resistance of a TEG, θTEG, is defined as:
H (6)
θ TEG =
2 N⋅kAp
where k is the thermal conductivity of the pellet.
The generated power, PL, associated with RL is defined as
PL = I 2 RL (7)
 EXPERIMENTAL METHOD
A thermoelectric energy recovery module (TERM) is
proposed in order to recover the waste energy of power
amplifier (PA) transistors. Fig. 2 shows that the TERM
consists of a heat spreader, a TEG, and a heat sink. It should
be noted that the figure is not scaled.
Novel thermoelectric materials having better figures of
merit (ZT) have been developed. They are a PbSeTe/PbTe
quantum dot superlattice structure [9], a p-type Bi2Te3/Sb2Te3
superlattice device [12], an AgPbmSbTe2+m material [11], and
a silicon nanowires structure [10, 13]. Nevertheless, due to the
practical difficulties in scaling and manufacturing, advanced
material based TEGs are not yet utilized in real applications.
Figures-of-merit for established thermoelectric materials are
strongly temperature dependent. Established materials are
bismuth telluride (Bi2Te3)-type materials having the best
figure-of-merit up to 250˚C, PbTe appropriate for
temperatures ranging from 250˚C to 500˚C, and SiGe operable
up to 1000˚C [1]. Junction temperatures of contemporary PA
transistors range from 150˚C to 200˚C in nominal operating
conditions, and thus Bi2Te3 is chosen for a thermoelectric
material of the TEG.
Temperatures of all the electrical components including
PA transistors in typical PAs are controlled by forced air
cooling techniques. Thus, the TERM contains a heat sink
enhancing heat transfer to the ambient and eventually
improving power generating performance. A copper heat
spreader is contained to reduce the thermal resistance between
the heat source and the TEG.
Heat Source
Heat
Spreader
TEG
Heat
Sink
Fig. 2. TERM with a heat source.
A test vehicle consists of the TERM and a heat source
simulating a PA transistor. A Marlow TEG (TG 12-2.5) has
been used. The TEG footprint is 30mm × 34mm, number of
thermocouples is 127, pellet height is 1.78mm, and pellet
cross sectional area is 0.98 mm2.
An aluminum plate fin heat sink has been used. The width
and the length of the heat sink are 60mm and 57mm,
respectively. Fin height is 34mm, number of fins is 20, and fin
thickness is 1mm. The copper heat spreader is 50mm wide,
50mm long, and 10mm thick.
The TEG has been packaged between the heat spreader
and the heat sink, and thermal adhesive tapes have been used
to provide mechanical strength. A 8mm × 8mm ceramic heater
containing an embedded K-type thermocouple has been
utilized to simulate a PA transistor. The heater has been
attached to the centre of the top surface of the heat spreader
applying a thermal epoxy having a thermal conductivity of
1W/m-K.
An experimental setup is illustrated in Fig. 3, the picture of
the test section is shown in Fig. 4, and descriptions of
components and tools used in the measurements are shown in
Table 1. To provide uniform air flow and to control air flow
rate to the heat sink, a portable wind tunnel (120mm ×120mm
× 400mm) has been constructed. 10mm thick plexyglass
sheets have been utilized. An axial fan (Ebm-papst 4118NHH)
has been implemented in the outlet of the wind tunnel. A
50mm thick honeycomb has been implemented in the inlet of
the wind tunnel to provide the uniform air flow.
The test vehicle, i.e., the TERM associated with the
ceramic heater has been placed on the open section of the top
window of the wind tunnel. The test vehicle has been
mechanically supported by two supporting bars and auxiliary
units. The exposed surface of the heat spreader has been
insulated using an insulation sheet (Aspen aerogel). The
thermal conductivity and the thickness of the insulation sheet
are 0.02W/m-K and 5mm, respectively. It has been estimated
that only 3% of the total heat rate is lost to the ambient via the
insulation sheet. The pictures in Fig. 4 is aimed at showing a
clear image of the test vehicle, and thus the pictures have been
taken before the insulation sheet has covered the exposed
surface of the heat spreader.
The incident velocity of the airflow to the heat sink has
been monitored by a pitostatic tube and a micromanometer
(FCO010). Temperatures of the heater, the heat sink base, and
the ambient have been monitored by utilizing K-type
thermocouples, a data logger (Agilent 34970A) and a data
acquisition PC.
The power generation circuit has been implemented by
electrically connecting a shunt resistor (a current sense
resistor) and a load resistor to the test vehicle in series. A 1mΩ
current sense resistor has been used to sense a generated
electrical current via the generation circuit. A DC voltage
across the sense resistor has been measured by a digital
multimeter (Agilent 34401A), and the value of the current has
been evaluated by using Ohm’s law. A potentiometer has been
used as a variable load resistor to explore the load resistance
effect to the power generation and the thermal performance of
the TERM. A DC voltage across the load resistor has been
also measured by a digital multimeter. Generated power has
been determined by multiplying the current by the voltage
across the load resistor.
 Ceramic
heater Test section
window
TERM

