Energy Conversion and Management 90 (2015) 121–127

Contents lists available at ScienceDirect

Energy Conversion and Management

journal homepage: www.elsevier.com/locate/enconman

Performance analysis of a waste heat recovery thermoelectric

generation system for automotive application
X. Liu, Y.D. Deng, Z. Li, C.Q. Su ⇑
Hubei Key Laboratory of Advanced Technology for Automotive Components, Wuhan University of Technology, 205 Luoshi Road, Hongshan District, Wuhan 430070, China

a r t i c l e i n f o a b s t r a c t

Article history: Thermoelectric power generators are one of the promising green energy sources. In this case study, an
Received 19 August 2014 energy-harvesting system which extracts heat from an automotive exhaust pipe and turns the heat into
Accepted 9 November 2014 electricity by using thermoelectric power generators (TEGs) has been constructed. The test bench is
developed to analysis the performance of TEG system characteristics, which are undertaken to assess
the feasibility of automotive applications. Based on the test bench, a new system called ‘‘four-TEGs’’
Keywords: system is designed and assembled into prototype vehicle called ‘‘Warrior’’, through the road test and
Automotive exhaust
revolving drum test table, characteristics of the system such as hot-side temperature, cold-side temper-
Thermoelectric generator
Road test
ature, open circuit voltage and power output are studied, and a maximum power of 944 W was obtained,
Revolving drum test table which completely meets the automotive application. The present study shows the promising potential of
Temperature difference using this kind of thermoelectric generator for low-temperature waste heat recovery vehicle.
Ó 2014 Elsevier Ltd. All rights reserved.

1. Introduction
With the rapid development of semiconductor materials, the
heat directly converted into electricity by the thermoelectric gen-
erators (TEGs) has begun to enter engineering applications. Due to
the merits in energy conversion such as little noise and vibration,
high durability, environmental friendliness, and low quality ther-
mal energy directly convert into high quality electrical energy,
TEGs are of great interest in military applications and in deep
space exploration missions [1–3]. Over the last 30 years, there
has been growing interest in applying this thermoelectric technol-
ogy to improve the efficiency of waste heat recovery, using the
various heat sources such as geothermal energy, power plants,
automobiles and other industrial heat-generating process [4–9].
For example, Li et al. [10] investigated a new type of solar
thermoelectric co-generator (STECG) comprising parabolic trough
concentrators and thermoelectric modules (TMs). Nikolova et al.
[11] proposed a specific system consisted of thermal power plants
(TPPs), storage hydro power plants (HPPs), pumped-storage hydro
power plant (PSHPP) and wind power plant (WPP) to solve the
generation scheduling problem, wind power plants are integrated
into the system in order to minimize the total thermal unit
fuel costs.
⇑ Corresponding author. Tel.: +86 18971577512; fax: +86 02787859667.
E-mail address: suchuqi@whut.edu.cn (C.Q. Su).
In the case of TEG for waste heat recovery power generation,
there have been many conceptual designs of a power conversion
system which are potentially capable of obtaining application in
this area. Lesage et al. [12] built a Bi2Te3-based thermoelectric
liquid-to-liquid generator, a correlation between peak thermoelec-
tric power and thermal input conditions is presented as well as an
investigation into the validity of electrical load matching. Park
et al. [13] investigated a TEG energy harvesting system with a tem-
perature-sensor-based maximum power point tracking (MPPT)
method, the proposed MPPT scheme can track the MPP of any
TEG system without current measurement, power perturbation
or source disconnection, which enables optimal energy harvesting
with a much simpler and much less expensive circuitry. Niu et al.
[14] constructed an experimental thermoelectric generator unit
with the parallel-plate heat exchanger, hot liquid and cold liquid,
the two operation parameters such as the hot fluid inlet tempera-
ture and flow rate are found to significantly affect the maximum
power output.
Waste heat from automotive vehicles is considerable as well.
Since the first automobile TEG emerged in 1963, the endeavor to
maximize its efficiency never stopped, and the methods were
mainly concentrated in changing the structure of heat exchanger
and introducing different heat transfer enhancement measures.
Likewise, a number of research groups have studied the potential
use of TEG systems as a thermal energy recovery method in
automobiles, and this system was achieved by installing the ther-
moelectric devices in automobile exhaust pipes. In 1998 Nissan

