Potential for performance improvement of the automobile thermoelectric generator by regulating vehicle speeds

Abstract

The driving conditions of internal combustion engine vehicles significantly impact the mass flow rate and temperature of the exhaust gas, which leads non-negligible influence on the performance of the automobile thermoelectric generator (ATEG). In this work, a transient fluid-thermal-electric multiphysics model is proposed to investigate the potential for performance improvement of the ATEG by regulating vehicle speeds under acceleration, deceleration, and reciprocation conditions. The results indicate that the ATEG output power can be improved under acceleration conditions and a larger acceleration rate contributed more significant enhancement, while its conversion efficiency under the same condition is decreased. In contrast, the conversion efficiency of the ATEG under the deceleration conditions is larger than that under acceleration conditions and the deceleration rate seemed to have limited impacts on the enhancement of conversion efficiency. Also, comparisons between different reciprocation conditions and the constant speed condition exhibit a maximum improvement of 249.36 % and 134.15 % in the average ATEG output power and conversion efficiency, respectively, in ATEG under the reciprocation condition with a speed range of 20–100 km/h. This work reveals the impact of different driving conditions on the ATEG performance and provides a promising practical way of improving the ATEG performance by regulating the vehicle speed.