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2013-01-2808
Published 11/27/2013
Copyright © 2013 SAE International
doi:10.4271/2013-01-2808
saepcmech.saejournals.org

Non Intrusive Exhaust Gas Heat Recovery System for an

Automobile: A Preliminary Investigation
David Neihguk
Aravindh Rajaram
Samir Rawte

ABSTRACT
A parallel flow concentric tube heat exchanger is designed to recover exhaust heat by using the exhaust pipe as the tube
side and the concentric tube as the shell side. The heat exchanger which is also called the primary heat exchanger is welded
concentrically to the intermediate exhaust pipe forming a double pipe heat exchanger. The shell side pipe consists of Cold
Water inlet and Hot Water outlet, while the tube side pipe carries the hot exhaust gases. The water flowing in the shell side
gets heated due to conduction and convection and is circulated through the Hot Water outlet to produce Hot Water on
demand. The same Hot Water is simultaneously circulated to the annular chamber of the secondary heat exchanger,
thereby transferring the heat to the Hot Box.

CITATION: Neihguk, D., Rajaram, A., and Rawte, S., "Non Intrusive Exhaust Gas Heat Recovery System for an
Automobile: A Preliminary Investigation," SAE Int. J. Passeng. Cars - Mech. Syst. 7(1):2014, doi:10.4271/2013-01-2808.
____________________________________

INTRODUCTION
Amid the economic uncertainties and a declining sales, a
demand for new technologies and innovative features that
will enhance the pleasure of driving to the customer is
inevitable. As the expectations of the conscious consumption
customer increases, there is an increasing emphasis on value
for money [1]. In other words, a car with luxurious features at
a competitive cost is the key to woo customers in this highly
competitive automotive industry.
Increasingly, customers are being given the opportunity to
customize their purchase, while the automakers are becoming
more adroit at understanding which customers create the most
value for them. Another dimension is the fact that cars are
evolving into electric appliances. Today, 22 percent of a car
is electronic content. In ten years, that will be 40 percent.
Connectivity will promote extended relationships with auto
owners fostering a greater customer-centric focus [2].
One way to enhance relationship of a car with its owners
is by providing features that will augment the pleasure of
driving at no additional or minimal cost. In this context, this
can be best done by making use of the sunk energy of the
vehicle that get wasted otherwise. For example, the heat
energy from the heated coolant and the exhaust gases.
Extraction of heat energy from the former will mean higher
pumping requirement to drive the flow of the coolant in the
annular chamber of the Hot Box and a reduced cooling
efficiency of the cooling system, whereas the later can be
done in a non-intrusive manner and without any adverse
impact on the back pressure of the exhaust system. Moreover,
the coolant oil used in the cooling system may lead to
contamination of the Hot Box [3].
A well known technology to recover exhaust heat is the
Thermo Electric Generator (TEG). TEG produces electric
power to supplement charging system in an automobile [6].
One of the objectives of TEG is improvement of fuel
economy without increased emission and in a cost effective
way. This is done by reducing the electric accessory loads on
the alternator by using the TEG generated power. The excess
energy, if any, can be used for propulsion in hybrid vehicles
[7]. This gain in fuel economy comes at the cost of increasing
back pressure of the exhaust system because of the changes in
cross section at the inlet and outlet of TEG, in addition to the
viscous drag caused by the fin surfaces [8].
Unlike TEG, Non Intrusive Exhaust Gas Heat Recovery
System (NEHRS) consumes electric energy from the 12 V

1
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battery for pumping work. A 12 V DC brushless pump is COMPONENTS OF NON INTRUSIVE

used for this purpose. The objective of NEHRS is to provide
seamless hot water on demand and a heating space called Hot EXHAUST GAS HEAT RECOVERY
Box, figure 7. NEHRS recovers heat without creating SYSTEM
perturbation in the exhaust flow and hence, no additional
The heat recovery system consists of the following
back pressure is developed.
components, figure 3 and figure 4:
The exhaust gas heat recovery system discussed in this
paper harnessed the thermal energy of the exhaust gases, and 1. Primary Heat Exchanger
used it for heating water to provide Hot Water on demand.
The same Hot Water is used for heating a closed container 2. Connectors
called Hot Box. The unique feature of this system is that, the 3. Hot Water Pump
heat exchange process takes place without the need for
bypassing the exhaust gases and thereby without increasing 4. Cold Water Inlet
the exhaust back pressure. Hence, without any adverse impact
on the volumetric efficiency of the engine. 5. Hot Water Outlet
Therefore, heat recovery from the exhaust system with 6. Hot Box or Secondary Heat Exchanger
water as the heat exchanger medium is found to be a more
pragmatic and hygienic proposition. 7. Exhaust Pipe

