Thermoelectric generator: electricity from waste heat
Schütt, Matthias Christian (2022)
2022
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Julkaisun pysyvä osoite on
https://urn.fi/URN:NBN:fi:amk-2022121930868
https://urn.fi/URN:NBN:fi:amk-2022121930868
Tiivistelmä
In this thesis the aim was to study the implementation of thermoelectric generators (TEG) at an industrial kiln system in order to make use of the waste heat during the firing process of ceramics. Besides the need to reduce CO2 emissions in fossil fuel-fired industrial kilns also new ways to harvest the considerable big amount of waste heat have to be found.
Thermoelectric generators convert heat directly into electric energy. They are considerably easy to implement in places where there is excess heat. With the need of generating emission-free energy and rising energy prices, thermoelectric generators could contribute to the energy production mix, despite their low efficiency of up to 5 %.
This thesis presents theoretical information about Peltier elements and their use as thermoelectric generators and applications. Besides the theoretical background, an experimental set-up was conducted to find out the performance of the thermoelectric generators and observe in practice the considerations to be made when designing and implementing TEGs.
The possible implementation of TEG into a kiln system was analyzed based on a reference kiln. In addition to calculations of electrical energy output suggestions for design approaches were made to optimize implementation. Also, an estimate of investment cost was made to answer the question whether it is economically beneficial to install a thermoelectric generator or not.
As a result, it can be said that the implementation of thermoelectric generators into a kiln system can be, despite the low efficiency, quite useful. Especially with drastically increasing energy it can be a competitive way of producing electrical energy. The experimental setup showed the importance careful design, especially for maintaining a good heat dissipation.
Thermoelectric generators convert heat directly into electric energy. They are considerably easy to implement in places where there is excess heat. With the need of generating emission-free energy and rising energy prices, thermoelectric generators could contribute to the energy production mix, despite their low efficiency of up to 5 %.
This thesis presents theoretical information about Peltier elements and their use as thermoelectric generators and applications. Besides the theoretical background, an experimental set-up was conducted to find out the performance of the thermoelectric generators and observe in practice the considerations to be made when designing and implementing TEGs.
The possible implementation of TEG into a kiln system was analyzed based on a reference kiln. In addition to calculations of electrical energy output suggestions for design approaches were made to optimize implementation. Also, an estimate of investment cost was made to answer the question whether it is economically beneficial to install a thermoelectric generator or not.
As a result, it can be said that the implementation of thermoelectric generators into a kiln system can be, despite the low efficiency, quite useful. Especially with drastically increasing energy it can be a competitive way of producing electrical energy. The experimental setup showed the importance careful design, especially for maintaining a good heat dissipation.