http://dx.doi.org/10.1016/j.enconman.2014.11.015
0196-8904/Ó 2014 Elsevier Ltd. All rights reserved.
122 X. Liu et al. / Energy Conversion and Management 90 (2015) 121–127
fabricated the first thermoelectric power generator based on Si–Ge
elements for automobiles [15]. The Bell Solid State Thermoelectrics
(BSST) team that includes BMW, Visteon, and Marlow Industries
began the development in 2004 of a highly efficient thermoelectric
system to recover waste energy for applications in passenger vehi-
cles [16]. With the same requirements for exhaust heat exchanger
in vehicle waste heat recovery by Rankine cycle, a shell and tube
counter flow heat exchanger was used with exhaust gases in tubes
and working fluids in shell [17]. Yang [18] reports the possibility of
generating an average of 350 W on Federal Test Procedure (FTP)
cycles with a conventional full size truck. Aleksandr et al. [19]
developed a 1 kW TEG for the Heavy Duty Class Eight Diesel Trucks
to replace the shaft driven alternator. Most of them used BiTe-
based bulk thermoelectric material because it is made commer-
cially available. Hi–Z Technology [20], tried to discover and to
improve the efficiency of TMs. HZ-14 modules are based on Bi2Te3,
of theoretical and experimental efficiency to about 5% [21]; the
goal of Hi–Z for a practical device is an efficiency about 20%. Kumar
et al. [22] assessed the influence of four different topologies struc-
ture of the heat exchanger to the efficiency of TEGs, and the results
revealed that a transverse TEG with a single module length is found
to be the most favorable design among all the designs studied, with
the highest electrical power generation and lower pressure drops.
Lu et al. [23] developed a test bench to test the thermal uniformity
and pressure drop of muffler-like exhaust heat exchangers with
different structures, and the results revealed that the performance
of exhaust heat exchanger such as the surface temperature and
pressure drop was dependent on exchanger’s type and geometry,
operating condition, and the temperature field was coupled with
flow field. David et al. [24] proposed an optimization method for
improving thermoelectric heat pump performance by operating
condition management of the TMs and design optimization of
the heat exchangers.
However, according the studies above, the majority of them
have focused mainly on the optimization of the heat exchanger
geometry or the temperature difference of TM, and the maximum
power of all various TEGs is less than 200 W expect for the one
used in heavy diesel trucks, which cannot meet the requirement
for general automotive application. Also, external dimensions of
those TEGs are another problem, the distance between chassis
and ground is short, and nearly all TEGs cannot be used to auto-
mobiles. In a previous study, we constructed various heat
exchangers, including maze-shaped, fishbone-shaped [25] and
chaos-shaped [26] heat exchangers, to analyze their thermal per-
formance. The height of those heat exchangers was also short,
which was suitable for automotive application. The results
showed that fishbone- and chaos-shaped heat exchangers resulted
in a higher and more uniform interface temperature. At the cold
side, a TEG water-cooling unit was inserted to the engine cooling
system (called an ‘‘ integrated cooling system’’ herein), which can
avoid problems such as lack of space when TEG systems are used
in vehicles [27]. In this study, the test bench are developed to
analysis the performance of TEG system characteristics, especially
the temperature difference, open circuit voltage and maximum
power output. A complete TEG system to recover waste heat has
been designed, simulated and fabricated to achieve the objective
of recovered energy, as explained in the following sections. Based
on the test bench, a new system called ‘‘four-TEGs’’ system is
designed and assembled into the prototype vehicle called
‘‘Warrior’’, transforming the energy of waste heat into electricity,
which is the specific issue of this research. Based on the road test
and revolving drum test table, the new system in ‘‘Warrior’’ to
recover waste heat has been designed, simulated, fabricated and
tested to achieve the objective of recovered energy, and large
output power of 944 W is obtained, as explained in the following
sections.
2. Experimental procedures
2.1. TEG system architecture
Fig. 1 shows the schematic diagram of the experimental auto-
motive waste heat recovery system, including automobile engine,
catalytic converter, muffler, TEG and so on. A completed TEG sys-
tem to recover waste heat has been designed, simulated and fabri-
cated to achieve the objective of recovered energy. The waste heat
recovery system shown in Fig. 2 was designed for use with the
exhaust pipe of automobiles. The TMs are clamped with sufficient
compressive force between a heat exchanger connected to the
exhaust pipe and cooling water tanks in the exhaust-based TEG.
Four concave type steel is used as the clamping devices while the
torque wrench used to provide an applied pressure at a pressure
load of 2.50 kg/cm2 on the TMs. Exhaust gas flows into the heat
exchanger through a bypass to provide a heat source. The cooling
water is pumped into the water tanks to form the cold side. Then,
electric power is generated due to the temperature difference
between the two sides of the modules and stored in batteries.
TMs (Shanghai Institute of Ceramics of the Chinese Academy of
Sciences) were arranged on both surfaces of the brass heat exchan-
ger where the exhaust gas passes. The geometric features and
transport properties of the PN materials used in this work are
listed in Table 1. Various measuring instruments were applied to
construct this experimental setup. A 2.0-L naturally aspirated
engine was used as study object. A dynamometer (maximum
power input 160 kW, maximum speed 6000 rpm) was also used.
Several transducers were used: K-type thermocouples and infrared
camera to record the temperature distribution of the exhaust heat
exchanger, TMs and water tanks. A high power electrical load was
connected to the system and used to measure the voltage and
power output.
The principal components of the experimental apparatus and
manufactured TEG system, as illustrated in Fig. 2, are the main
heat exchanger, TMs, the water tank (cooling system), the clamp-
ing device, and the charging system, with engine coolant as the
working fluid. The size is 620 mm in length and 310 mm in
width. There are 60 TMs in total, arranged in six rows, with five
modules in each row on the upper and lower surfaces of the heat
exchanger. Table 2 lists the boundary conditions and dimensions
of each element used in this work. In subsequent analysis
without special description, values are taken from Tables 1 and 2.
The system efficiency can be calculated using Eq. (1) from the
measured values maximum output power (Pmax) and engine
power (Qengine).
P max
g¼ ; ð1Þ
Q engine
Fig. 1. Schematic diagram of the experimental thermoelectric generator system 1:
Automobiles engine. 2: Catalytic converter. 3: Heat exchanger for passing exhaust
gas. 4: Muffler. 5: Water tank. 6: Clamping device. 7: Electronic load. 8:
Dynamometer. 9: Cooling system. 10: Controller. 11: Water pump. 12: Heat sinks.
13: Tachometer and K-type thermocouples. 14: K-type thermocouples.
 X. Liu et al. / Energy Conversion and Management 90 (2015) 121–127 123

