Flue gas waste heat thermoelectric generator: Laboratory experiment and demonstration application

• Published in: Case studies in thermal engineering Vol. 61; p. 104953
• Main Authors: Li, Guoneng, Yang, Yibo, Xiao, Yan, Liu, Shaojun, Wen, Hanjun, Jiang, Pengtao, Guo, Wenwen, Tang, Yuanjun
• Format: Journal Article
• Language: English
• Published: Elsevier Ltd 01.09.2024; Elsevier
• Subjects: Demonstration application; Heat collection enhancing strategy; Heat collector contamination; Thermoelectric generator; Waste heat utilization; Demonstration application; Waste heat utilization; Thermoelectric generator; Heat collection enhancing strategy; Heat collector contamination
• ISSN: 2214-157X; 2214-157X
• DOI: 10.1016/j.csite.2024.104953

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.