Some Efficient Solutions to Recover Low and Medium Waste Heat: Competitiveness of the Thermoacoustic Technology

Abstract:Thermoelectric (TE) technology is regarded as alternative and environmentally friendly technology for harvesting and recovering heat which is directly converted into electrical energy using thermoelectric generators (TEG). Conversely, Peltier coolers and heaters are utilized to convert electrical energy into heat energy for cooling and heating purposes The main challenge lying behind the TE technology is the low efficiency of these devices mainly due to low figure of merit (ZT) of the materials used in making them as well as improper setting of the TE systems. The objective of this work is to carry out a comprehensive review of TE technology encompassing the materials, applications, modelling techniques and performance improvement. The paper has covered a wide range of topics related to TE technology subject area including the output power conditioning techniques. The review reveals some important critical aspects regarding TE device application and performance improvement. It is observed that the intensified research into TE technology has led to an outstanding increase in ZT, rendering the use TE devices in diversified application a reality. Not only does the TE material research and TE device geometrical adjustment contributed to TE device performance improvement, but also the use of advanced TE mathematical models which have facilitated appropriate segmentation TE modules using different materials and design of integrated TE devices. TE devices are observed to have booming applications in cooling, heating, electric power generation as well as hybrid applications. With the generation of electric energy using TEG, not only does the waste heat provide heat source but also other energy sources like solar, geothermal, biomass, infra-red radiation have gained increased utilization in TE based systems.However, the main challenge remains in striking the balance between the conflicting parameters; ZT and power factor, when designing and optimizing advanced TE materials.Hence more research is necessary to overcome this and other challenge so that the performance TE device can be improved further.

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“…The model is found to have notable improvement in terms of accuracy in prediction of various performance parameters in the TEC mode [4]. …”

Section: Improved Simplified Thermoelectric Modelmentioning

confidence: 99%

“…However, around 30% of this heat is assumed to be wasted in form of discharged hot exhaust gas, cooling water and heated product [4]. Therefore, the recovery and utilization of the waste heat is believed to contribute some amount of energy to the energy needs of the society.…”

Section: Introductionmentioning

confidence: 99%

A comprehensive review of thermoelectric technology: Materials, applications, modelling and performance improvement

Twaha

Zhu

Yan

et al. 2016

Renewable and Sustainable Energy Reviews

480

208

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“…Time phasing can be defined as the time lag of heat flow between the stack wall and the oscillating fluid [2]. Time phasing affects the fluctuating velocity, temperature, and pressure of a thermoacoustic system, which eventually influences the thermoacoustic system's efficiency.…”

Section: Introductionmentioning

confidence: 99%

“…Thermoacoustic systems convert energy (thermal to acoustic or acoustic to thermal) by using the thermal and hydrodynamic interactions between the oscillating fluid and the solid wall [1]. Renewable energy and low-cost energy sources, such as geothermal energy [2], solar energy [3], cooking stove waste heat [4], automotive waste heat [5], and industrial waste heat [6] can be used to drive a thermoacoustic system. Such a system is reliable and simple in design, contains no moving parts, needs no exotic materials, and requires only minimal manufacturing, maintenance, and operational costs.…”

Section: Introductionmentioning

confidence: 99%

Effect of magnetic field on the Nusselt number of a multi-plate thermoacoustic system

Islam

Mahmud

Biglarbegian

et al. 2016

International Journal of Thermal Sciences

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“…Heat-pump technology allows effluents at temperatures as low as 15 • C to be highly efficiently used and has been deemed the best choice for processing cooled effluents [7]. A heat pump consists of a closed circuit where a cooling fluid continuously evaporates and condenses at a pair of heat exchangers [2].…”

Section: Introductionmentioning

confidence: 99%

A New Technique for Improved Use of Thermal Energy from Waste Effluents

2020

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Energy sustainability and environmental protection in general are at the heart of engineering and industry discussions. Countless efforts have been devoted to improving the energy efficiency of industrial processes and specifically to harnessing their waste energy sources. One such source is waste from agro-industrial processes, which is frequently characterized by increased temperatures and high polluting potential. There are multiple available choices for exploiting energy from such waste, but this paper proposes a new alternative technique that substantially improves the efficiency. Based on the technology of leveraging a hot liquid effluent for heating a process fluid, this system introduces a third liquid to be revalorized by drying that is placed in between the hot and cold liquids. By adding stirrers inside the heat exchanger, the thermal resistance of the third fluid is reduced to a negligible level. Thus, this system has almost the same advantages as the previous one, but with the added benefit that it allows drying of a third fluid. One of the specific applications of this proposed technology is using heat from waste effluents to obtain dried food products. In the present work, it was used to dry slaughterhouse blood to obtain so-called "blood meal", a product with a high added value that is used as pet food or organic fertilizer, and also has many other industrial applications. As shown here, the new technique outperforms existing alternatives in terms of energy efficiency and economic profitability.

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Some Efficient Solutions to Recover Low and Medium Waste Heat: Competitiveness of the Thermoacoustic Technology

Cited by 96 publications

References 17 publications

A comprehensive review of thermoelectric technology: Materials, applications, modelling and performance improvement

A comprehensive review of thermoelectric technology: Materials, applications, modelling and performance improvement

Effect of magnetic field on the Nusselt number of a multi-plate thermoacoustic system

A New Technique for Improved Use of Thermal Energy from Waste Effluents

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