Fig. 2. TEG system.

Fig. 3. Inlet and outlet hot side temperature with engine revolutions of 2700–
Table 1 3200 rpm.
Parameters of PN materials.

Parameter P type N type

Seebeck coefficient (lV/K) 215 215
Electrical resistivity (X m) 1.04  105 1.04  105
Thermal conductivity (W/(mK)) 1.5 2.5
Height (m) 0.005 0.005
Sectional area (m2) 0.01 ⁄ 0.01 0.01 ⁄ 0.01

Table 2
Boundary parameters.

Parameter Value
Each module’s area A 0.050 ⁄ 0.050 (m2)
Total area 0.400 ⁄ 0.300 (m2)
Ambient temperature 25 °C
Ambient heat transfer coefficient 15 (W/(m2 K))
Material of heat exchanger Brass
Dimension of heat exchanger (mm3) 400 ⁄ 290 ⁄ 18 (h)
Thickness of heat exchanger 5 (mm)
Material of water tank Aluminum
Number of water tank 12 Fig. 4. Curves of output voltage-current for different engine revolution.
Dimension of water tank (mm3) 300 ⁄ 60 ⁄ 21 (h)
Thickness of water tank 3 (mm)
Flow rate of water 9.27 L/min exchanger absorbed a large amount of heat, whereas the hot-side
Cooling water temperature 90 °C (engine water) temperature of the TMs at the rear should be lower in this specific
Material of clamping device Steel case study; the average temperature between inlet and outlet can
be used as the hot-side temperature of the TEG. Fig. 4 shows the
measured curves of output voltage versus current for different
2.2. TEG system testing engine revolution, and the engine revolution is from 2700 rpm to
3200 rpm. Fig. 5 shows the curves of output power versus current
The experimental setup is presented in Fig. 2. Considering that for different engine revolution, the maximum electrical power out-
low-temperature TMs (limited temperature of hot side is 360 °C) put is 183.24 W. Under the experimental condition of 3200 rpm,
are used in the TEG, the maximum engine revolution is set to the average hot-side temperature of 325 °C can be used, An electri-
3200 r/min. At the cold side, the TEG water-cooling unit is inserted cal power of 183.24 W was generated with a current of 1.0 A when
to the engine cooling system, which can avoid problems such as DT was 235 °C, while an open-circuit voltage of 335.83 V was
lack of space when TEG systems are used in vehicles, so the generated with a current of 0 A, so there is a temperature differ-
temperature of cold side keeps around 90 °C. ence of up to 235 °C when the hot side reaches 325 °C, resulting
Sixty identical TMs were placed on the front and back surfaces in a performance of 183.24 W at open-circuit voltage of 335.83 V.
of the heat exchanger, aiming to test the power output of the mod- It is found that the temperature difference has the most important
ules using an electronic load. Experiments were carried out under impact.
the same external conditions, including the cooling conditions,
engine, modules, clamping device and ambient temperature, the 3. Bench test
only difference being the engine revolution rate. Fig. 3 shows the
inlet and outlet temperature of the TEG for engine rate of 2700– 3.1. Road test
3200 rpm. With the increasing of engine revolutions, the inlet tem-
perature shapely increased, leading to an increased temperature To enhance the power generation by the TEG, a new system
difference. The temperature difference between inlet and outlet with four TEGs was constructed, called the ‘‘four-TEGs’’ system,
was around 25–40 °C; however, for these experimental conditions, its dimensions were 1420 ⁄ 670 ⁄ 185 mm. The system shown in
it was very difficult to maintain all the TMs at a fixed hot-side Fig. 6 includes four identical TEGs which contain 240 TMs; the
temperature; That is, the TMs arranged at the front of the heat exhaust pipe of prototype vehicle connected to the heat exchanger
124 X. Liu et al. / Energy Conversion and Management 90 (2015) 121–127
Fig. 5. Curves of output power-current for different engine revolution.
was converted into a four-channel pipe to meets the requirements
of ‘‘four-TEGs’’ system. Considering the stability of the ‘‘four-TEGs’’
system, the four TEGs were connected in parallel. Fig. 6 shows the
parameters of our prototype vehicle called ‘‘Warrior’’, the space is
large enough to contain four TEGs. In the road test, working condi-
tions with the same (fifth) gear but different vehicle speeds were
adopted to understand the characteristics comprehensively. Con-
sidering the need for a large amount of heat for the ‘‘four-TEGs’’
system, higher vehicle speed was used in the test as follows: work-
ing condition 1: vehicle speed, 80 km/h; engine rotation speed,
1600 r/min; engine power, 19 kW; working condition 2: vehicle
speed, 95 km/h; engine rotation speed, 1900 r/min; engine power,
28 kW; working condition 3: vehicle speed, 110 km/h; engine rota-
tion speed, 2200 r/min; engine power, 37 kW; working condition
4: vehicle speed, 125 km/h; engine rotation speed, 2500 r/min;
engine power, 47 kW. Some highways around the city ‘‘Wuhan’’
were chosen for the road test, the ambient temperature was
25 °C. In the road test, from 0 to 10 min, the engine was started
and the vehicle was just stationary, the whole system was in the
warm-up phase with low engine rotation speed, and exhaust gas
temperature rapidly increased. From 10 to 25 min, the vehicle
started running in the highway, and the exhaust gas temperature
