Design and Simulation of Thermoelectric Generator to Recover Waste Heat of Chimney

Thermoelectric generators (TEGs) offer a promising method to convert thermal energy into electricity. This study investigates thermoelectric generators and emphasizes the importance of material selection for optimizing their performance. Using ANSYS Fluent simulations, the researchers vary the temperature difference and measure power output to analyze TEG
behavior. The results demonstrate a positive correlation between TEG voltage and power, and the temperature difference, as well as an increase with external load. Furthermore, TEGs’ orientation and arrangement have a great impact on how much power they produce. The study examines the consequences of expanding the size of the chimney and the quantity of TEGs, and it finds benefits for power generation. However, using fans reduced the amount of electricity generated to 30.58 W, 27.83 W and 24.92 W were recorded for the first, second and third fan speeds, respectively. The highest power production is notably correlated with larger temperature differences; for the 90 TEG modules, a maximum of 37.85 W was recorded at zero fan speed. These results offer insightful information about the design and optimization of TEGs for applications involving energy harvesting, power generation and waste heat recovery. To improve power output and efficiency, more investigation is required into substitute thermoelectric materials and TEG module design optimization.