5. General optimization of a thermogenerator

5.1 System description

For the sake of simplicity, the thermoelectric cell proposed here consists of a single thermoelectric element of length L and cross-section S placed between two heat exchangers, of conductances K ₁ and K ₂ , connected to two hot and cold thermostats, respectively at temperatures T ₁ and T ₂ . This description given (figure 7 ) is similar to that of Curzon and Ahlborn, with the difference that the machine here is not endoreversible....