rose again. From 25 to 30 min, the vehicle was running at a fixed
speed of 80 km/h, and engine rotation speed of 1600 r/min. The
vehicle and engine rotation speed were maintained for 300 s so
that there was sufficient time for the whole system to reach steady
state. Thermocouples were arranged on both the inlet and outlet of
the each heat exchanger and water tank to record the temperature
distribution. From 30 to 35 min, considering the stability of the
whole system, we started measuring the various data of working
Fig. 6. Four thermoelectric generator system 1: Muffler. 2: Inlet pipe. 3: One TEG system. 4: Cooling system. 5: Supporting device.
Fig. 7. Each TEG inlet and outlet temperature under four working conditions with
hot-side.
condition 1. From 35 to 40 min, the vehicle accelerated from 80
to 95 km/h. From 40 to 45 min, the vehicle was running at a fixed
speed of 95 km/h, and engine rotation speed of 1900 r/min. From
45 to 50 min, we started measuring the various data of working
condition 2. Working conditions 3 and 4 were the same as the
above.
The steady temperature distribution results are shown in Figs. 7
and 8, including the inlet and outlet temperatures for each heat
exchanger and water tank. The maximum inlet hot-side tempera-
ture difference between the four TEGs is 21 °C, while it is 13 °C
for the outlets, so the four TEGs have almost the same average tem-
perature on the hot side. Fig. 8 shows the inlet and outlet temper-
atures of water tank (cold side); its trend curve is consistent with
Fig. 7. Theoretically, the temperature of the cold side remains
around 90 °C because the TEG water-cooling unit is inserted to
the engine cooling system. However, the cooling ability of proto-
type vehicle is so good that the temperature of the cooling water
cannot reach 90 °C. The exposure of the water pipes to the cold
air is another reason decreasing the temperature of the water
tanks. The lower temperature water tank also increases the tem-
perature difference, which is beneficial to generate greater output
power. Under working condition 4, the average hot-side tempera-
tures of four TEGs are around 265 °C, while the cooling water is
83 °C, so the temperature difference can reach nearly 182 °C.
Fig. 9 shows the output power and open-circuit voltage versus
temperature difference under four working conditions. The differ-
ence between average hot-side and cold-side temperature was
used as the temperature difference, from Fig. 9, it was very clear
that the temperature difference could enhance the power output.
It is found that the temperature difference has the most important
 X. Liu et al. / Energy Conversion and Management 90 (2015) 121–127
Fig. 8. Each TEG inlet and outlet temperature under four working conditions with
cold-side.
Fig. 9. Output power and open-circuit voltage versus temperature difference under
four working conditions.
Fig. 10. Curves of output voltage-current for four working conditions.
impact. Figs. 10 and 11 show the measured curves of output volt-
age and output power versus current under the four different
working conditions. Under working condition 4, the average hot-
side temperature of 265 °C can be used, an electrical power of
600 W was generated with a current of 6.5 A when DT was
182 °C, while an open-circuit voltage of 177.5 V was generated
with a current of 0 A, so there is a temperature difference of up
125
Fig. 11. Curves of output power-current for four working conditions.
to 182 °C when the hot side reaches 265 °C, resulting in a perfor-
mance of 600 W at open-circuit voltage of 177.5 V.
3.2. Revolving drum test
Under these experimental conditions above, there was a good
performance of ‘‘four-TEGs’’ system, resulting in a performance of
600 W at open-circuit voltage of 177.5 V. To further improve the
power generation, there are three ways: raising the hot-side tem-
perature; lowering the cold-side temperature; increasing the
quantity of modules. However, the hot side temperature of module
is limited to 360 °C, and 240 pieces of TMs are also enough. An
independent cooling system was used to mandatorily lower the
temperature of water tank. Considering the difficulty of arrange-
ment of the independent cooling system, a revolving drum test
table was used to keep the prototype vehicle staying there without
moving, which was just the opposite of that of the road test. The
revolving drum test table is shown in Fig. 12, a fan system is
arranged at the front of the prototype vehicle, and it will automat-
ically regulate the fan speed to simulate the road condition
depending on the speed of vehicle. Compared with the road test,
the only difference is the independent cooling system, which can
further lower the temperature of the cold-side. Considering the
hot-side temperature under the working condition 4 of road test
was still below 300 °C, higher vehicle speed and engine power
was needed as follows: working condition 5: vehicle speed,
130 km/h; engine rotation speed, 2600 r/min; engine power,
51 kW. The ambient temperature was also 25 °C. At the beginning
of the revolving drum test, from 0 to 10 min, the engine was
Fig. 12. Revolving drum test table.
126 X. Liu et al. / Energy Conversion and Management 90 (2015) 121–127

