Development of Thermoelectric Power Generation System for Industrial Furnaces

Abstract

The equipment that the rejection thermal energy is effectively recycled is few though the amount of the rejection thermal energy in an industrial field is huge. Therefore, we are developing the thermoelectric conversion system using the radiation heat transfer. The cascaded thermoelectric modules are installed on the surface of the water jacket which is set inside the electric industrial furnace. The surface of the cascaded thermoelectric module facing the in-furnace heat insulators is heated by the radiation. The other side of the cascaded thermoelectric module is cooled by the water jacket. The electric power is generated by the temperature difference between hot and cold side of the cascaded thermoelectric module. The reliability of the cascaded thermoelectric module and the structure of the system are the key technology issues for the practical use. The surface property of the heat source, the heat insulator and the electrode of the thermoelectric module have been evaluated. The new fixation method between the thermoelectric module and the water jacket has been developed. 873K-class thermoelectric conversion unit was developed on the assumption of the installation in a comparatively easy industrial furnace to apply. And, efficiency test was prepped according to the radiation heat transfer. In the condition that the temperature difference of the unit becomes 564K, the efficiency of the unit was able to obtain 7.5%. As a result, the electric power efficiency of the system of an industrial furnace is improved 5% compared to previously published results. A thermoelectric conversion system has been developed in the Japanese IntroductionThe amount of the segment of industry of the final energy use increases in Japan every year, and the waste energy increases, too. More advanced energy conservation is hoped for, and it is hoped to collect the abolition heat from the segment of industry for solve of global environmental concerns. It distributes and the waste energy is caused though the energy saving is advanced into the waste energy of the high temperature of a large-scale equipment and equipment because of the application of the heat recovery system and the application of an insulated technology by it. On the other hand, an enough heat collection technology is not performed in the small scale and a decentralized equipment and equipment because of a moderate insulated structure that the maintenance of the high temperature agrees with the improvement of utilization rates and the distributed heat

Performance analysis and validation of thermoelectric energy harvesters

“…These generators are devices that consist of thermoelectric modules made of semiconductor material, placed between ceramic wafers and connected to an electric load. Different heat sources, such as automobiles [12][13][14][15], power plants [16], and geothermal energy [17] have been proposed to operate thermoelectric generators (TEGs) and to improve their efficiency. Thermoelectric materials that have been used in TEG include BiTe, poly-SiGe, ZnBe and CeFeSb [18][19][20][21][22].…”

Characterization of a Thermoelectric Generator (TEG) System for Waste Heat Recovery

“…In conclusion, it could be stated from the authors of [20,34] that this solid-state cogeneration system could be applied in any process involving heat, since even with a low yield of thermoelectric materials as demonstrated by Azarbayjani et al [40], the result was significant when it was analyzed globally.…”

Review of Development Status of Bi2Te3‐Based Semiconductor Thermoelectric Power Generation

“…Since then, the need for power supplies in the military space fronts has contributed to the rapid development of thermoelectric generators; the United States and the former Soviet Union are the countries that have developed and used the most TEGs of radioisotopes. TEG has been industrialized in terms of utilization of industrial waste heat [44] and automobile waste heat [45]. With the appearance of high-performance and low-dimensional thermoelectric materials, it has also promoted the development of micro-TEG which was used for power supply for microwatt [46], milliwatt low-power devices, and its electric cooling [47].…”