ACKNOWLEDG

EMENT
I would like to express my special thanks to my school’s
principal ‘MISS SARASWATHI’, to the management
team of our school and my physics mam MS. ANITHA
who gave me the golden opportunity to do this
wonderful project on the topic “Thermoelectric
Generator”, which also helped me in doing a lot of
Research and I came to know about so many new
things.

Secondly I would also like to thank my parents and

friends who helped me a lot in finishing this project
within the limited time.
 INDEX
Content:
 Certificate
 Acknowledgement
 Abstract
 Introduction
 Thermoelectric Modules
 Thermoelectric Generator
 TEG Construction
 Working Principal
 Experiment
 Types of TEG
 Advantages and
Disadvantages of TEG
 Application
  Bibliography

ABSTRACT
The thermoelectric generators recover useful energy by the
function of thermoelectric modules which can convert
waste heat energy into electricity from automotive exhaust. In
the actual operation, the electrical connected thermoelectric
modules are operated under temperature mismatch conditions
and then the problem of decreased power output causes due to
the inhomogeneous temperature gradient distribution on heat
exchanger surface. Thermoelectric generators (TEGs) have
demonstrated their ability to directly convert thermal energy
into an electrical one via the Seebeck effect. Also, they are
environmentally friendly because they do not contain
chemical products, they operate silently because they do not
have mechanical structures and/or moving parts, and they can
be fabricated on many types of substrates like silicon,
polymers, and ceramics. Furthermore, TEGs are position-
independent, present a long operating lifetime and are
suitable for integration into bulk and flexible devices. This
paper presents in-depth analysis of TEGs, starting by an
extensive description of their working principle, types, and
used materials. This manuscript also describes the
exploitation of TEGs in various fields starting from low-power
applications (medical and wearable devices, internet of
things, and WSN: wireless sensor network) to high-power
applications (industrial electronics, automotive engines, and
aerospace).

INTRODUCTIO
N
The thermoelectric generator (TEG) is a device for directly
converting thermal energy into electrical energy based on
the Seebeck effect and it has presented urgent potential in the
case of waste heat recovery. The TEGs have many advantages
such as no moving mechanical parts, long-lived, quiet,
environmentally friendly and requiring little maintenance. As
a significant cause for the fuel crisis and environmental
pollution, the internal combustion engine (ICE) drives
vehicles with only 30% of the total heat generated by the
gasoline used. During this process, the other 40% of the heat
is lost through waste gas exhaust and 30% by the coolant. The
TEG using automobile waste exhaust as heat source is
believed a new way to reduce ICE loads as well as
the alternator and then decrease fuel consumption and
environmental pollution.

This is discovered by Seebeck in 1821.Peltier did exactly this

in 1834 by discovering the opposite effect and Lord Calvin in
1851 formulated the laws that link these two phenomena. In
the following century, in 1909 Edmuind Altenkirch correctly
calculated for the first time the energy efficiency of a
thermoelectric generator now known as figure of merit.

Many automobile manufacturers, such as GM in the USA,

BMW in the Germany, successfully developed TEGs to
recover the exhaust waste heat. Considering the challenges of
complex automotive environment and being made
commercially, the Be2Ti3-based bulk thermoelectric
material was selected by most of the automobile
manufacturers for application. However, limited by the
thermoelectric materials, the efficiency of TEG system was
limited and totally less than 5%. It was noticed that the
temperature of exhaust gas is not constant and reducing along
the flow direction in the TEG system in Lu's work. The
thermal variability and poorly controlled thermal
conductivity accounts for the individual module's poor
working performance under temperature mismatch
conditions. Hsu et al. suggested applying an appropriate
pressure on the thermoelectric modules to improve
performance. Andrea et al. experimentally quantified the
power loss due to temperature mismatch in TEG arrays and
discussed advantages as well as drawbacks of TEG arrays in
series and parallel. It is convinced that the thermoelectric
modules in series connection perform better than in parallel
connection.

