Multi-Objective Optimization Design for Cooling Unit of Automotive Exhaust-Based Thermoelectric Generators

In order to improve the performance of cooling units for automotive thermoelectric generators, a study is carried out to optimize the cold side and the fin distributions arranged on its inner faces. Based on the experimental measurements and numerical simulations, a response surface model of different internal structures is built to analyze the heat transfer and pressure drop characteristics of fluid flow in the cooling unit. For the fin distributions, five independent variables including height, length, thickness, space and distance from walls are considered. An experimental study design incorporating the central composite design method is used to assess the influence of fin distributions on the temperature field and the pressure drop in the cooling units. The archive-based micro genetic algorithm (AMGA) is used for multi-objective optimization to analyze the sensitivity of the design variables and to build a database from which to construct the surrogate model. Finally, improvement measures are proposed for optimization of the cooling system and guidelines are provided for future research.