ELECTRIC POWER GENERATION USING A THERMOELECTRIC GENERATOR FROM COOLANT FLUID OF INTERNAL COMBUSTION ENGINE OF CARS

Year 2019, Volume: 37 Issue: 2, 415 - 422, 01.06.2019

Kianoush Dolatıasl

Abstract

A large part of the heat generated in the engine is removed from it by a cooling system consisted of coolant fluid and a radiator. In this paper, the use of Thermoelectric Generators (TEGs) and utilization of the difference between "engine coolant fluid temperature" and "ambient temperature" to generate electrical current, are studied. According to the observed results, from the engine start moment to about 10 minutes later, the TEG does not produce an electric current due to the low temperature of the coolant fluid. After a few minutes, when the engine's working condition and the temperature of the coolant fluid become stable, the electric current generated by the TEG becomes fixed, too. In this study, the air flow was applied in both forced and natural ways on the cold surface of TEG. Due to the continuous on/off of the radiator cooling fan, the temperature of coolant fluid comes out of the engine had a fluctuation about 7°C, which consequently caused continuous changes in the electrical energy level produced by the TEG. In the case of natural air displacement and forced air displacement on the surface of TEG, the average output voltage of the TEG in a stable state was about 357mV and 890mV, respectively.

Keywords

Thermoelectric generator, TEG, I.C. engine, coolant fluid, radiator.

References

• [1] In BD, Lee KH. A study of a thermoelectric generator applied to a diesel engine. Proceedings of the Institution of Mechanical Engineers, Part D: Journal of Automobile Engineering 2016; 320(1): 133-143. DOI: 10.1177/0954407015576440.
• [2] Cheruvu P, Kumar VP, Barshilia HC. Experimental analysis and evaluation of a vacuum enclosed concentrated solar thermoelectric generator coupled with a spectrally selective absorber coating. International Journal of Sustainable Energy 2017; 37(8): 782-798. DOI: 10.1080/14786451.2017.1365866.
• [3] Atalay T, Köysal Y, Özdemir AE, Özbaş E. Evaluation of energy efficiency of thermoelectric generator with two-phase thermo-syphon heat pipes and nano-particle fluids. International Journal of Precision Engineering and Manufacturing-Green Technology 2018; 5(1): 5-12. DOI: 10.1007/s40684-018-0001-1.
• [4] Børset MT, Wilhelmsen Ø, Kjelstrup S, Burheim OS. Exploring the potential for waste heat recovery during metal casting with thermoelectric generators: On-site experiments and mathematical modeling. Energy 2017; 118: 865-875. DOI: 10.1016/j.energy.2016.10.109.
• [5] Högblom O, Andersson R. Analysis of thermoelectric generator performance by use of simulations and experiments. Journal of Electronic Materials 2014; 43(6): 2247-2254. DOI: 10.1007/s11664-014-3020-x.
• [6] Atouei SA, Ranjbar AA, Rezania A. Experimental investigation of two-stage thermoelectric generator system integrated with phase change materials. Applied Energy 2017; 208: 332-343. DOI: 10.1016/j.apenergy.2017.10.032.
• [7] Mahmoudinezhad S, Rezania A, Ranjbar AA, Rosendahl LA. Transient behavior of the thermoelectric generators to the load change; an experimental investigation. Energy Procedia 2018; 147: 537-543. DOI: 10.1016/j.egypro.2018.07.068.
• [8] Liu C, Li W. An experimental study of a novel prototype for thermoelectric power generation from vehicle exhaust. Distributed Generation and Alternative Energy Journal 2014; 29(2): 8-23. DOI: 10.1080/21563306.2014.10823172.
• [9] Liu C, Li WZ. An Experimental study of a two-stage thermoelectric generator using heat pipe in vehicle exhaust. Distributed Generation & Alternative Energy Journal 2015; 30(1): 15-37. DOI: 10.1080/21563306.2015.11101969.
• [10] Mohamed Tasuni ML, Abdul Latiff Z, Nasution H, Mohd Perang MR, Mohd Jamil H, Nazri Misseri M. Performance of a water pump in an automotive engine cooling system. Jurnal Teknologi 2016; 78(10-2): 47-53. DOI: 10.11113/jt.v78.9667.