A Study of the Application of Thermoelectric Generator to Recycling the Waste Heat of Automobile
Date Issued
2008
Date
2008
Author(s)
Chen, Sheng-Han
Abstract
The main purpose of this research is to investigate the application of thermoelectric generator to recycling the waste heat from vehicle ,as well as to find suitable regions to equip the thermoelectric generator in a car. Those applicable regions include the exhaust pipe and engine cooling system. Experiments were performed to verify the feasibility of this application , while the key factors to affect the performance of thermoelectric generators were studied, and a suitable mathematical model of this system was built and verified. . n the experiments of waste heat from exhaust pipe, when engine speed reach 2000rpm, temperatures of hot and cold sides of thermoelectric generator were 51℃ and 128℃ respectively ,the output current, voltage and power output were 0.454A ,1.531V and 0.69W respectively . The engine cooling system tests indicated that, when the cooling water temperature was 90℃,temperatures of hot and cold sides of the thermoelectric generator were 38℃ and 86℃ , respectively. The output current , voltage ,and the power were 0.179A,0.895V and 0.16W,respectively .It was found that the temperature difference between hot and cold sides of the thermoelectric generator contributes a positive effect on the power performance .According to the results from numerical simulation , the maximum power output was obtained when the ratio of surface area of fins between the cold side to the hot side was 2.16 . The temperature difference and heat flux between the cold side and hot side of the thermoelectric generator were both about five times higher than those without equipping the heat sinks. Consequently , heat sink is significant to the performance of a thermoelectric generator.
Subjects
thermoelectric generator
waste heat recycling
Seebeck effect
Type
thesis
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