An Experimental Study of a Two-stage Thermoelectric Generator Using Heat Pipe in Vehicle Exhaust
DOI:
https://doi.org/10.13052/dgaej2156-3306.3012Keywords:
Automotive cogeneration; exhaust heat recovery; energy conversion, heat pipe; thermoelectric generators; thermoelectric mod- ule.Abstract
Heat recovery from vehicle exhaust is a promising application
of thermoelectric power generation (TEG). In our previous study, a
single stage TEG with 4.04% system thermal efficiency has been tested.
To improve the power output and the efficiency, a novel prototype
two-stage TEG employing heat pipe from vehicle exhaust has been
proposed. After system model being established, an experimental set
up has also been built and tested for further study. Results of both
theoretic analysis and experimental results show the viability of the
prototype TEG for exhaust heat recovery. The prototype can gener-
ate a maximum power of about 250W when the hot side operates
at 473K. The system thermal efficiency reaches 5.37%; it is improved
by 32% comparing to single stage TEGs 4.04% in the same operating
conditions. Finally, system optimization and future improvement of the
prototype are discussed.
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