Fabricationof Bi-Te/Pb-Te cascade type thermoelectric module and evaluation of electricalperformance

Y. Hori, D. Kusano

CentralResearch Institute of Electric Power Industry, 2-6-1 Nagasaka, Yokosuka, Kanagawa,Japan

For utilizing 500-600C classwaste energy, a thermoelectric generation system that can directly convert heatenergy into electric power has much advantage. To improve the efficiency ofenergy conversion, we fabricated a Bi-Te / Pb-Te cascade type thermoelectricmodule and evaluated its electrical performance.

A Pb-Te module was assembledwith Ag-Cu type brazing alloy of melting point at lower than 550C, and a Bi-Temodule was assembled with Pb-Sn-Ag solder of melting point at 295C .

In case of the Pb-Te moduleand the Bi-Te module, the rate of electrical resistance between thermoelectricelements and module was about 80-85% in generating conditions. And the cascadetype module could generate electric power of about 0.7 W in the condition of 380Ctemperature difference.

Furthermore, the cascade typecould maintain high electrical performance during heat cycle test.