• 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.

• Transactions of the Korean Society of Automotive Engineers
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• v.10 no.1
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• pp.99-105
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• 2002

About 70% of energy input to internal combustion engine is rejected to atmosphere by heat. By utilizing this waste heat, a plenty of energy can be conserved in nationwide. One of possible ways is the thermoelectric generation to utilize engine's waste heat to provide auxiliary electric power. Under th is concept, we have been developing the thermoelectric generation system to replace the alternator by converting the waste heat in the engine's exhaust directly to electricity This system may reduce the shaft horse power of the engine, then improves the vehicle fuel economy and the exhaust emissions. In the present study, the characteristics of the electric energy and exhaust heal energy in city and highway mode driving conditions are analysed by using a gasoline passenger car. These results would be used to determine the optimum design parameters of the thermoelectric generation system.

• Transactions of the Korean Society of Mechanical Engineers B
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• v.26 no.10
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• pp.1333-1340
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• 2002

The objective of this study is to develop a thermoelectric generation system which converts unused energy from close-at-hand sources such as garbage incineration heat and industrial exhaust etc. into electricity. This paper presents applicability of a commercially available thermoelectric generator f3r waster heat recovery. The test facility consists of water heater, pump, thermoelectric module and aluminium tubes and hot and cold water is used as heat source and sink fluids. It is shown that the three components of thermoelectric research exist in manufacturing a thermoelectric generator. The first component is fabrication of thermoelectric materials, the second is manufacturing of thermoelectric generator with 32 thermoelectric modules. The last one is characteristic measuring of thermoelectric generator with 32 thermoelectric modules of two types, cooling and power purpose. It was found that the rate of cold and hot water is 25 and 37 liter per minute and the maximum power of thermoelectric generator is 28Watts and its efficiency is 1.04%.

• Proceedings of the KIEE Conference
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• 2000.07c
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• pp.1614-1616
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• 2000

The purpose of this study is to manufacture and test a thermoelectric generator which converts unused energy from close-at-hand sources, such as garbage incineration heat and industrial exhaust, to electricity. A manufacturing process and the properties of a thermoelectric generator are discussed before simulating the thermal stress and thermal properties of a thermoelectric module located between an aluminum tube and alumina plate. We can design the thermoelectric modules having the good properties of thermoelectric generation. Resistivity of thermoelectric module for thermoelectric generation consisting of 62 cells was $0.15{\sim}0.4{\Omega}$. The maximum power of thermoelectric generator using thermoelectric generating modules can be defined as temperature function, and in this case it can be analogized the linear relation between current and voltage characteristics as function of temperature. The thermoelectric generator using 128 generating modules was assembled with 4 parallel connected modules sets composed with 32 directly connected modules.

• Korean Journal of Air-Conditioning and Refrigeration Engineering
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• v.26 no.7
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• pp.329-334
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• 2014

This study indicated the possibility of energy regeneration from waste coolant heat, by using thermoelectric generation integrated with heat pipe. The internal combustion engine rejects more than 60% wasteful energy to the atmosphere by heat. The thermoelectric generator has recently been studied, to convert the energy from engine waste heat into electricity. For coolant waste heat recovery, a thermoelectric generator was investigated, to find out the possibility of vehicular application. Performance characteristics were conducted with various test conditions of coolant temperature, coolant mass flow rate, air temperature, and air velocity, with the thermoelectric generator installed either horizontally or vertically. Experimental results show that the electric power and conversion efficiency increases according to the temperature difference between the hot and cold side of the thermoelectric generator, and the coolant flow rate of the hot side heat exchanger. Performance improvement can be expected by optimizing the heat pipe design.

• Journal of Advanced Marine Engineering and Technology
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• v.36 no.1
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• pp.51-56
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• 2012

This paper reports the generation efficiency and the thermal performance of a thermoelectric generator (TEG) harvesting energy from the waste heat of high power electronic components. A thermoelectric (TE) model containing thermal boundary resistances is used to predict generation efficiency and junction temperature of a high power electronic component. The predicted results are verified with measured values, and the discrepancy between prediction and measurement is seen to be moderate. The verified TE model predicts generation efficiencies, junction temperatures of the component, and temperature differences across a TEG at various source heat flows associated with various electrical load resistances. This study explores effects of the load resistance on the generation efficiency, the temperature difference across a TEG, and the junction temperature.

• Transactions of the Korean Society of Mechanical Engineers B
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• v.34 no.4
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• pp.383-390
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• 2010

In this study, a thermoelectric power generation system was constructed for a waste-heat recovery. Thermoelectric modules were attached to a stainless steel duct, and a hot air blower was set such that it faced the duct inlet. We found that to achieve the maximum power out of the system, the temperature in the hot side of the thermoelectric module should be uniform. The optimum compressive pressure exerted on the module was observed. Further, the thermoelectric power performance was evaluated using the heat sink attached to the cold side of the thermoelectric module. In particular, when using a natural-convection heat sink, the power output difference is approximately five times.

• 한국신재생에너지학회:학술대회논문집
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• 2008.05a
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• pp.460-463
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• 2008

A large part of the overall industrial energy is dissipated as waste heat despite of much development in the utilization of thermal energy. A mean efficiency is reported to be only around 30 to 35%. The existing waste heat recovery technology has reached its limit and consequently, the development of a new technology is necessary. Improving efficiency using thermoelectric technology has recently come into the spotlight because of its unique way to recover thermal energy. In fact, thermoelectric generator directly converts thermal energy into electric energy by a solid state without any moving parts. Futhermore remarkable improvement in the thermoelectric energy conversion efficiency has been achieved. In this study, a thermoelectric generator was made using commercialized thermoelectric modules. With thermoelectric modules attached on a duct surface, hot air was blown into the duct using a hot air blower. On the other side of the module, a water jacket was attached to cool the module. With different air inlet temperatures and water flowrates, the electrical power of the thermoelectric generator was measured.

• Transactions on Electrical and Electronic Materials
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• v.12 no.6
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• pp.227-233
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• 2011

The low efficiency of bulk thermoelectric materials has limited the widespread application of thermoelectric power generation. Theoretical and experimental investigations indicate that materials prepared in the form of nanowires show higher thermoelectric coefficients, thus promising to revolutionize the field. This article reviews the basics of thermoelectric power generation, conventional devices, the role of nanowires and the current status of the field.

• Journal of the Microelectronics and Packaging Society
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• v.24 no.1
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• pp.9-16
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• 2017

Thermoelectric power generation (TEG) technology with high figure of merit (ZT) has become the need of the modern world. TEG is a potent technology which can tackle most of the environmental issues such as global warming, change in climatic conditions over the globe, and for burning out of various resources of non-renewable energy like as petroleum deposits and gasolines. Although thermoelectric materials generally convert the heat energy from wastes to electricity according to the theories Seebeck and Peltier effects yet they have not been fully exploited to realize their potential. Researchers are focusing mainly on how to improve the current ZT value from 1 to 2 or even 3 by various approaches. However, a higher ZT value is found to be difficult due to complex thermoelectric properties of materials. Hence, there is a need for developing materials with high figure of merit. Recently, various nanotechnological approaches have been incorporated to improve the thermoelectric properties of materials. In this review paper, the authors have performed a thorough literature survey of various kinds of TEG technology.