Rankine cycle efficiency gain using thermoelectric heat pumps

J. Siviter, A. Montecucco, A.R. Knox

Rankine cycle is the most common method of global electrical power generation. Development
and innovation of this cycle continue and today's emphasis is directed towards reduced carbon
emissions from the combustion of fossil fuel as well as improvement of the absolute cycle
efficiency. This study shows the effect of using thermoelectric heat pump to the efficiency of
rankine cycle.[ CITATION Siv14 \l 2057 ]

Heat Pump
We all know from experience that heat flows in the direction of decreasing temperature, that is,
from high-temperature regions to low-temperature ones. This heat-transfer process occurs in
nature without requiring any devices. The reverse process, however, cannot occur by itself. The
transfer of heat from a low-temperature region to a high-temperature one requires special devices
called heat pumps (Fig. 1). The objective of a heat pump, is to maintain a heated space at a high
temperature. This is accomplished by absorbing heat from a low-temperature source and
supplying this heat to a warmer medium.[CITATION ÇEN15 \l 2057 ]

Fig. 1. Heat Pump showing that an amount of work (W) needed to discharge Q H into warmer
medium
Thermoelectric heat pump (THP) theory
Thermoelectric heat pumps are “solid state heat pumps” which work on the basis of Peltier
Effect. When an electric current flows through a circuit comprising dissimilar conductors,
thermal energy is absorbed from one junction and is discharged at the other making the former
cooler and the latter hotter thus a thermal gradient develops from the flowing current making the
Peltier effect. Thermoelectric heat pump can be verified experimentally by using the following
setup as shown in Fig. 2, two pieces of copper wire are connected to the two terminals of a
battery these two pieces are then interconnected with the help of a bismuth wire which completes
the setup. It is observed that when the circuit is closed, temperature gradient as predicted by the
Peltier effect develops at the junction where current passes from copper to bismuth the
temperature rises while at the junction where current passes from bismuth to copper the
temperature drops. This effect occurs due to the fact that the average energy of the electrons
involved in the transfer of electric current is different for different conductors and it is dependent
on several factors including the energy spectrum of the electrons their concentration in the
conductor and they're scattering under the influence of applied voltage at the junction of two
dissimilar conductors. The main advantage of using thermoelectric devices is it does not use any
harmful refrigerants, have no moving parts and therefore are much less likely to fail as compared
to conventional coolers and heaters they also require almost no maintenance, are silent in their
operation and can theoretically achieve temperatures as low as -80 OC. These attributes make
them an attractive option for power plant use where continuous service is a primary
consideration.[ CITATION Vis16 \l 2057 ]

February 18, 2019

Rankine cycle efficiency gain using thermoelectric heat pumps
J. Siviter, A. Montecucco, A.R. Knox

Fig. 2. Typical
Set – up to
Application of THP to Rankine cycle
The primary application of a thermoelectric heat pump to the Rankine cycle is to increase the
feed water temperature returning from the condenser to the boiler. This is achieved by passing
the feedwater over the ‘heated’ side of the device. An effective and efficient installation of
thermoelectric devices studied by A.R. Knox is cascading thermoelectric heat pump (THP)
arrays (Fig. 3) where condensate water passes through each stage in series of thermoelectric
devices, where incrementally absorbed thermal energy transmitted from the hot side of each
stage increasing the feedwater temperature. The number of thermoelectric devices is proportional
to the amount of electrical energy needed of thermoelectric heat pump, and this affects the
efficiency of the plant because the electrical energy used to run THP comes from the electrical
output of plant itself, the work of A.R. Knox includes the minimum COP required to be
beneficial to the plant by showing that the reciprocal of the plant efficiency (COP = 1/n cycle) gives
the threshold for the application of a THP to be beneficial to the plant in terms of cycle
efficiency.[ CITATION Siv141 \l 2057 ]

Fig. 3. Triple
stage cascaded
Effects of THP to Rankine cycle
With the use of condenser heat pump in Rankine cycle it improves the cycle efficiency of a
thermal power plant and for economic concern for a coal-fuelled thermal plant its carbon dioxide
emissions are reduced. More importantly, the THP can be used to reduce the fuel load of the
plant through the retention of low grade thermal energy within the overall process. In this
application the plant fuel load is reduced by 1.52% with a corresponding increase in overall cycle
efficiency to 0.15%. [ CITATION Siv141 \l 2057 ]

References
Çengel, Y. A., & Boles, M. A. (2015). THERMODYNAMICS: AN ENGINEERING APPROACH. New York:
McGraw-Hill Education.

Densai, C. (2017). What is Heat Pump?

Karthi, V. (2016). What is the difference between thermoelectric cooler (TEC) and thermoelectric
generator (TEG).

Siviter, J. P. (2014). Increasing the efficiency of the Rankine cycle using a thermoelectric heat pump.

Siviter, J., Montecucco, A., & Knox, A. (2014). Rankine cycle efficiency gain using thermoelectric heat
pumps.

February 18, 2019

Rankine cycle efficiency gain using thermoelectric heat pumps
J. Siviter, A. Montecucco, A.R. Knox

February 18, 2019