Efficient Reuse

of Waste Energy
A thermoelectric power generator for automobiles.

E
ENERGY IS AN IMPORTANT ISSUE
for the development of human civiliza-
tion, but the problem of exhaustion with-
in decades of the principal fossil source of
energy (petroleum) applied for energy
consumption of almost the whole world
must be confronted. How to utilize
energy in an efficient way for alternative
energy at the current stage has already
become an important topic.
In 1821, physicist Seebeck demon-
strated the electric potential at a junction
of two metals, for which a temperature
difference exists between the two ends.
This thermoelectric (TE) effect, known
as the Seebeck effect, is also the basic
working mechanism of a thermocouple.
Applying this TE effect enables thermal
energy in waste heat to be converted
into electrical energy so as to retrieve
the energy; but at early stages, the TE
materials were expensive and their mate-
© CREATAS & MASTER SERIES

rial properties were poorly characterized.

Hence, transforming waste heat into
electrical energy through this TE effect
has not received due attention.

DA-JENG YAO, KE-JYUN YEH, CHENG-TING HSU, BEN-MOU YU, AND JINN-SHING LEE
Digital Object Identifier 10.1109/MNANO.2009.932420

28 | IEEE NANOTECHNOLOGY MAGAZINE | JUNE 2009 1932-4510/09/$25.00©2009IEEE

 Recently, waste heat harvesting by
using TE material in various cases have
been reported by research groups world-
wide, such as in applications of pipelines,
furnaces [1], geothermal, solar heat [2],
[3], and automobile engines [4]–[7]. It
becomes more and more important to
recycle waste energy into useful power,
and overcoming the material cost consti-
tutes a problem to be solved through tech-
nological progress. Automobiles consume
boundless petroleum and produce much
waste energy. Efficient reuse of waste
energy from an automobile can decrease
the consumption of petroleum in a man-
ner that is economically and environmen-
tally benign. The design and development
of a TE power generator (TEG) would be
of interest in many countries.
Internal combustion automobile
engines are of two types: diesel and otto.
In each case, the engine uses a fossil
fuel as an energy source. As ignition in
an otto engine is initiated with a spark
and in a diesel engine with compression,
the energy outputs and losses of these
engines differ. The energy balance for
automotive engines with spark and com-
pressive ignition is shown in Table 1 [8].
The miscellaneous component inclu-
des losses due to incomplete combus-
tion, heat rejected to the lubricating oil,
and heat lost through convection. As
shown in Table 1, a significant propor-
tion of energy is lost through the exhaust
gases in the form of waste heat. The
temperature of the exhaust gases is in a
range of 500–700 8C. If we can generate
electrical energy through a temperature
difference between waste gases and the
environment, which can be restored in
the battery of the automobile, both an
improvement of efficiency and decrease
of fuel consumption would be achieved.
In 1998, Nissan fabricated the first
TEG for automobiles (35.6 W with a
temperature difference of 563 8C [9]).
This TEG has 72 units of TE modules
based on silicon–germanium (Si-Ge)
elements. The total efficiency of power
generation of the system was only about
0.1%, implying a great scope for improve-
ment of the system. If the efficiency can
be improved to 2.5%, the system would
generate power up to 950 W. In 2001,
Hi-Z tested a TEG consisting of 72 pieces
Energy is an important issue
for the development of human civilization.
of HZ-14 [10]; when the engine oper-
ated at 300 hp, the system had a maxi-
mum power output more than 900 W,
and each HZ-14 had an average output of
12.5 W. The TE elements of the HZ-14
module are based on Bi2Te3, with a theo-
retical efficiency up to about 5%; the goal of
Hi-Z for a practical device is to achieve an
efficiency of about 20%. The replacement
of the 1-kW TEG unit with that efficiency
would attain a decreased fuel consump-
tion between 12% and 30%. Research at
General Motors R&D Center implies that
the fuel savings for a vehicle at 23.5 mi/
gal over a three-year period for a consumer
would be slightly under US$400, assum-
