• Journal of the Korea Academia-Industrial cooperation Society
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• v.19 no.2
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• pp.695-701
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• 2018

Research into exhaust heat recovery has been actively carried out to improve the thermal efficiency of internal combustion engines. In this study, the performance of thermoelectric generation from exhaust heat recovery for motorcycle engines was analyzed by 1-D thermo-fluid simulation. GT-SUITE, which was developed by Gamma Tech., was used for the simulation of the internal combustion engine and thermoelectric generation system. The basic performance of the engine was analyzed in the range of engine speed of 1000~7000 rpm and engine load of 0~100%. The ratio of exhaust heat energy to fuel chemical energy was found to be about 40~60%. A combined simulation of the engine model and thermoelectric generation model was carried out to analyze the voltage, current and power generated by the thermoelectric material. The generation characteristics of the thermoelectric material was dominantly affected by the exhaust gas temperature. The maximum generated power of the current thermoelectric generation system was found to be about 2.2% of the total exhaust heat energy. The design optimization of the thermoelectric generation system will be carried out to maximize its power generation and economic feasibility.