Air

Axial fan V Honeycomb

Shunt
resistor
V

Load
resistor
Fig. 3. Schematic of experimental setup

Fig. 4. Picture of test section

 Table 1. Description of components and tools
Components/Tools Description
Marlow TG12-2.5,
footprint: 30mm x 34mm,
TEG
number ofthermocouples:127,
pellet height:1.78mm,
pellet cross sectional area:
0.98mm2
TERM aluminum plate fin heat sink
footprint:60mm x 57mm,
base plate thickness:5mm,
Heat sink fin height:34mm,
fin length:57mm,
fin thickness:1mm,
number of fins:20
Heat Copper heat spreader,
spreader 50mm x 50mm x 10mm
Watlow ceramic heater,
dimension: 8mm x 8mm,
Heater
A K-type thermocouple is
embedded
Insulator Aspen aerogel
Tunnel dimension:120mm x
120mm x 400mm,
Test section
Portable 10mm thick Plexy glass
Windtunnel windows
Axial fan Ebm-papst 4118NHH
Honeycomb 50mm thick
Micromanometer FCO510
Thermocouple K-type
Current sense resistor Ohmite 1mΩ sense resistor
Vishay Sfernice
Potentiometer
potentiometer
Data logger Agilent 34970A
Digital multimeter Agilent 34401A
DC power supply HP6655A
EXPERIMENTAL RESULTS
Both the power generation and the thermal performance of
the TERM at various source heat flows, ranging from 5W to
25W were explored. The effect of the load resistance to the
performance of the TERM was also investigated, and various
RL ranging from 1Ω to 100Ω were used. This section shows
generated powers and junction temperatures as a function of
source heat flow, qtot at RL of 1, 5, 10, 100 Ω. PL and Tj as a
function of RL at qtot of 5, 10, 15, 20, 25W are also shown. All
the results were measured at an incident air velocity of 2m/s
and at an ambient temperature of 23°C.
TERM performances
Fig. 5 shows measured values of PL of the TERM and Tj
of the heat source at various qtot ranging from 5W to 25W
associated with RL of 1Ω . It should be noted again that the all
the values were measured at a consistent velocity of the
incident air to the heat sink and a consistent ambient
temperature. The air velocity was 2m/s, and the ambient
temperature was 23°C. Values of Tj and PL range from 58 to
203°C and 0.01 to 0.1W, respectively. Tj is seen to almost
linearly vary with qtot. However, it should not be linear
because a certain amount of the heat energy is converted into
the electrical energy in the TERM. Values of PL are much
smaller compared with those of qtot , and thus the variance of Tj
appears to be linear with qtot.
0.15 250
Power
generated
Junction 200
temperature
0.1
150
PL (W)
Tj (°C)
100
0.05
50
0 0
0 5 10 15 20 25 30
qtot (W)
Fig. 5. Generated powers and junction temperatures associated
with a load resistance of 1Ω at various source heat
flows
Fig. 6 shows measured values of PL and Tj as a function of
qtot associated with RL of 5Ω. Values of Tj and PL range from
59 to 207°C and 0.018 to 0.29W, respectively. Tj appears to
almost linearly vary with qtot. The physical reason explaining
this interesting result was already mentioned in the previous
case. Compared with the case with RL of 1Ω, values of PL are
seen to be a few times greater. It is mainly due to the load
resistance effect to PL. The profile of PL with qtot appears to be
parabolic. This result can be explained by a fundamental fact
that PL varies quadratically with the temperature difference
across the TEG’s hot and cold sides.
Fig. 7 shows measured values of PL and Tj at various
values of qtot associated with RL of 10Ω. Values of Tj and PL
range from 60 to 210°C and 0.022 to 0.34W, respectively.
Similar to the previous case, Tj appears to almost linearly vary
with qtot. The profile of PL with qtot is seen to be parabolic.
Physical reasons mentioned in the previous case may explain
these results. Values of PL are about 20% greater than those
with RL of 5Ω. This result implies that the electrical resistance
of the TEG is about 10Ω.
 0.4 250 0.15 250
Power Power
generated generated
Junction 200 Junction 200
0.3 temperature temperature
0.1
150 150

PL (W)
PL (W)

