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Energy Procedia 75 (2015) 645 650

The 7th International Conference on Applied Energy ICAE2015

Power generation from waste heat using Heat Pipe and

Thermoelectric Generator
M.F Remelia,b* , L. Kiatbodina, B.Singh a,b , K.Verojporna, A.Datea,
A.Akbarzadeha
a
School of Aerospace, Mechanical & Manufacturing Engineering, RMIT University, Bundoora, Vic 3083, Australia
b
Faculty of Mechanical Engineering, Universiti Teknologi MARA (UiTM), 40450 Shah Alam, Selangor, Malaysia.

Abstract

This paper presents the investigation of power generation using the combination of heat pipes and thermo-electric
generators. A majority of thermal energy in the industry is dissipated as waste heat to the environment. This waste
heat can be utilized further for power generation. The related problems of global warming and dwindling fossil fuel
supplies has led to improving the efficiency of any industrial process being a priority. One method to improve the
efficiency is to develop methods to utilize waste heat that is usually wasted. Two promising technologies that were
found to be useful for this purpose were thermoelectric generators and heat pipes. Therefore, this project involved
making a bench type, proof of concept model of power production by thermoelectric generators using heat pipes and
simulated hot air.The laboratory experiment of the proposed system was obtained with a counter flow air duct heat
exchanger. The results obtained show an increase in the ratio of mass flow rate in upper duct to lower duct has a
positive effect on the overall system performance. A higher mass flow rate ratio results in a higher amount of heat
transfer and higher power output. The proposed system can be used for waste heat recovery from the industry where
thermal energy is used in their daily process.
2015
2015Published by Elsevier
The Authors. Ltd. This
Published by is an openLtd.
Elsevier access article under the CC BY-NC-ND license
(http://creativecommons.org/licenses/by-nc-nd/4.0/).
Selection and/or peer-review under responsibility of ICAE
Peer-review under responsibility of Applied Energy Innovation Institute
Keywords: Power generation; Waste heat; Heat pipes; Thermoelectric generator

1. Introduction

Growing demand for energy consumption has become a major problem facing the world today. It is
estimated that globally, only one third of all energy usages were utilized while the remaining is rejected
as waste heat. A large part of global energy usage is consumed in the form of thermal energy [1]. This has
triggered off an intriguing challenge for scientists and engineers to utilize the waste heat from the
industry. Thermo-electric generator (TEG) is a solid state device capable of converting thermal energy to
electrical energy. There are no moving parts in TEG and therefore no maintenance is required for long
operation [2]. The use of heat pipe can transfer a large amount of heat over a relatively long distance due

1876-6102 2015 Published by Elsevier Ltd. This is an open access article under the CC BY-NC-ND license
(http://creativecommons.org/licenses/by-nc-nd/4.0/).
Peer-review under responsibility of Applied Energy Innovation Institute
doi:10.1016/j.egypro.2015.07.477
646 M.F Remeli et al. / Energy Procedia 75 (2015) 645 650

to its high thermal conductivity [3]. It is very effective and simple device because of its uncomplicated
configuration, no power input requirement, no moving parts, passive heat transferring, compactness and
lightweight. There are many ongoing researches on thermoelectric power generation undertaken in many
countries such as U.K., the U.S., Ukraine, Australia, Korea and Japan [1]. This study will provide a
continuous research on thermoelectric power generation that will not only lead to an improvement in its
feasible performance solutions, but also to the future prospect of promising energy conservation
technology.

Nomenclature
PElec TEG Electrical power of thermoelectric generator [W]
Maximum heat transfer rate [W]
QH Heat input into module [J]
QC Heat removed from the cooled side [J]
R Thermal resistance [ C/W]
Rtotal Total thermal resistance [ C/W]
T Temperature [ K]
T Temperature difference [ C]
Mass flow rate [Kg/s]
Cp Heat capacity [J/ K]
TEG Thermoelectric generator
HPTEG Heat pipe and Thermoelectric generator
Greek symbols
TEG Conversion efficiency [%]

* Corresponding author. Tel.: +61-4262-9198-1

E-mail address: fairuzremeli@gmail.com.

2. Description of the proposed system

A concept of power generation system using heat pipe and thermoelectric generators was
developed uniquely for waste heat recovery based on counter-flow type system in the School of
Aerospace, Mechanical and Manufacturing Engineering, RMIT University [4]. The system is composed
of TEG sandwiched between two copper blocks containing 4 heat pipes to transfer the heat from lower
duct to heat up one side of TEG and then discharge the heat to upper duct such that the other side of TEG
is cooled down. The air flowing through the duct is facilitated by the fans placed at the inlet of the two
ducts. The variable-speed fan is placed at the inlet of the upper duct while the fixed-speed fan is placed at
the inlet of lower duct. The heat source in lower duct is supplied with a variable-temperature heater
placed next to the fixed-speed fan in order to heat up an incoming air to the heat pipes. Due to the heat
transfer from the lower and the upper duct of the system, the temperature difference between the TEG
will result in power generation due to the temperature gradient [2]. Furthermore, the designed system will
 M.F Remeli et al. / Energy Procedia 75 (2015) 645 650 647

likely enable a high recovery ratio of waste heat since the temperature of flowing air over lower heat pipe
is increased by the preheated air from the upper heat pipe [4]. The module of thermoelectric cell
sandwiched by copper blocks and the proposed concept of the counter-flow type system is illustrated in
Fig. 1. The advantage of this system is that the ability of the heat pipe to transfer heat in a passive mode
without any moving components allows for a low maintenance system for a long period of time.

