A Project Presentation on

WASTE HEAT RECOVERY BY THERMOELECTRIC TECHNOLOGY

by
V Naveen Kumar Reddy

BL.EN.U4MEE10063

N Vinayaka Moorthy

BL.EN.U4MEE10066

B Yashwanth

BL.EN.U4MEE10501

in partial fulfilment for the award of the degree of

Bachelor of Technology in Mechanical Engineering
Under the guidance of

Dr. Nagaraja S.R.

Head of the department

Contents
Introduction
Literature survey
Problem statement and objectives
Methodology
Expected outcome and area of application of the current project
References

Introduction
Exhaust heat is a byproduct of a number of everyday devices, such as cars, stoves, fireplaces,
furnaces, ovens, boilers, kilns and clothes dryers.
The exhaust gas from these devices is usually set free into the air where its energy dissipates into
the atmosphere increasing global warming.
As the efficiencies of engines and heating devices account for 30%-35%, the remaining energy is
dissipated as waste in the form of heat.
If we adopt some method to recovery the energy from the waste heat we can reduce consumption
of fossil fuels and reduction of emission of gasses.
One of those methods is using THERMOELECTRIC GENERATION to generate electrical
power from waste thermal energy.
A TEG is a solid state generator that uses a heat gradient to convert differences in heat into
electrical output.
Thermoelectric generators (also called Seebeck generators) are devices that convert
heat(temperature differences) directly into electricity energy, using a phenomenon called the
Seebeck effect
Older devices used bimetallic junctions and were bulky. More recent devices use highly doped
semi conductors made from bismuth telluride(Bi2Te3) lead telluride (PbTe).

Elements of a TEG
A thermoelectric generator basically consists of three components:
The support structure, where the thermoelectric modules are located. The internal part of this
structure normally is modified in order to absorb the most part of the heat accumulated in the exhaust
gases.
The thermoelectric modules, depending on the range of temperatures, silicon germanium, lead
telluride, or bismuth telluride modules are used.
The heat dissipation system, which favours the heat transmission through thermoelectric modules.

Literature survey
1) Journal of Energy Technologies and Policy
Generation of Electricity from Gasoline Engine Waste Heat
Adavbiele, A.S.1, Department of Mechanical Engineering, Ambrose Alli University, EkpomaNigeria
)The test rig, set up in an indoor experimental laboratory, was a Cussons gasoline engine with
energy recovering at the front, middle and rear of the exhaust gas pipe and at the exit of the
water cooling pipe.
)Experiments were performed under both idle and loading conditions of the engine.

2) Conference Session Paper

Increased car efficiency through the use of thermoelectric generators
University of Pittsburgh Swanson School of Engineering March 7, 2013
TEG technology is relatively new to the automotive field, but many automobile companies
have explored the technology and its use in their cars.
Two companies in particular, Ford and BMW, conducted research and implemented TEGs in
a few of their cars to increase fuel efficiency.

Problem statement and objectives

Aim of our project is to convert waste heat into usable electrical energy there by increasing the
efficiency of the system and to find various places where we can adopt thermoelectric generation
to produce feasible electrical energy.

Methodology
The project will be started with identifying the processes where there is more loss of energy in
the form of heat and where we can adopt thermo-electrical generation for feasible energy
production.
The thermo electrical generation is done using TEG modules which are commercially available,
a battery is used to store the produced electrical energy.
Multiple-filled skutterudites and conventional bismuth telluride are considered for
thermoelectric modules (TEMs) for conversion of waste heat from exhaust into usable electrical
power
The TEG modules will be mounted on exhaust pipe of an automobile engine and other places
(like stoves, fireplaces, furnaces and kettles etc.) and checked for output power, output voltage,
and efficiency of the TEG modules.
Heat transfer between the hot exhaust gas and the hot side of the TEMs is enhanced with the use
of a plate-fin heat exchanger integrated within the TEG and using heat exchanger (like
aluminium fins or a water sink) on the cold side

Expected outcome and area of application of the current project

Outcome
The expected outcome of the project is to increase the efficiency of the system by converting waste
heat into electrically energy for auxiliary functions, and finding the feasibility of using TEG in
automobiles and other household appliances.

Applications:The most common application is the use of thermoelectric generators on gas pipelines.
Cars and other automobiles produce waste heat (in the exhaust and in the cooling agents).
Harvesting that heat energy, using a thermoelectric generator, can increase the fuel efficiency of the
car.
In addition to automobiles, waste heat is also generated in many other places, such as in industrial
processes and in heating (wood stoves, outdoor boilers, cooking, oil and gas fields, pipelines, and
remote communication towers). Again, the waste heat can be reused to generate electricity.
Microprocessors generate waste heat. Researchers have considered whether some of that energy
could be recycled.
Solar cells use only the high frequency part of the radiation, while the low frequency heat energy is
wasted. Several patents about the use of thermoelectric devices in tandem with solar cells have been
filed.
Many space probes, including the Mars Curiosity rover, generate electricity using a thermoelectric
generator whose heat source is a radioactive element.
TEGs can be used to produce electricity in isolated areas where conventional power supply is not
available.
TEGs are highly reliable, they work for more than 2lakh hours without degrading its performance .
8

References
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Adavbiele, A.S.1,. Generation of Electricity from Gasoline Engine Waste Heat. Journal of Energy
Technologies and Policy. Department of Mechanical Engineering, Ambrose Alli University, Ekpoma- Nigeria
Simranjot Pabla, Enzo Hain. Increased car efficiency through the use of thermoelectric generators.
Conference Session Paper.
Jorge Vzquez, Miguel A. Sanz-Bobi, Rafael Palacios and Antonio Arenas. State of the Art of
Thermoelectric Generators Based on Heat Recovered from the Exhaust Gases of Automobiles. Instituto de
Investigacin Tecnolgica, Departamento de Fluidos y CalorAlberto Aguilera, 23, Madrid (Spain).
John LaGrandeur Combustion Exhaust Gas Heat to Power using Thermoelectric Engines Advanced
Thermoelectric Solutions October 5, 2011
SUMEET KUMAR,1,3 STEPHEN D. HEISTER,1 XIANFAN XU,1 JAMES R. SALVADOR,2 and
GREGORY P. MEISNER2. Thermoelectric Generators for Automotive Waste Heat Recovery Systems Part
I: Numerical Modeling and Baseline Model Analysis .1.- Purdue University, West Lafayette, IN, USA. 2.General Motors Global R&D, Warren, MI, USA.(Journal of ELECTRONIC MATERIALS)
MOL A N L I,. Thermoelectric-Generator-Based DCDC Conversion Network for Automotive Applications.
Master of Science Thesis, Stockholm, Sweden 2011.
MADHAV A KARRI. MODELING OF AN AUTOMOTIVE EXHAUST THERMOELECTRIC
GENERATOR. DEPARTMENT OF MECHANICAL AND AERONAUTICAL ENGINEERING,
CLARKSON UNIVERSITY. June 2005 (Thesis)