Abstract
The photon transport and energy conversion of a nearfield thermophotovoltaic (TPV) system with a selective emitter composed of alternate tungsten and alumina layers and a photovoltaic cell sandwiched by electrical contacts are theoretically investigated in this paper. Fluctuational electrodynamics along with the dyadic Green's function for a multilayered structure is applied to calculate the spectral heat flux, and photocurrent generation and electrical power output are solved from the photon-coupled charge transport equations. The tungsten and alumina layer thicknesses are optimized to match the spectral heat flux with the bandgap of TPV cell. The spectral heat flux is much enhanced when plain tungsten emitter is replaced with the multilayer emitter due to the mechanism of surface plasmon polariton coupling in the tungsten thin film. In addition, the invalidity of effective medium theory to predict photon transport in the near field with multilayer emitters is discussed. Effects of a gold back reflector and indium tin oxide front coating with nanometer thickness, which could practically act as the electrodes to collect the photon-generated charges on the TPV cell, are explored. Conversion efficiency of 23.7% and electrical power output of 0.31 MW/m2 are achieved at 100 nm vacuum gap when the emitter and receiver are respectively at temperatures of 2000 K and 300 K.
| Original language | English (US) |
|---|---|
| Title of host publication | Micro/Nanofluidics and Lab-on-a-Chip; Nanofluids; Micro/Nanoscale Interfacial Transport Phenomena; Micro/Nanoscale Boiling and Condensation Heat Transfer; Micro/Nanoscale Thermal Radiation; Micro/Nanoscale Energy Devices and Systems |
| Publisher | American Society of Mechanical Engineers |
| Volume | 1 |
| ISBN (Print) | 9780791849651 |
| DOIs | |
| State | Published - 2016 |
| Event | ASME 2016 5th International Conference on Micro/Nanoscale Heat and Mass Transfer, MNHMT 2016 - Biopolis, Singapore Duration: Jan 4 2016 → Jan 6 2016 |
Other
| Other | ASME 2016 5th International Conference on Micro/Nanoscale Heat and Mass Transfer, MNHMT 2016 |
|---|---|
| Country | Singapore |
| City | Biopolis |
| Period | 1/4/16 → 1/6/16 |
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ASJC Scopus subject areas
- Fluid Flow and Transfer Processes
Cite this
Performance analysis of near-field thermophotovoltaic with a multilayer metallodielectric emitter. / Yang, Y.; Chang, J. Y.; Wang, Liping.
Micro/Nanofluidics and Lab-on-a-Chip; Nanofluids; Micro/Nanoscale Interfacial Transport Phenomena; Micro/Nanoscale Boiling and Condensation Heat Transfer; Micro/Nanoscale Thermal Radiation; Micro/Nanoscale Energy Devices and Systems. Vol. 1 American Society of Mechanical Engineers, 2016. V001T05A005.Research output: Chapter in Book/Report/Conference proceeding › Conference contribution
}
TY - GEN
T1 - Performance analysis of near-field thermophotovoltaic with a multilayer metallodielectric emitter
AU - Yang, Y.
AU - Chang, J. Y.
AU - Wang, Liping
PY - 2016
Y1 - 2016
N2 - The photon transport and energy conversion of a nearfield thermophotovoltaic (TPV) system with a selective emitter composed of alternate tungsten and alumina layers and a photovoltaic cell sandwiched by electrical contacts are theoretically investigated in this paper. Fluctuational electrodynamics along with the dyadic Green's function for a multilayered structure is applied to calculate the spectral heat flux, and photocurrent generation and electrical power output are solved from the photon-coupled charge transport equations. The tungsten and alumina layer thicknesses are optimized to match the spectral heat flux with the bandgap of TPV cell. The spectral heat flux is much enhanced when plain tungsten emitter is replaced with the multilayer emitter due to the mechanism of surface plasmon polariton coupling in the tungsten thin film. In addition, the invalidity of effective medium theory to predict photon transport in the near field with multilayer emitters is discussed. Effects of a gold back reflector and indium tin oxide front coating with nanometer thickness, which could practically act as the electrodes to collect the photon-generated charges on the TPV cell, are explored. Conversion efficiency of 23.7% and electrical power output of 0.31 MW/m2 are achieved at 100 nm vacuum gap when the emitter and receiver are respectively at temperatures of 2000 K and 300 K.
AB - The photon transport and energy conversion of a nearfield thermophotovoltaic (TPV) system with a selective emitter composed of alternate tungsten and alumina layers and a photovoltaic cell sandwiched by electrical contacts are theoretically investigated in this paper. Fluctuational electrodynamics along with the dyadic Green's function for a multilayered structure is applied to calculate the spectral heat flux, and photocurrent generation and electrical power output are solved from the photon-coupled charge transport equations. The tungsten and alumina layer thicknesses are optimized to match the spectral heat flux with the bandgap of TPV cell. The spectral heat flux is much enhanced when plain tungsten emitter is replaced with the multilayer emitter due to the mechanism of surface plasmon polariton coupling in the tungsten thin film. In addition, the invalidity of effective medium theory to predict photon transport in the near field with multilayer emitters is discussed. Effects of a gold back reflector and indium tin oxide front coating with nanometer thickness, which could practically act as the electrodes to collect the photon-generated charges on the TPV cell, are explored. Conversion efficiency of 23.7% and electrical power output of 0.31 MW/m2 are achieved at 100 nm vacuum gap when the emitter and receiver are respectively at temperatures of 2000 K and 300 K.
UR - http://www.scopus.com/inward/record.url?scp=84968773511&partnerID=8YFLogxK
UR - http://www.scopus.com/inward/citedby.url?scp=84968773511&partnerID=8YFLogxK
U2 - 10.1115/MNHMT2016-6471
DO - 10.1115/MNHMT2016-6471
M3 - Conference contribution
AN - SCOPUS:84968773511
SN - 9780791849651
VL - 1
BT - Micro/Nanofluidics and Lab-on-a-Chip; Nanofluids; Micro/Nanoscale Interfacial Transport Phenomena; Micro/Nanoscale Boiling and Condensation Heat Transfer; Micro/Nanoscale Thermal Radiation; Micro/Nanoscale Energy Devices and Systems
PB - American Society of Mechanical Engineers
ER -