An in-situ experimental and numerical evaluation on thermoelectric generators performance utilizing diesel engine exhaust heat

Sugiyanto Sugiyanto, Nyayu Aisyah, Yosephus Ardean Kurnianto Prayitno, Irfan Bahiuddin

Abstract


Waste Heat Recovery (WHR) from heavy-duty diesel generators using Thermoelectric Generators (TEGs) offers a potential way to improve total system efficiency and reduce fuel consumption. This study combines experiments and numerical simulation to evaluate the performance of Hi-Z HZ 14 TEGs modules applied to a 6-cylinder, 60 kVA diesel generator. Experimentally, TEG modules were mounted equidistantly along the exhaust manifold, 40 cm from the engine, and tested at idle (750 rpm) with and without active air-side cooling. Hot- and cold-side temperatures, open-circuit Voltage (Voc), load power, and conversion efficiency were recorded. A matching TEG configuration was simulated under the same boundary conditions. As a result, active cooling increased the temperature differential and consistently improved power output and efficiency relative to natural convection. An efficiency of 2.1% was observed, in reasonable agreement with the simulation and consistent with typical TEGs performance under comparable operating conditions. Although this value confirms the feasibility of TEG integration in heavy-duty diesel exhaust systems, further improvements are possible through material selection, heat-sink optimization, and advanced cooling strategies.


Keywords


Thermoelectric generator; waste heat recovery; active cooling; combined performance evaluation; heavy-duty diesel generator

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DOI: http://dx.doi.org/10.30811/jpl.v23i5.7615

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