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LUND UNIVERSITY LIBRARIES

A comparison of different connection techniques for thermoelectric generators in vehicle waste heat recovery

Andersson, Björn (2013) In CODEN:LUTEDX/TEIE EIE920 20131
Industrial Electrical Engineering and Automation
Abstract
Increasing demand for lower fuel consumption increases the importance of a
higher total energy efficiency in trucks. Since the efficiency of a modern diesel engine is in the range of 40 %, large amounts of waste heat are produced.
Recovering this energy can be done with thermoelectric generators. However, these generators’ open load voltage and internal resistance are temperature dependant, which results in different optimal output currents for different working conditions according to the maximum power transfer theorem.
Connecting the thermoelectric generators to a DC/DC-converter using Maximum Power Point Tracking (MPPT) technology can aid in this matter, as can switching between different serial and parallel configurations.
In this... (More)
Increasing demand for lower fuel consumption increases the importance of a
higher total energy efficiency in trucks. Since the efficiency of a modern diesel engine is in the range of 40 %, large amounts of waste heat are produced.
Recovering this energy can be done with thermoelectric generators. However, these generators’ open load voltage and internal resistance are temperature dependant, which results in different optimal output currents for different working conditions according to the maximum power transfer theorem.
Connecting the thermoelectric generators to a DC/DC-converter using Maximum Power Point Tracking (MPPT) technology can aid in this matter, as can switching between different serial and parallel configurations.
In this project, the recovery potential of several different connection techniques for test rig with a power output of tens of watts is presented.
It is shown that a switching network may allow more energy to be recovered
than when using a DC/DC-converter. However, further investigations are
needed to determine which solution is more suitable for TEG-rigs with output powers in the kW-range.
The results show that a switching network with two states manages to recover between 5 and 10 % more energy than a reference DC/DC-converter when running the two drive cycles used. (Less)
Popular Abstract (Swedish)
En ökande efterfrågan på lägre bränsleförbrukning ökar kraven på totalverkningsgraden i lastbilar. Då effektiviteten hos en modern dieselmotor är ungefär 40 % produceras stora mängder spillvärme.
Återvinning av denna spillvärme kan göras med termoelektriska generatorer.
Spänningen och den inre resistansen hos dessa generatorer är dock temperaturberoende, vilket resulterar i olika optimala strömmar för olika arbetsförhållanden enligt teoremet om maximal effekt.
Att ansluta generatorerna till en DC/DC-konverter med Maximum Power
Point Tracking-teknik (MPPT) kan avhjälpa detta problem. Att växla mellan
olika uppsättningar av serie- och parallellkopplingar kan även det lösa problemet.
I denna uppsats studeras återvinningspotentialen för... (More)
En ökande efterfrågan på lägre bränsleförbrukning ökar kraven på totalverkningsgraden i lastbilar. Då effektiviteten hos en modern dieselmotor är ungefär 40 % produceras stora mängder spillvärme.
Återvinning av denna spillvärme kan göras med termoelektriska generatorer.
Spänningen och den inre resistansen hos dessa generatorer är dock temperaturberoende, vilket resulterar i olika optimala strömmar för olika arbetsförhållanden enligt teoremet om maximal effekt.
Att ansluta generatorerna till en DC/DC-konverter med Maximum Power
Point Tracking-teknik (MPPT) kan avhjälpa detta problem. Att växla mellan
olika uppsättningar av serie- och parallellkopplingar kan även det lösa problemet.
I denna uppsats studeras återvinningspotentialen för flera olika anslutningsmetoder för en uppsättning med en effekt om några tiotals watt.
Det visas att växling mellan olika kopplingar kan medföra att mer energi
återvinns än med en DC/DC-konverter. Mer arbete behövs dock för att avgöra
vilka lösningar som lämpar sig för uppsättningar med effekter om flera kW.
Resultaten visar att ett switchnätverk som kan växla mellan två tillstånd
återvinner mellan 5 och 10 % mer energi än en referenskonverter när de två
använda körcyklerna körs. (Less)
Please use this url to cite or link to this publication:
author
Andersson, Björn
supervisor
organization
course
EIE920 20131
year
type
H3 - Professional qualifications (4 Years - )
subject
keywords
Waste heat recovery, thermoelectric generator, maximum power point tracking
publication/series
CODEN:LUTEDX/TEIE
report number
5307
language
English
id
4533654
alternative location
https://www.iea.lth.se/publications/MS-Theses/Full%20document/5307_full_document.pdf
date added to LUP
2014-10-07 11:48:19
date last changed
2015-03-20 16:15:03
@misc{4533654,
  abstract     = {{Increasing demand for lower fuel consumption increases the importance of a
higher total energy efficiency in trucks. Since the efficiency of a modern diesel engine is in the range of 40 %, large amounts of waste heat are produced.
Recovering this energy can be done with thermoelectric generators. However, these generators’ open load voltage and internal resistance are temperature dependant, which results in different optimal output currents for different working conditions according to the maximum power transfer theorem.
Connecting the thermoelectric generators to a DC/DC-converter using Maximum Power Point Tracking (MPPT) technology can aid in this matter, as can switching between different serial and parallel configurations.
In this project, the recovery potential of several different connection techniques for test rig with a power output of tens of watts is presented.
It is shown that a switching network may allow more energy to be recovered
than when using a DC/DC-converter. However, further investigations are
needed to determine which solution is more suitable for TEG-rigs with output powers in the kW-range.
The results show that a switching network with two states manages to recover between 5 and 10 % more energy than a reference DC/DC-converter when running the two drive cycles used.}},
  author       = {{Andersson, Björn}},
  language     = {{eng}},
  note         = {{Student Paper}},
  series       = {{CODEN:LUTEDX/TEIE}},
  title        = {{A comparison of different connection techniques for thermoelectric generators in vehicle waste heat recovery}},
  year         = {{2013}},
}