(a) (b)
Fig. 1. (a) Module of heat pipe and thermoelectric generator [5] ; (b) The concept of power generation from
waste heat using heat pipe and thermoelectric generator [4].

3. Experimental method

Figure 2 below shows an experimental test rig that used for the experiment. The setup was
designed to accommodate 8 modules of TEG sandwiched between two copper blocks. Each module
consists of 4 heat pipes and 6 thermoelectric generator (TEG) (40mm x 40mm). The heat pipes are
attached with 62 rectangular fins.

Fig. 2. Experimental rig used for testing

648 M.F Remeli et al. / Energy Procedia 75 (2015) 645 650

In the experimental set up, the Agilent data logger was used to record the stable state data of the
air temperature and the electrical power generated by the system which can be converted automatically to
a readable computer file. The heat source was supplied with a copper coil-heater set at the temperature of
108 C. Experiment of test rig was performed over a range of airspeeds in the upper duct. An output of
open circuit voltage was obtained by adjusting the external resistance gradually to attain the maximum
power output of the system. The external resistance applied to the system were varied 500 Ohm to 50
Ohm.
The electric power generation for the system can be written in the following formula [3]:

(1)

where Qmax is the total rate of heat transfer through a counter-flow heat exchanger duct of the system. The
power conversion efficiency can be determined by the ratio of the generated electrical power of TEG and
the heat input into the module (QH) [6]:

(2)

The term (QC) is the heat removed from the cold side, which is defined as:

(3)

4. Experimental results

The result of the output power versus voltage for different air velocity and the result of heat
transfer rate versus maximum power output at different mass flow rate ratio are shown in Fig. 3 below. It
can be seen that total power produced by the system increases when external load resistance were
increased. The peaks at each plot again indicate the maximum power of the system which implies the
external resistance and internal resistance of TEG has been equalized. It is noted that the velocity of air
flowing in the upper duct was increased from the lowest to the highest. Accordingly, the first velocity
shown in the graph is the lowest airspeed while the last velocity is the highest airspeed. From the result in
the figure 3 (b), it is evident that there is a significant rise in the rate of heat transfer and maximum power
output when the ratio of mass flow rate in upper duct over mass flow rate in lower duct is higher.

(a) (b)
 M.F Remeli et al. / Energy Procedia 75 (2015) 645 650 649

Fig. 3. (a) Power output produced by the system versus voltage at different air velocity; (b) Heat transfer rate and
maximum power output with respect to the ratio of mass flow rate

5. Conclusion and Recommendation

This research generates a novel concept of the power generation from waste heat using a
combination of heat pipe and thermoelectric generator with investigations into key performance
parameters such as maximum power output and heat transfer rate. The experimental result shows that an
increase in the ratio of mass flow rate in upper duct to lower duct has a positive effect on the overall
system performance. A higher mass flow rate ratio results in a higher amount of heat transfer and greater
power output.
ACKNOWLEDGEMENT
The author would like to acknowledge the support of the Ministry of Higher Education, (MOHE)
Malaysia and Universiti Teknologi MARA (UiTM) for funding higher degree research study (PhD) at
RMIT University, Australia.

References

[1] Kajikawa T. Thermoelectric power generation system recovering industrial waste heat. Thermoelectrics handbook:
macro to nano. CRC/Taylor & Francis; 2006: 50-1.
[2] Snyder GJ. Small thermoelectric generators. The Electrochemical Society Interface 2008; 17(3): 54.
[3] Lee HS . Thermal design: heat sinks, thermoelectrics, heat pipes, compact heat exchangers, and solar cells. John Wiley
& Sons; 2010.
[4] Remeli MF, Date A, Baljit S, Lippong T, Randeep S, Akbarzadeh A. Combined Thermosyphon Thermoelectric Model
(TTM) for Waste Heat Recovery and Power Generation. Proc.of 11th International Heat Pipe Symposium (11th IHPS)
2013.
[5] Remeli M.F, Lippong T, Date A, Baljit S, Akbarzadeh A. Simultaneous power generation and heat recovery using a heat
pipe assisted thermoelectric generator system. Energy Conversion and Management 2015; 91: 110-119.
[6] Zorbas KT, Hatzikraniotis E, and Paraskevopoulos KM. Power and efficiency calculation in commercial TEG and
application in wasted heat recovery in automobile. Proc. of 5th European Conference on Thermoelectrics 2007.
650 M.F Remeli et al. / Energy Procedia 75 (2015) 645 650

Biography
Muhammad Fairuz Remeli holds MSc. Energy Conversion and Management from the
University of Applied Sciences Offenburg. He is also a lecturer in the mechanical
department, Universiti Teknologi MARA (UiTM), Malaysia. Currently enrolled as a Ph.D.
student at RMIT University, Melbourne, his main research focuses on recovering heat from industrial
waste heat.