Development of a System for Thermoelectric Heat Recovery from Stationary Industrial Processes

Abstract

The hot forming process of steel requires temperatures of up to 1300°C. Usually, the invested energy is lost to the environment by the subsequent cooling of the forged parts to room temperature. Thermoelectric systems are able to recover this wasted heat by converting the heat into electrical energy and feeding it into the power grid. The proposed thermoelectric system covers an absorption surface of half a square meter, and it is equipped with 50 Bismuth-Telluride based thermoelectric generators, five cold plates, and five inverters. Measurements were performed under production conditions of the industrial environment of the forging process. The heat distribution and temperature profiles are measured and modeled based on the prevailing production conditions and geometric boundary conditions. Under quasi-stationary conditions, the thermoelectric system absorbs a heat radiation of 14.8 kW and feeds electrical power of 388 W into the power grid. The discussed model predicts the measured values with slight deviations.

Comparison of Combustion Models for Lifted Hydrogen Flames within RANS Framework

“…Current power generation techniques by means of thermal machinery [1] are mainly dependent on combustion. As the endeavors for utilizing new energy sources [2] and recovery technologies [3] continue, combustion is prognosed to remain as an important technology for energy conversion, also for the future. It should be noted that combustion plays an important role also for renewable energies, as it is the conversion technology for biomass [4].…”

Experimental and numerical analysis of forced convection in a twisted tube

“…Heat exchanger is a device facilitating heat transfer between two or more fluids [1]. It is used in a vast number of industrial applications, such as thermal power plants, chemical processing plants, air conditioning equipment, refrigerators, radiator for space vehicles as well as automobiles, extending up to micro-scale applications [2,3]. Obviously, for improving the efficiency of energy utilization, enhancement of heat transfer in such applications plays an important role.…”

Heat Transfer Characteristics of Heat Exchangers for Waste Heat Recovery from a Billet Casting Process

“…For this reason, some studies have investigated the application of the TEG system for recovering industrial waste heat recently. Ebling et al [9] installed a TEG system for the cooling process of steel forging products using a copper absorber plate to recover radiative waste heat, and produced 388 W of electric power at a heat source temperature of 1300 • C with an efficiency of 2.6%. Yazawa et al [10] conducted research on the application of the TEG system to a glass melting furnace to recover waste heat.…”

“…In addition, it is necessary to conduct research on the geometry and types of heat exchangers as important design parameters of the TEG system according to the waste heat generation patterns. In particular, for radiative energy, plate-type heat exchangers have been mostly used in the TEG system for heat sources located on horizontal surfaces, such as conveyor belts [9,11]. In actual processes, however, waste heat is generated from more complex geometry and plate-type heat exchangers cannot recover heat efficiently.…”