Thermal Management Systems and Waste Heat Recycling by Thermoelectric Generators—An Overview

Sadeq Hooshmand Zaferani, Mehdi Jafarian, Daryoosh Vashaee and Reza Ghomashchi
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Sadeq Hooshmand Zaferani: School of Mechanical Engineering, University of Adelaide, Adelaide 5005, Australia
Mehdi Jafarian: Centre for Energy Technology, School of Mechanical Engineering, University of Adelaide, Adelaide 5005, Australia
Daryoosh Vashaee: Department of Electrical and Computer Engineering, North Carolina State University, Raleigh, NC 27606, USA
Reza Ghomashchi: School of Mechanical Engineering, University of Adelaide, Adelaide 5005, Australia

Energies, 2021, vol. 14, issue 18, 1-21

Abstract: With the fast evolution in greenhouse gas (GHG) emissions (e.g., CO 2 , N 2 O ) caused by fossil fuel combustion and global warming, climate change has been identified as a critical threat to the sustainable development of human society, public health, and the environment. To reduce GHG emissions, besides minimizing waste heat production at the source, an integrated approach should be adopted for waste heat management, namely, waste heat collection and recycling. One solution to enable waste heat capture and conversion into useful energy forms (e.g., electricity) is employing solid-state energy converters, such as thermoelectric generators (TEGs). The simplicity of thermoelectric generators enables them to be applied in various industries, specifically those that generate heat as the primary waste product at a temperature of several hundred degrees. Nevertheless, thermoelectric generators can be used over a broad range of temperatures for various applications; for example, at low temperatures for human body heat harvesting, at mid-temperature for automobile exhaust recovery systems, and at high temperatures for cement industries, concentrated solar heat exchangers, or NASA exploration rovers. We present the trends in the development of thermoelectric devices used for thermal management and waste heat recovery. In addition, a brief account is presented on the scientific development of TE materials with the various approaches implemented to improve the conversion efficiency of thermoelectric compounds through manipulation of Figure of Merit, a unitless factor indicative of TE conversion efficiency. Finally, as a case study, work on waste heat recovery from rotary cement kiln reactors is evaluated and discussed.

Keywords: energy conversion; waste heat recovery; thermoelectric generators; thermal management (search for similar items in EconPapers)
JEL-codes: Q Q0 Q4 Q40 Q41 Q42 Q43 Q47 Q48 Q49 (search for similar items in EconPapers)
Date: 2021
References: View references in EconPapers View complete reference list from CitEc
Citations: View citations in EconPapers (4)

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