Thermoelectric waste heat recovery for automotive

Abstract

Approximate 70% of the energy generated by the combustion of fuel in IC engine cannot be converted into mechanical energy, but disperses to the environment as waste heat. Reduction of energy consumption and curb of CO2 emissions of automotive becomes an important issue. The thermoelectric technology can convert heat into electric energy and improve the fuel efficiency of automotive. It has attracted wide attention. This paper studies the thermoelectric waste heat recovery system for automotive. 20 thermoelectric devices are attached to the exhaust pipe to convert waste heat to electrical energy. The heat from cold side of thermoelectric devices is removed by liquid-cooling cold plate. We design the heat exchanger of exhaust pipe to harvest heat of exhaust gas to thermoelectric modules effectively. The performance of thermoelectric waste heat recovery system with different designs is comprehensively studied. It is shown that the optimum design of heat exchanger can improve heat interception from exhaust pipe and improve the output power of thermoelectric devices.