Tj (°C)
Tj (°C)
0.2
100 100
0.05
0.1
50 50

0 0 0 0
0 5 10 15 20 25 30 0 5 10 15 20 25 30
qtot (W) qtot (W)
Fig. 6. Generated powers and junction temperatures associated Fig. 8. Generated powers and junction temperatures associated
with a load resistance of 5Ω at various source heat with a load resistance of 100Ω at various source heat
flows flows

Fig. 8 presents measured values of PL and Tj at various Effect of load resistance

values of qtot associated with RL of 100Ω. Values of Tj and PL
range from 62 to 220°C and 0.01 to 0.12W, respectively. The
almost linear profile of Tj with qtot is shown in Fig. 8. Physical
interpretation provided in previous cases can support this
result. Values of PL are quite similar to those with RL of 1Ω
despite two orders of magnitude difference in the value of RL.
It is interesting to note that values of Tj are slightly greater
than those with 1Ω.
Figs. 5 to 8 demonstrate that the load resistance value
considerably affect the generation performance of the TERM
though the load resistance value doesn't affect the thermal
performance of the heat source much.
0.4
Power
generated
Junction
0.3 temperature
PL (W)
This section shows the effects of the load resistance to the
generation as well as the thermal performance of the TERM.
PL and Tj are shown as a function of RL at various qtot. It is
worthy to note again that all the measured results were
acquired at an air velocity of 2m/s and at an ambient
temperature of 23ºC.
Fig. 9 shows PL as a function of RL at various qtot. All the PL
profiles appear to have skewed bell shapes. PL values sharply
increase, and then exponentially decrease after the maximum
PL occurring at RL of 10Ω. The result implies that the
resistance of the TEG is close to 10Ω. Fig. 9 demonstrates an
obvious fact that the greater heat energy into the TERM, the
better generation performance.
250
200
0.4
25W
20W
150

0.3 15W
Tj (°C)

0.2 10W
PL (W)

100 5W
0.2
0.1
50
0.1
0 0
0 5 10 15 20 25 30
qtot (W) 0
0 20 40 60 80 100 120
Fig. 7. Generated powers and junction temperatures associated
with a load resistance of 10Ω at various source heat RL (Ω)
flows
Fig. 9. Generated powers associated with various source heat
flows at various load resistances

Fig. 10 shows Tj as a function of RL at various qtot. PL are quite

small comparing with qtot., and thus it may be possible to
assume that the amount of the conducted heat through the
TEG is consistent despite the increase of RL .
Consequently, one may think that values of Tj would be
consistent despite the increase of RL. However, Fig. 10 shows
that values of Tj increase moderately with the increase of RL ;
e.g., Tj associated with 100Ω is 8% greater than that with 1Ω
when qtot is 25W. The change of RL affects the Peltier effect at
the interface of the TEG hot side and eventually results in the
change of the temperature field across the TEG. This physical
fact may explain the increase of Tj associated with the increase
of RL. Fig. 10 shows an obvious result that the greater heat
energy into the TERM, the higher junction temperature.
250
200
150
Tj (°C)
100
50 25W 20W
15W 10W
5W
0 Proc. 17th Internat. Conf. on Thermoelectrics (Nagoya,
0 20 40 60 80 100 120
RL (Ω)
Fig. 10. Junction temperatures associated with various source
heat flows at various load resistances
CONCLUSIONS
The prototype of a thermoelectric energy recovery module
(TERM) was generated. The TERM is aimed at converting the
waste heat from PA transistors into electrical energy. A
constructed experimental setup consists of a test vehicle, a
portable wind tunnel, and measurement tools. Experiments
explored the power generation and the thermal performance of
the TERM at various source heat flows. An experimental
parametric study investigated load resistance effects to the
power generation and the thermal performance of the TERM.
Measured results demonstrated an obvious fact that the
greater heat energy into the TERM, the better generation
performance. For example, values of junction temperatures
and generated powers range from 60 to 210°C and 0.022 to
0.34W, respectively, associated with a load resistance of 10Ω
when source heat flows range from 5 to 25W. Generated
power profiles with respect to source heat flows appeared to
be parabolic. This result is mainly due to the fact that the
generated power varies quadratically with the temperature
difference across TEG’s hot and cold sides. The junction
temperature was seen to almost linearly vary with the source
heat flow. Much smaller generated powers than source heat
flows can explain this result. A parametric study to explore
load resistance effects showed that all the generated power
profiles have skewed bell shapes. It was found that generated
power values sharply increase until the maximum value occurs
at a load resistance of 10Ω. The maximum power generation
occurs near a TEG resistance, and thus the result implies that
the TEG resistance is about 10Ω.
ACKNOWLEDGEMENT
The author wish to thank IDA Ireland for supporting the
development of thermoelectric energy recovery techniques.
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