Performance of Single Cell and Double Stacked Thermoelectric Generator Modules for Low Temperature Waste Heat Recovery

Thermoelectric generator (TEG) is an energy conversion technology that is capable of converting temperature difference into electrical output. This manuscript focused on different design setups of TEG module in recovering waste heat captured from hydrogen fuel cell vehicle (FCV) into useful electrical energy. Effects of single cell (SC) and double stacked (DS) TEG configurations were analysed before an additional heat sink (HS) was installed in the heating section for heat transfer enhancement. The performance of all design setups was tested under waste heat temperature (T wh ) of 53°C and 58°C. Under T wh of 58°C, the maximum power point (MPP) was enhanced from 0.23mW/cm 2 (SC TEG design setup) to 2.8mW/cm 2 (DS TEG configuration with HS addition design setup), by approximately 92%. Rapid increase in MPP was obtained as HS was applied in the TEG module due to higher rate of waste heat capturing. The installation of HS is proved to be a successful add-on to the TEG module for WHR from low temperature waste heat.