Recovery of thermal energy released in the composting process and their conversion into electricity utilizing thermoelectric generators

The Effect of Heat Removal during Thermophilic Phase on Energetic Aspects of Biowaste Composting Process

“…Single systems that use the air heat from the aeration of compost piles are created in closed bio-waste treatment systems [25]. There are also systems using the heat of composting as the lower source of an absorption heat pump in large systems of biological waste utilization by the composting method [91], or heat collection systems using thermoelectric generators converting the low-temperature heat of the bioreactor housing and converting it into electricity [92]. It should be noted that uncontrolled heat consumption may slow down and sometimes stop the composting process (especially in the range over 80 • C).…”

Experimental investigation on performance improvement of thermoelectric generator based on phase change materials and heat transfer enhancement

“…The key thermoelectric properties of a TEG include the Seebeck coefficient, the electrical conductivity and thermal conductivity of the thermoelectric material, which are usually characterized by a dimensionless value: figure-of-merit (ZT) [9,10]. Despite its low ZT, the thermoelectric generation technology has been utilized in a wide range of areas such as aerospace facilities, transport tools and industry utilities, in which a considerable amount of waste heat offers a great opportunity for making direct use, such as stoves [11,12], vehicle waste heat [13], subsurface coal fires [14], solar energy [15][16][17][18][19][20] and industrial waste heat [21,22].…”

SYNTHESIS OF Cu2ZnSnS4 BY MECHANICAL ALLOYING METHOD FOR THERMOELECTRIC APPLICATION

“…The recovery of huge amount of wasted heat not only has a significant influence on the efficiency of energy consumption,but also reduces the global greenhouse gas emission.Thermoelectric generators (TEGs), which are capable of generating electricity directly from waste heat sources by Seebeck effect,have emerged as a novel technology for recovering waste heats from automobiles, industrial sectors and home cooking etc. TEGs are solid-state devices, which areholding a number of advantages over conventional powder generators, such as silent operation,no moving parts, reliable durabilityand no gas emission [4][5][6]. However, currently TEGs still exist some main drawbacks including low efficiency and high cost of TE materials, which are primary factors restricting for large-scale applications [7][8][9].…”