THERMAL LOSSES FROM EXHAUST 8. Control Valve

SYSTEM
The laws of thermodynamics indicate that with the Carnot
cycle, an ideal engine could achieve a maximum efficiency of
about 85% for typical heat generation and rejection
temperatures. The low heat rejection and the high thermal
efficiency cannot be achieved in practice for a number of
reasons [4-5]. However, the typical thermal efficiencies of
actual Diesel Internal Combustion Engines are in the range of
32-33 per cent in which the thermal losses from exhaust
system alone contributes to about 30 - 33 per cent as shown
in figure 1. Therefore, a mechanism for effective recuperation
of the heat loss from exhaust system is an important aspect of
efficient energy recovery system.
9. Electrical switch
10. Hoses
Primary Heat Exchanger
A recuperative indirect-contact-type of heat exchanger
where the heat transfer occurs through a separating wall, in
which the Cold water recovers some of the heat from the Hot
exhaust gas is found to be the most appropriate type of heat
exchanger for this type of application. The double pipe heat
exchanger is a parallel flow concentric tube heat exchanger
because the Cold Water and the Hot Exhaust Gas flow in the
same direction. The heat exchanger medium flows in the shell
side tube and the exhaust gas flows in the tube side tube [9]
[10], figure 2.

Figure 2. Parallel flow Double Pipe Heat Exchanger

Figure 1. Thermal losses from Exhaust System
Location
The Primary Heat Exchanger is a retrofitted part that is
adapted into the existing exhaust system of the vehicle. The
functions of various components of the exhaust system like
the Catalytic converter and muffler cannot be compromised.
Hence, determination of the position of the Primary Heat
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Exchanger in the exhaust system is a critical aspect of the
design. It is a well known fact that the performance of
catalytic converter depends on the exhaust gas temperature
among other parameters [11]. Therefore, the Primary Heat
Exchanger is located downstream at a distance of about 700
mm from the outlet of the Catalytic Converter at the
Intermediate Pipe as shown in figure 3 and figure 4.
Figure 3. Location of Heat Exchanger in the Exhaust
System
Diameter
The diameter of the shell side tube of the primary heat
exchanger is determined by the available packaging space
without compromising on the critical clearances of the
vehicle like ramp over angle and ground clearances [13].
Whereas, the diameter of the tube side pipe is the existing
intermediate pipe of the vehicle. With these constraints, the
outer diameter of the Primary Heat Exchanger is 120 mm and
the Outer pipe diameter of the Exhaust Pipe is 55.5 mm
which is equivalent to a hydraulic diameter of 64.5 mm.
Figure 4. Heat Exchanger in the Intermediate Pipe of
Exhaust System
Length
Within the packaging limits in the underbody of the
vehicle, the length of the Primary Heat Exchanger is
optimized using AMESim [12]. Optimization is done for
primary heat exchanger length in the range of 500 mm to 100
3
mm. It was found that 150 mm length of primary heat
exchanger is able to meet the temperature targets as shown in
Table 1 and figure 5. The annular volume of the heat
exchanger is 1.3 Liters. The temperatures are in degree
Celsius.
Table 1. Optimization of Heat Exchanger length
Hot Box
The Secondary Heat Exchanger or Hot Box consists of an
annular chamber for the hot water to circulate and transfer
heat to the inner chamber of the Hot Box. Fins are added to
enhance the rate of heat transfer from the water into the Inner
Chamber as shown in figure 6.
The Water Inlet of the Hot Box is connected to the Hot
Water outlet of the Primary Heat Exchanger via the electronic
12 V DC brushless water pump and a T Junction connector.
The other side of the T junction is fitted with a control valve
to provide Hot Water on demand at the Hot Water Outlet.
The circulated Hot Water from the annular chamber of the
Hot Box is re-circulated back to the Primary Heat Exchanger
through the Water Outlet of the Hot Box. The Water outlet in
turn is connected to the said T Junction connector. The other
side of the T junction is connected to the cold water inlet. The
flow from Hot Box to the Primary Heat Exchanger and Cold
Water Inlet to the Primary Heat Exchanger is by gravity.
Figure 5. Optimization of length of Primary Heat
Exchanger
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Figure 6. Hot Box