Table 3
Performance characteristics of revolving drum test.

TEG Engine rotation speed Average hot side Average cold side Maximum output Open circuit Engine power
Number (r/min) temperature (°C) temperature (°C) power (W) voltage (V) (kW)
1 2600 312 69 944 201.7 51
2 308 71
3 311 68
4 319 70

Table 4 pipes to electric power is discussed, which might serve to decrease

Comparison of the performance between TEG system test, road test and revolving the consumption of petroleum. In this study, a completed TEG sys-
drum test. tem to recover waste heat has been designed, simulated and fabri-
TEG Road Revolving cated to achieve the objective of recovered energy. Based on the
system test test drum test TEG system test, road test and revolving drum test, a complete
Engine rate (rpm) 3200 2500 2600 automotive TEG system was constructed and large output power
Engine displacement (L) 2.0 3.9 3.9 of 944 W obtained. To further improve the power generation, the
Number of TMs 60 240 240 exhaust pipe needs to be improved to decrease the effect of
Open circuit voltage (V) 335.83 177.5 201.7
thermal contact and increase the hot-side temperature. Moreover,
I (A) 1.0 1.5 1.7
Temperature difference, DT (°C) 235 182 240 the connection method could also be optimized. To concern the
Maximum power (W) 183.24 600 944 optimization design, energy conversion efficiency and system
Engine power (kW) 20 47 51 power capacity that would be very important for prototype vehicle
Efficiency (%) 0.9 1.28 1.85
in next generation.