In this study, an individual thermoelectric module (TEM) test

system has been adopted for the measuring, testing and
analysing of the data acquired from the TEM used. The effect
of clamp force pressed on the module is discussed and a
database about the max power output is obtained under
various temperature differences. Based on the experiment of
individual module, the performance of TEG system (TEMs
connected electrically in series) is tested and analysed with a
test bench. In addition, the power lost due to mismatched
conditions is quantified and discussed. The performance of
the TEG is improved by the adjustment of thermal insulation,
as explained in the following sections.
THERMOELECTRIC
MODULES
A typical TEG module consists of between ten and a hundred
thermoelectric elements of type n and type p, electrically
connected in series and thermally in parallel, and interposed
between two ceramic layers, as shown in below figure. The p-
n pairs are joined by conductive tabs connected to the
elements via a low melting point solder (PbSn or BiSn). When
a temperature gradient occurs between its two junctions, the
TEG converts thermal energy into electrical energy according
to the principle of the Seebeck effect. This flat bulk
architecture is the most widely used and marketed. The
critical challenge in the development of TEGs is the
degradation of original properties brought on by thermal
fatigue, which is in turn caused by thermal expansion and
shock. This degradation can be brutal or progressive and
result in a decrease in service life and efficiency. In fact,
during normal operation of TE devices, the shunts can
experience different effects in expansion from temperature
sources, which cause increased stress at the interface between
them. These stresses are generally the main cause of
mechanism failure and consequently the principal reason why
TE materials are not sintered and integrated into shunts.
 THERMOELECTRIC
GENERATOR
The thermoelectric generator is a device, where electric
energy is produced directly from heat energy. They are also
called Seebeck generators since they used Seebeck effect to
produce power. In conventional power plant, like thermal
power plants, nuclear power plants, fuel is used to heat the
water. Generally, coal is burnt in that process. After the water
starts boiling, and converted into steam, at high pressure, this
steam is used to rotate the turbine and hence mechanical
energy is converted into electric energy by Fleming’s law of
electromagnetic induction. In this process, there are two stage
energy conversions, first heat energy is converted into
mechanical energy and the mechanical energy is converted
into electric energy. Because of this two-stage process, the
efficiency of the overall system goes down. If we can directly
convert heat energy to electrical energy, efficiency will be
more. In the thermoelectric generator, heat energy is directly
converted to electric energy, which has high economic
benefits. Thermoelectric generators fundamentally use the
thermoelectric principle of operation, which is based on the
temperature gradient.
Thermoelectric Peltier power generator
 THERMOELECTRIC
GENERATOR
CONSTRUCTION
Constructional, it is made up of semiconductor materials to
create temperature gradient. The semiconductor materials
used to form a thermocouple, which creates the temperature
gradient and a potential difference is created. For this
semiconductor device, both p-type and n-type materials are
used. Metals alloys are formed using this semiconductor
device. Metal alloys like Bi2Te3, Sb2Te3 are used to create
this semiconductor path for the flow of charges.
 WORKING
PRINCIPLE
The thermoelectric generator working principle is, it works on
the concept of thermoelectric effect or Seebeck effect. As per
this effect, when a temperature gradient is produced between
two ends, the electrons start flowing from one end to another
end and create a potential difference. For the creation of the
temperature gradient, thermocouple devices have to be used.
Thermocouple devices are fundamentally semiconductor
device which has high electrical conductivity and low thermal
conductivity. For this, the properties of semiconductor devices
are used.

They have generally four valence electrons in the outermost

orbit. So they can be either p-type or n-type. In an n-type
semiconductor, the majority of charge carriers are the
electrons. They are also called donors. In p-type
semiconductors, the majority of charge carriers are the holes.
Holes are also called the absence of electrons. The p-type
material is also called as acceptors. So when a p-type and n-
type material are connected in a proper manner, and a
temperature gradient is created, then it forms a potential
difference across two points. Due to which the electrons start
flowing from one end to another. This creates a
thermoelectric generator. The thermoelectric generator
temperature difference is created by this principle.
 EXPERIMENT
Materials required:

◾Ply wood ◾Aluminium Sheet (5×6cm) ◾Peltier Module ◾Thermal

paste ◾Small DC motor ◾Metal container/bowl

Procedure:
 DIFFERENT
TYPES
The classification of thermoelectric generators depends on the
method by which input heat is produced. Different types of
thermoelectric generators are:

Fossil Fuel Generators: In this type, the heat is generated by burning

fossil fuels; the fossil fuels used for this purpose are natural gas,
propane, butane, etc. Its range is from 10W to 100 W.

Solar Source Generators: In this type, the heat is produced using

solar energy.

Nuclear Fuelled Generators: In this type, nuclear energy is used to

input the heat. Its power rating is high as compared to other
generators. It may go 1000 W.
 ADVANTAGES AND
DISADVANTAGES
The advantages of thermoelectric generators include the following:

 Economically friendly

 Recycles waste heat

 A reliable source of energy

 Lower production cost

The disadvantages of thermoelectric generators include the
following:

 Low efficiency

 Limited applications

 Requires a constant source of heat

 Energy cannot be stored

APPLICATIONS
The application of thermoelectric generator includes the
following:

 Electronics
 Space applications
 Renewable energy sources
 Gas pipelines
 Radio communication
 BIBLIOGRAPHY
https://en.wikipedia.org

https://www.researchgate.net

https://www.watelectrical.com

https://www.britannica.com