Aerodynamic heat utilization based on thermophotovoltaic-composite phase change material-thermoelectric hybrid system

To efficiently utilize the aerodynamic heat of aircraft and achieve thermal protection effect, a thermophotovoltaic-composite phase change material-thermoelectric (TPV-CPCM-TE) hybrid system is proposed to convert aerodynamic heat into electricity. The effects of emitter thickness, CPCM thickness, EG mass fraction in CPCM and convective heat transfer coefficient at TE cold side (cabin inner wall surface) on the transient and average power generation performance of TPV cell, TE and the hybrid system and the TE cold side temperature are numerically analyzed. The results show that the power generation of TPV cell accounts for the bulk of the total power generation. The emitter thickness mainly affects the power generation performance and has limited impact on TE cold side temperature. With CPCM thickness increasing, the power output of TPV cell gradually increases, till to be stable. The EG mass fraction has the greatest effect on system performance, both the power outputs of TPV cell and TE are improved with EG mass fraction increasing. The convective heat transfer coefficient only affects TE performance and has little effect on total power generation performance. Comprehensively considering the power generation and thermal protect performance, the appropriate parameters are recommended with the emitter thickness of 6.7 mm, the CPCM thickness of 15 mm, the EG mass fraction of 0.175 and the convective heat transfer coefficient of 5 W/(m2·K) respectively. The corresponding average power generation and efficiency of the hybrid system are up to 174.84 W/m2 and 4.00 %, respectively.