Analytical and Experimental Study of Thermoelectric Generator (TEG) System for Automotive Exhaust Waste Heat Recovery

Faisal Albatati and Alaa Attar
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Faisal Albatati: Department of Mechanical Engineering, Faculty of Engineering at Rabigh, King Abdulaziz University, Jeddah 21589, Saudi Arabia
Alaa Attar: Department of Mechanical Engineering, Faculty of Engineering at Rabigh, King Abdulaziz University, Jeddah 21589, Saudi Arabia

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

Abstract: Nearly 70% of the energy produced from automotive engines is released to the atmosphere in the form of waste energy. The recovery of this energy represents a vital challenge to engine designers primarily when a thermoelectric generator (TEG) is used, where the availability of a continuous, steady-state temperature and heat flow is essential. The potential of semi-truck engines presents an attractive application as many coaches and trucks are roaming motorways at steady-state conditions most of the time. This study presents an analytical thermal design and an experimental validation of the TEG system for waste heat recovery from the exhaust of semi-truck engines. The TEG system parameters were optimized to achieve the maximum power output. Experimental work was conducted on a specially constructed setup to validate the analytically obtained results. Both analytical and experimental results were found to be in good agreement with a marginal deviation, indicating the excellent accuracy of the effective material properties applied to the system since they take into account the discrepancy associated with the neglection of the contact resistances and Thomson effect.

Keywords: thermal design of thermoelectric system; energy balance of thermoelectric generator; waste heat recovery system (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
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Citations: View citations in EconPapers (2)

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