PAUL EGHOSA OROBOR

Most industrial heat exchanger devices, such as condensers, boilers, furnaces, and pipelines generate a certain amount of heat waste due to temperature gradient in the fluid. Leading to reduction of the efficiency, increased emissions, and higher fuel consumption. Thermoelectric generator (TEG) technology offers a sustainable solution by utilising the waste heat to generate electricity. This project focuses on the performance of the TEG process using the counter-flow heat exchanger and process control mechanism to monitor the results evaluated from the different thermal transfer conditions. The primary objective is to recover electricity from heat waste from industrial pipelines or heat exchanger devices, and to assess the feasibility and predict the performance of TEG for sustainable power generation. The experiment components are aluminium heat exchanger tubes, thermal paste, TEG modules (SP1848-27145), thermal paste, Arudino, Voltage and Current sensor, 16X2 LCD display, and Multimeter. The setup of the experiment utilised two aluminium heat tubes: the upper tubes flowed with Hot water, while the lower part circulated with cooling water. The five series modules were mounted between the surfaces of both heat exchanger tubes using thermal paste to ensure heat transfer. The reading of the voltage and current values was displayed using a 16X2 LCD with Arduino Nano or a Multimeter. Experimental results show that the system successfully converted a measurable fraction of waste heat into electrical energy. While the power output and efficiency were relatively low compared to the total heat transfer across the exchanger tubes, the system achieved a maximum output of 9.28 V and 3.17 W, with an efficiency of 14.5%. Based on the empirical model, 5000 thermoelectric modules (TEMs) could generate a maximum power output of 3.17 kW when properly installed, which can improve the overall efficiency in the industrial application.

Most industrial heat exchanger devices, such as condensers, boilers, furnaces, and pipelines
generate a certain amount of heat waste due to temperature gradient in the fluid. Leading to
reduction of the efficiency, increased emissions, and higher fuel consumption.
Thermoelectric generator (TEG) technology offers a sustainable solution by utilising the
waste heat to generate electricity. This project focuses on the performance of the TEG
process using the counter-flow heat exchanger and process control mechanism to monitor the
results evaluated from the different thermal transfer conditions. The primary objective is to
recover electricity from heat waste from industrial pipelines or heat exchanger devices, and to
assess the feasibility and predict the performance of TEG for sustainable power generation.
The experiment components are aluminium heat exchanger tubes, thermal paste, TEG
modules (SP1848-27145), thermal paste, Arudino, Voltage and Current sensor, 16X2 LCD
display, and Multimeter. The setup of the experiment utilised two aluminium heat tubes: the
upper tubes flowed with Hot water, while the lower part circulated with cooling water. The
five series modules were mounted between the surfaces of both heat exchanger tubes using
thermal paste to ensure heat transfer. The reading of the voltage and current values was
displayed using a 16X2 LCD with Arduino Nano or a Multimeter.
Experimental results show that the system successfully converted a measurable fraction of
waste heat into electrical energy. While the power output and efficiency were relatively low
compared to the total heat transfer across the exchanger tubes, the system achieved a
maximum output of 9.28 V and 3.17 W, with an efficiency of 14.5%. Based on the empirical
model, 5000 thermoelectric modules (TEMs) could generate a maximum power output of
3.17 kW when properly installed, which can improve the overall efficiency in the industrial
application.