ing US$2/gal, 15,000 mi/yr, and a 10%
improvement of fuel economy [5].
In this work, we focused on the feasi-
bility of generating electricity through the
TE effect. We describe our research and
fabrication of a TEG with microelectro-
mechanical system (MEMS) technology.
Transforming the energy of waste heat
into electricity, especially for automo-
biles, is the specific issue of this research.
A TEG has been designed and fabricat-
ed to achieve the objective of recovered
energy in the following sections.
TEG ELEMENT MODEL
Three TE effects, due to Seebeck, Peltier,
and Thomson, are the basis of a TEG. Its
structure is shown in Figure 1. The per-
formance of a TEG referred to as output
work 1 P 2 is calculated as
1 an2ap 2 2 1 Th2Tc 2 2RL
P 5 I 2RL 5 ,
1 R1RL 2 2
(1)
TABLE 1 Energy balance for gasoline and diesel engines.
SHAFT POWER (%) COOLING (%)
ENGINE TYPE FUEL HEATING VALUE
Otto engine 25–28 17–26
Diesel engine 34–38 16–35
in which I is the output current from the
TEG, RL is the external load resistance,
an and ap are the Seebeck coefficients
of N-type and P-type TE materials, Th
and Tc are the temperatures at the hot
and cold sides of the TE module, and
R is the internal resistivity of the TEG.
The power of a TE module is governed
by the characteristics of its TE modules,
including dimensions, number of TE
elements, material properties, and tem-
perature difference. The efficiency h is
calculated as
P
h5
Qh
I 2RL
5 ,
1
1 an2ap 2 ITh 2 I 2R 1 K 1 Th2Tc 2
2
(2)
in which Q h is the heat from an external
supply and K is the thermal conductance
of the TEG.
The efficiency of a TE element is
limited by its dimensions and materials.
A TE module has its greatest efficiency
in a particular temperature range as the
material properties depend on a specific
range of operating temperature. The
efficiencies of TE modules with dissimi-
lar materials and varied temperature dif-
ferences are known from simulations in
an ideal case.
TEG MODULE MODEL
To demonstrate the concept of a TEG,
one should construct a configuration
model for a thermal resistor using a
EXHAUST (%) MISCELLANEOUS (%)
34–45 5–15
22–35 3–8
JUNE 2009 | IEEE NANOTECHNOLOGY MAGAZINE | 29
 If the effects at the thermal interface
are ignored, a resistor network with a
Qh pair of TEG model can be built. For a
known temperature drop between the
exhaust pipe and the surroundings, the
Th temperature difference across a TEG is
Heat Source estimated as (3).
The power generation by a TEG is
thus predictable. The simulation results
are compared with the results of mea-
Heat P N Electric Contact Resistance (rc)
L Conduction
surements in the following sections.
(Air)
W TEG ELEMENT MEASUREMENT
Before applying a TE element, one
Tc
must be concerned about the inf lu-
Heat Sink ence of an external load resistance and
applied pressure on varying the tem-
perature difference. The maximum
power is obtained when the external
load resistance equals t he internal
RL resistance of the module, according to
P
impedance-matching theory. A greater
temperature difference increases the
generated power, but the performance
FIGURE 1 Schematic of a TEG.
of a TE element decreases because of
the temperature dependence of mate-
TEG module on an exhaust pipe of an We simulated and estimated the effi- rial properties. A TEG measurement
automobile, which helps one to real- ciency of a TE module consisting of 200 system, TGT8001K0SA0, was used
ize how to harvest waste heat from an bismuth telluride 1 Bi2Te3 2 couples; the to measure the performance of a TEG
exhaust pipe. Figure 2 show the thermal material properties at 300 K are shown modu le. The system comprising a
resistor network. in Table 2. source and a sink of heat maintains a

Thermal Resistivity (K/W)

Tambient 1 Pair TE Model

0.8–1.2 Rheat sink

0.74 Rgrease
3.207 Rceramic
0.1443 RCu Tcold side
0.25 Rsolder Rsolder

116.79 or 109.89 RP-type RN–type TEG P N P N P N

Qpower
0.25 Rsolder Rsolder
0.1443 RCu Thot side
Exhaust Pipe / Heat Exchanger
3.207 Rceramic

0.74 Rgrease
Rexternal load
Qexhaust

FIGURE 2 Thermal resistor networks with a pair of TEG model.

30 | IEEE NANOTECHNOLOGY MAGAZINE | JUNE 2009

TABLE 2 Properties at 300 K of materials used in our simulation.

