Exploring the dynamic characteristics of thermoelectric generator under fluctuations of exhaust heat

Luo, Ding; Yan, Yuying; Chen, Wei-Hsin; Cao, Bingyang

Abstract

The thermoelectric generator is a potential candidate to recover waste heat from exhaust gas. Regarding the fluctuations of exhaust heat in practical situations, this paper adopts a transient fluid-thermal-electric multiphysics model to investigate the dynamic performance of the thermoelectric generator. Results show that the fluctuation of exhaust temperature has a greater influence on the dynamic characteristics than the fluctuation of exhaust mass flow rate. The dynamic performance of the thermoelectric generator benefits from a decrease in exhaust heat, but suffers when the exhaust heat is in an upward trend. Compared with the constant power and efficiency values of 4.96 W and 2.49 %, the average power and efficiency of the thermoelectric generator show a notable increase of 5.50 % and 70.61 % respectively during a step decrease in exhaust mass flow rate. Similarly, under a linear decrease, the mean power and efficiency experience a rise of 6.04 % and 45.05 % respectively. Besides, periodic exhaust heat can effectively amplify the dynamic output performance, especially for conversion efficiency. When subjected to a sin wave of exhaust mass flow rate, the efficiency experiences a 15.58 % improvement. This work offers a comprehensive understanding of the dynamic characteristics exhibited by the thermoelectric generator employed for waste heat recovery.

Citation

Luo, D., Yan, Y., Chen, W.-H., & Cao, B. (2024). Exploring the dynamic characteristics of thermoelectric generator under fluctuations of exhaust heat. International Journal of Heat and Mass Transfer, 222, Article 125151. https://doi.org/10.1016/j.ijheatmasstransfer.2023.125151

• Journal Article Type: Article
• Acceptance Date: Dec 24, 2023
• Online Publication Date: Jan 5, 2024
• Publication Date: May 1, 2024
• Deposit Date: May 16, 2024
• Publicly Available Date: Jan 6, 2025
• Journal: International Journal of Heat and Mass Transfer
• Print ISSN: 0017-9310
• Electronic ISSN: 0017-9310
• Publisher: Elsevier
• Peer Reviewed: Peer Reviewed
• Volume: 222
• Article Number: 125151
• DOI: https://doi.org/10.1016/j.ijheatmasstransfer.2023.125151
• Keywords: Thermoelectric generator, Dynamic characteristics, Waste heat recovery, Exhaust heat
• Public URL: https://nottingham-repository.worktribe.com/output/34866003
• Publisher URL: https://www.sciencedirect.com/science/article/pii/S0017931023012966