Experimental Study On Waste Heat Recovery from an Internal Combustion Engine Using Thermoelectric Generator

Abstract

An internal combustion engine (IC engine) is a heat engine that the combustion of fuel takes place that particular interest in transportation. A major part of heat supplied from the IC engine not recognized into work output but expelled into the environment as waste heat. The waste heat can be tapped and convert it into useful energy that can increase the performance of the system. The project focus on the utilization of the waste heat range temperature of the IC engine by using the device thermoelectric generator (TEG). TEG is a solid device that can directly convert waste heat into electrical energy as the temperature difference present in the system. The aim of the project to optimize the power generation in an array configuration of the TEG electrical connection. Two TEG had the individual test to attain the electrical characterization and also test on series and parallel connection that theoretically the series connection generated high voltage compare to parallel TEG. The variable that is considered in this experiment is heat source temperature that performs the electrical output, voltage, and current. The study shows that the series connection of TEG had improved and increased in voltage generated but parallel connection more reliable. Overall conclusion, the series connection successfully generated the highest maximum output power from IC engine waste heat but more study on improvement of the heat exchanger to increase the airflow and temperature difference of TEG is required.