THERMAL
PARAMETER @ 300 K N-TYPE ELEMENT P-TYPE ELEMENT COPPER CERAMIC SOLDER GREASE
Seebeck
coefficient / VK21 −2.12 3 10 −4 2.15 3 10 −4
Resistivity / Vm 1.04 3 10 −5 1.04 3 10 −5 3.2 3 10 −8 1 3 1012 12.1 3 10 −8 N/A
Thermal conductivity / Wm21K21 1.456 1.373 385 22 50 3
Z/K−1 2.97 3 10 −3 3.23 3 10 −3
Thermal resistivity / KW21 109.89 116.79 0.1443 3.207 0.25 0.74
Contact area / m2) 4 3 10 −6 4 3 10 −6 9 3 10 −6 9 3 10 −6 4 3 10 −6 9 3 10 −6
Thickness / m 6.4 3 10 −4 6.4 3 10 −4 5 3 10 −4 6.35 3 10 −4 5 3 10 −5 2 3 10 −5

temperature difference between the
hot and cold sides of a TEG.
OUTPUT POWER OF A
TEG ELEMENT FROM BOTH
SIMULATION AND MEASUREMENT
According to (1) and (2), the output
power and eff iciency generated with
a TEG are estimated based on a var-
ied temperature drop across the sys-
tem. Because the TE parameters such
as Seebeck coefficient, resistivity, and
thermal conductivity depend on tem-
perature, the ideal case for which the
material properties were used at 300 K
must be modif ied in a simulation.
Figure 3(a) and (b) shows the power
generation on varying DT when all
parameters are defined as for the ideal
case at 300 K and in the case of a tem-
perature dependence.
From a measurement of the TEG ele-
ment, the output power was only several
watts, shown in Figure 3(c). One way to
improve the performance of the system
is to apply an appropriate pressure on a
TEG, shown in Figure 3(d).
(3) based on the temperature differ- To increase the total electric power
ence from all the TEG modules. The converted by the TEG modules, the
eight modules generated a maximum number of TE modules mounted on
power of 56.347 W in theory and the external surface of the exhaust pipe
51.42 W in simulation at DT 5 200 K should be maximized. Because space is
(303 K at the cold side of the module). limited, there are in total 18 TEG mod-
The relative difference 8.73% between ules used in the simulation: nine TEG
the theoretical value and the simula- modules mounted on the top surface
tion is due to the figure of merit (Z) and another nine on the bottom surface.
decreasing rapidly in the high-temper- Three heat sink structures, with 5, 10,
ature region. and 22 fins as shown in Figure 4(b),
1 RN 1 2Rsolder 2 // 1 RP 1 2Rsolder 2 3 1 Texhaust pipe2Tambient 2
DTTEG 5 .
2 1 Rceramic1RCu1Rgrease 2 1 1 RN12Rsolder 2 // 1 RP12Rsolder 2 1Rheat sink
(3)
60
(a) Theoretical Case (300 K)
(b)
b) Theoretical
(b T eoretical Case (420
Th 0 K)
50
(c) Measured Result (No Pressure Applied)
(d) Measured Result (4.46 PSI on TEG)
40
Power (W)

30
SIMULATIONS OF A TEG MODULE
To estimate the output electric power
converted from a TEG module through 20
an exhaust pipe, we ran a simulation
model shown in Figure 4(a). First, eight
10
TEG modules were mounted on an
exhaust pipe. To simulate the waste gas
from an engine into an exhaust pipe, the 0
speed of the internal flow was 12 m/s 0 20 40 60 80 100 120 140 160 180
at 973 K. An external flow, substituting Temperature Difference (K)
for the car speed, had a speed 10, 20, or
30 m/s at 300 K. FIGURE 3 TEG output power estimated with all parameters in (a) ideal case at 300 K and
The total electric power generated (b) for a temperature dependence; the measured TEG output powers (c) with and (d) without
an applied load on a TEG.
with TEG modules is estimated with