started, and the whole system was in the warm-up phase with low
engine rotation speed. From 10 to 30 min, the prototype vehicle
accelerated to 130 km/h. From 30 to 40 min, the vehicle was run-
ning at a fixed speed of 130 km/h without moving, engine rotation
speed was kept at 2600 r/min, the vehicle and engine rotation
speed was maintained as 600 s so there was sufficient time for
the whole system to reach the steady state. Thermocouples were
still arranged both on the inlet and outlet of the each heat exchan-
ger and water tank to record the temperature distribution. The
revolving drum test result is shown in Table 3. Under working con-
dition 5, the average hot-side temperature of 310 °C and average
cold-side temperature of 70 °C could be used, An electrical power
of 944 W was generated with a current of 8.0 A when DT was
240 °C, while an open-circuit voltage of 201.7 V was generated
with a current of 0 A, so there is a temperature difference of up
to 240 °C when the hot side reaches 310 °C, resulting in a perfor-
mance of 944 W at open-circuit voltage of 201.7 V.
3.3. Discussion
This study aimed to test the performance of Bi2Te3-based TEG
system. The power output of one TEG system was measured for
engine revolution from 2700 rpm to 3200 rpm. The maximum
power output was 183.24 W at an average temperature difference
of 235 °C and engine revolution rate of 3200 r/min. Based on the
test bench, a new system called ‘‘four-TEGs’’ system was designed
and assembled into a prototype vehicle called ‘‘Warrior’’. Based on
the revolving drum test and road test, a complete automotive TEG
system was constructed and large output power obtained. Table 4
presents a comparison of the performance between the TEG
System test, road test and revolving drum test. In the road test,
the maximum power output of ‘‘four-TEGs’’ system was 600 W at
an average temperature difference of 182 °C, while the ‘‘four-TEGs’’
system in the revolving drum test generated 944 W for a temper-
ature difference up to 240 °C; the system efficiency was also
improved from 1.28% to 1.85%.
4. Conclusion
Because of the increasing emphasis on environmental protec-
tion, applications of thermoelectric technology are being exten-
sively studied. How to transfer the waste heat from exhaust
Acknowledgement
This work was funded by grant no. 2013CB632505 from the
National Basic Research Program of China (973 Program).
References
[1] Riffat SB, Ma X. Thermoelectrics: a review of present and potential
applications. Appl Therm Eng 2003;23:913–35.
[2] Liu X, Deng YD, Zhang K. Experiments and simulations on heat exchangers in
thermoelectric generator for automotive application. Appl Therm Eng
2014;71:364–70.
[3] Liu X, Deng YD, Chen S. A case study on compatibility of automotive exhaust
thermoelectric generation system, catalytic converter and muffler. Case
Studies Therm Eng 2014;2:66–9.
[4] Ota T, Fujita K, Tokura S, Uematsu K. Development of thermoelectric power
generation system for industrial furnaces. In: Proc int conf thermoelectrics;
2006. p. 354–7.
[5] Kajikawa T, Onishi T. Development for advanced thermoelectric conversion
system. In: Proc int conf thermoelectrics Jeju, Korea; 2007. p. 322–30.
[6] Lertsatitthanakorn C. Electrical performance analysis and economic evaluation
of combined biomass cook stove thermoelectric (BITE) generator. Bioresource
Technol 2007;98:1670–4.
[7] Qiu K, Hayden ACS. Development of a thermoelectric self-powered residential
heating system. J Power Sources 2008;180:884–9.
[8] Suzuki Ryosuke O. Mathematic simulation on power generation by roll cake
type of thermoelectric double cylinders. J Power Sources 2004;133:277–85.
[9] Crane Douglas T, Jackson Gregory S. Optimization of cross flowheat exchangers
