Effect of Topology Structure on the Output Performance of an Automobile Exhaust Thermoelectric Generator

[摘要] The majority of the thermal energy released in an automotive internal combustion cycle is exhausted as waste heat through the tail pipe. This paper describes an automobile exhaust thermoelectric generator (AETEG), designed to recycle automobile waste heat. A model of the output characteristics of each thermoelectric device was established by testing their open circuit voltage and internal resistance, and combining the output characteristics. To better describe the relationship, the physical model was transformed into a topological model. The connection matrix was used to describe the relationship between any two thermoelectric devices in the topological structure. Different topological structures produced different power outputs; their output power was maximised by using an iterative algorithm to optimize the series-parallel electrical topology structure. The experimental results have shown that the output power of the optimal topology structure increases by 18.18% and 29.35% versus that of a pure in-series or parallel topology, respectively, and by 10.08% versus a manually defined structure (based on user experience). The thermoelectric conversion device increased energy efficiency by 40% when compared with a traditional car.

[发布机构] Hubei Key Laboratory of Advanced Technology for Automotive Components, Automobile Engineering Institute, Wuhan University of Technology, 205 Luoshi Road, Hongshan District, Wuhan; 430070, China^1;School of Automation, Wuhan University of Technology, Wuhan; 430070, China^2;Department of Civil and Environment Engineering, University of Wisconsin, Madison, United States^3

[效力级别] 电工学

[关键词] Automobile exhaust thermoelectric generators;Connection matrices;Electrical topologies;Internal combustion cycles;Output characteristics;Thermoelectric conversion;Thermoelectric devices;Topological structure