JUNE 2009 | IEEE NANOTECHNOLOGY MAGAZINE | 31

 were used in the simulation, shown in
Figure 4(a). All other conditions were
Automobiles consume boundless petroleum maintained constant as mentioned ear-
lier. The total electric power with these
and produce much waste energy. fin structures and varied speeds of exter-
nal flow is shown in Figure 5. In the best
case, the maximum total electric power
attained 122.67 W for an external flow
External Flow
Fans velocity (30 m/s) with 22 fins of heat
sink structure.
Modules
Fins FURTHER DEVELOPMENT
We performed experiments and simu-
Internal Flow lations to obtain the power generated
Heat Exchanger with a commercial TEG. A lthough
t he d i m e n s io n le s s T E f ig u r e o f
merit (ZT) in Bi2Te3 bulk alloys has
remained around 1 in the past. A n
innovation improvement of nanocrys-
External Flow talline bulk materials made by hot-
(a) pressing nanopowders shows better
performance. This ZT improvement
is the result of small thermal conduc-
tivity caused by increased scattering
of phonons at grain boundaries and
defects. The value of ZT begins at
1.2 near 20 °C (20% increase of tra-
5 Fins 10 Fins 22 Fins d it iona l Bi2Te3 ), ma x im izes at 1.4
(b) at 100 °C, and decreases to 0.8 at
250 °C. These materials are thus use-
FIGURE 4 (a) Scheme of the TEG module simulation. External flow had speeds 10, 20, and 30 ful for cooling and power generation.
m/s, respectively, at 300 K. (b) Three heat sink structures with 5, 10, and 22 fins were used
this simulation, respectively. This discovery sets the stage for use
of a new na nocomposite approach
in developing bulk TE materials of
125 high performance and low cost [11].
120 There is much scope for improve-
115 ment of a T E G to be appl ied to
110 future automobiles.
105
100 CONCLUSIONS
95
Ecological awareness is all important
Total Power (W)

90
for our environment. How to trans-
85
fer the waste heat to electric power
80
from exhaust pipes is discussed, which
75
70 might serve to decrease the consump-
65 tion of petroleum. We have presented
60 a model of a thermal resistor network
55 5 Fins to estimate the power generated with
50 10 Fins TEG modules and investigated a con-
45 22 Fins cept of har vest ing waste heat with
40 TEG in automobile applications. To
10 20 30 apply the high performance of new
External Flow Velocity (m/s)
nanocrystalline TE materials into the
developed T EG modu le wou ld be
FIGURE 5 Simulation results: total power generated by 18 TEG with varied speed of external ver y important for the automobiles
flow and fin structures.
in future.

32 | IEEE NANOTECHNOLOGY MAGAZINE | JUNE 2009

ABOUT THE AUTHORS
Da-Jeng Yao (djyao@mx.nthu.edu.tw)
received his Ph.D. degree in mechani-
cal and aerospace engineering from the
University of California at Los Ange-
les in 2001. He is currently an asso-
ciate professor with the Institute of
NanoEngineering and MicroSystems,
Depa r t ment of Power Mecha n ica l
Engineering, and Department of Engi-
neering System and Science, National
Tsing Hua University, Hsinchu, Tai-
wan, Republic of China.
Ke-Jyun Yeh (g946211@oz.nthu.edu.
tw) is an M.S. graduate student with
Power Mechanical Engineering Depart-
ment, National Tsing Hua University,
Hsinchu, Taiwan, Republic of China.
Cheng-Ting Hsu (d9635809@ oz.
nthu.edu.tw) received his M.S. degree
from the Institute of Nanotechnology,
National Chiao Tung University, Hsin-
chu, Taiwan, Republic of China. He is
currently a Ph.D. graduate student with
the NanoEngineering and MicroSystems
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Institute, National Tsing Hua University,
Hsinchu, Taiwan, Republic of China.
Ben-Mou Yu (ben.yu@wiselife.com.
tw) received his Ph.D. degree in elec-
tric engineering from the University of
California at Los Angeles in 1992. He is
currently a chief technical officer of Wise
Life Technology dedicated in thermo-
electric and its related applications.
Jinn-Shing Lee (marble.lee@ msa.
hinet.net) received his Ph.D. degree in
chemistry from Chung Yuan Christian
University, Chung-Li, Taiwan, Repub-
lic of China. He is currently a research-
er with Chemical Division, Chung Shan
Institute of Science and Technology,
Lung-Tan, Taiwan, Republic of China.
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