for thermoelectric waste heat recovery. Energy Convers Manage 2004;45:
1565–82.
[10] Li C, Zhang M, Miao L, Zhou JH. Effects of environmental factors on the
conversion efficiency of solar thermoelectric co-generators comprising
parabola trough collectors and thermoelectric modules without evacuated
tubular collector. Energy Convers Manage 2014;86:944–51.
[11] Nikolova S, Causevski A, Al-Salaymeh A. Optimal operation of conventional
power plants in power system with integrated renewable energy sources.
Energy Convers Manage 2013;65:697–703.
[12] Lesage Frédéric J, Pagé-Potvin Nicolas. Experimental analysis of peak power
output of a thermoelectric liquid-to-liquid generator under an increasing
electrical load resistance. Energy Convers Manage 2013;66:98–105.
[13] Park Jae-Do, Lee Hohyun, Bond Matthew. Uninterrupted thermoelectric energy
harvesting using temperature-sensor-based maximum power point tracking
system. Energy Convers Manage 2014;86:233–40.
[14] Niu Xing, Yu Jianlin, Wang Shuzhong. Experimental study on low-temperature
waste heat thermoelectric generator. J Power Sources 2009;188:621–6.
[15] Ikoma K, Munekiyo M, Furuya K, Kobayashi M, Izumi T, Shinohara K.
Thermoelectric module and generator for gasoline engine vehicles. In:
Proceedings of the international conference on thermoelectrics, Nagoya,
Japan; 1998. (unpublished).
[16] LaGrandeur J, Crane D, Mazar S, Eder A. Automotive waste heat conversion to
electric power using skutterudite, TAGS, PbTe and BiTe. In: Proceedings of
the international conference on thermoelectrics, Beijing, China; 2006.
(unpublished).
 X. Liu et al. / Energy Conversion and Management 90 (2015) 121–127
[17] António Domingues, Helder Santos, Mário Costa. Analysis of vehicle exhaust
waste heat recovery potential using a Rankine cycle. Energy 2013;49:71–85.
[18] Yang J. Potential applications of thermoelectric waste heat recovery in the
automotive industry. In: Proc. 24th int. conf. on thermoelectric, Clemson,
South Carolina, USA; 2005. pp. 170–174.
[19] Aleksandr S, John C, Saeid G, Norbert B, Richard A, David F, Mike M.
Thermoelectric development ay Hi–Z technology, Technical Paper; 2001.
[20] Kushch AS, Bass JC, Ghamaty S, Elsner NB. Thermoelectric development at Hi–Z
technology. In: Proc int conf thermoelectrics, Beijing, China; 2001. p. 422–30.
[21] Haidar JG, Ghogel JI. Waste heat recovery from the exhaust of low-power
diesel engine using thermal electric generators. In: Proc int conf
thermoelectrics, Beijing, China; 2001. p. 413–7.
[22] Kumar S, Heister S, Xu X, Salvador J, Meisner G. Thermoelectric generators for
automotive waste heat recovery systems part II: parametric evaluation and
topological studies. J Electron Mater 2013;42(6):944–55.
127
[23] Lu H, Wu T, Bai S, Xu K, Huang Y, Gao W, et al. Experiment on thermal
uniformity and pressure drop of exhaust heat exchanger for automotive
thermoelectric generator. Energy 2013;54:372–7.
[24] David Benjamin, Ramousse Julien, Luo Lingai. Optimization of thermoelectric
heat pumps by operating condition management and heat exchanger design.
Energy Convers Manage 2012;60:125–33.
[25] Deng YD, Liu X, Chen S. Thermal optimization of the heat exchanger in the
automotive exhaust based thermoelectric generator. J Electron Mater
2013;42:1634–40.
[26] Liu X, Yu CG, Chen S. Experiments and simulations on a heat exchanger of an
automotive exhaust thermoelectric generation system under coupling
conditions. J Electron Mater 2014;43:2218–23.
[27] Deng YD, Liu X, Chen S. Research on the compatibility of the cooling unit in an
automotive exhaust-based thermoelectric generator and engine cooling
system. J Electron Mater 2014;43:1815–23.