Test Set Up
The intermediate pipe of the existing exhaust system is
replaced with a new intermediate pipe fitted with the primary
heat exchanger as shown in figure 7. The inlet and outlet of
the primary heat exchanger is connected to the Cold water
Inlet and Hot Water Outlet and Hot Box through pneumatic
hoses as shown in figure 8. Two types of thermocouples are
used for temperature measurement. K-type thermocouple is
used for measuring the Water and Hot Box temperature and
stem-type thermocouple is used for measuring the exhaust
gas temperature.
Figure 8. Location of Water Inlet, Water Outlet,
Electrical Switch, Control Valve and Hot Box
Experimental Testing
Static
Static testing is performed to measure the temperature of
the Hot water and Hot Box. The measurement is done at idle
condition for which the RPM is 750. It was observed that
after 15 minutes, the temperature of the Hot box and Hot
water is 37 and 39 degree Celsius respectively as shown in
Table 2. Temperature measurements are in degree Celsius.

Table 2. Results of Static testing

Where
T Temperature in degree Celsius
Figure 7. Location of Primary Heat Exchanger in actual
T1 Exhaust gas temperature before heat exchanger
vehicle
T2 Exhaust gas temperature after heat exchanger

T3 Hot Box temperature

T4 Cold water temperature

T5 Hot water temperature

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Dynamic
Dynamic testing is done under two conditions. Firstly, in
slow driving at about 10 kilometer per hour and subsequently
in Highway driving condition up to a maximum speed of 120
kilometer per hour. The initial and final temperatures in both
the cases are captured as shown in Table 3 and Table 4.
Table 3. Results of Dynamic testing at 10 kmph
The dips in temperature at about 45, 60 and 85 minutes in
figure 10 can be attributed to the refilling of water through
the cold water inlet and stoppage of the vehicle over the 120
Km long trip. During the course of testing, loss of water takes
place mainly due to leakage in the piping system. Addition of
water to compensate the loss of water, and bringing the
vehicle to a halt naturally bring down the exhaust gas
temperature and consequently the hot water and hot box
temperature.
Table 4. Results of Dynamic testing at Highway Driving
Figure 10. Temperature of Hot Box in Highway Driving
condition
Log mean temperature difference (LMTD)
The Log mean temperature difference for a parallel flow
double pipe heat exchanger is given by [10]
5
Where
The log mean temperature difference in degree Celsius for
the three cases are as given below:
CONCLUSIONS
The advantages of the technology lies in its possibility to
be implemented in the existing vehicle as it requires no or
less modification of the surrounding systems. The system can
be easily integrated with any of the existing cup holders
inside the vehicle. The potential of making potable Hot Water
is evident due to the fact that the Heat Recovery from
Exhaust System is without using the engine coolant or
bypassing the exhaust gases which can cause unhygienic
contamination to Hot Water.
Moreover, the main advantage of this system is in its
ability to recover exhaust gas heat without increasing exhaust
system back pressure and hence no effect on engine
performance. The location of the Primary Heat Exchanger
after the Catalytic Converter is another added advantage since
it do not disturb the emission performance of the vehicle.
The study shows that, adequate amount of heat energy can
be recovered from the exhaust gas. However, to make the
technology practically viable, more work needs to be done
including the control strategies to regulate the hot box
temperature. Other challenges include design of components
to make the water fit for drinking.
REFERENCES
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CONTACT INFORMATION
Mr. David Neihguk
Mahindra and Mahindra Ltd.
Phone: +91-9840230918
neihguk.david@mahindra.com

ACKNOWLEDGMENTS
The authors would like to acknowledge the support of the
Mr. K Sudharsan and his team from the Validation
Department of Mahindra Research Valley, Chennai for their
support. We also thank Mr Pund S and Loganathan
Balasubramanian from the Intellectual Property Cell of
Mahindra Research Valley for their continuous support in
filing the patent.