Flue gas waste heat thermoelectric generator: Laboratory experiment and demonstration application
Year: 2024
Type: article
Abstract: Promoting the efficiency of internal-combustion engine has great benefits, including low fuel-consumption rate and environmental friendliness. Flue gas waste heat thermoelectric generator (TEG) is such a promising solution owning to its solid-state energy conversion and structural simplicity. In this work, a novel heat collection enhancing strategy is first proposed to improve the uniformity of hot-end temperature distribution, which greatly augments the power generation performance under limited pressure drops. A flue gas waste heat TEG unit with 24 TE modules is able to generate an electric power of 103 W under the pressure drop of 375 Pa. The corresponding heat collection, TE, and overall efficiencies of the TEG unit are 36.53 %, 4.30 %, and 1.58 %, respectively. Several important parameters, including flue gas inlet temperature, cooling intensity, cooling mode, and TEG unit arrangement are explored in detail. A demonstration application of an 8-unit waste heat TEG is installed in an 800-ton inland waterway vessel on China's Grand Canal, and the waterway vessel is put into service for over three months. The generated electric power varies between 23.3 W and 463 W, and the average electric power is 177.6 W during the trip.
Language: English
Subfield: Materials Chemistry
Field: Materials Science
Domain: Physical Sciences
Open Access status: gold
Estimated APC paid: $1,210
Funders: Hangzhou Social Development of Scientific Research, Henan Provincial Key Laboratory of Medical Polymer Materials Technology and Application, Tuoren Medical Device Co., Ltd., Zhejiang University of Science and Technology, Key Science and Technology Program of Haikou City, Quzhou Municipal Science and Technology Bureau, Science and Technology Program of Zhejiang Province
OpenAlex ID: W4401415419