Semiconductors in Industrial Waste Heat Collection Improvements

Abstract

Thermoelectric generators (TEGs) use the Seebeck effect to transform thermal flow into electrical potential, have no moving parts, are low maintenance, have a long material life, and can be readily serviced. Utilizing these principles in conjunction with heat transfer manipulation, TEGs could be utilized as a new avenue for energy recovery. A cubical system was built with TEGs within the walls of the structure. The top was covered with standard building materials to simplify the proof of concept. The inside was then heated to be approximately 30 ̊C with manipulation of the thermal conductance of the cover of the system. The heat recovery is ~40mW for the control case and ~50 mW for the experimental case. Using the regression model indicates, based on the improvement in energy recovery, that this technology and approach can be implemented on a greater scale to produce the desired result of increased energy savings, through increased energy recovery. The results of the study netted some sporadic data so a much simpler system was tracked. This simple system in conjunction with the other collected data showed an improvement of power production. The relationship between the suppression and the generation is related to the ratio changes of thermal fluxes throughout the system.