Tawil et al./ Zulfaqar J. Def. Sci. Eng. Tech. Vol.

5 Issue 2 (2022)

Zulfaqar J. Def. Sci. Eng. Tech. Vol. 5 Issue 2 (2022) 102-111

ZULFAQAR Journal of
Defence Science, Engineering & Technology
Journal homepage: https://zulfaqarjdset.upnm.edu.my/index.php/zjdset/index

ENERGY HARVESTING FROM EXHAUST WASTE HEAT USING THERMOELECTRIC

GENERATOR (TEG) MODULES

Siti Nooraya Mohd Tawila, b,*, Anis Shahida Niza Mokhtara, b, Murniati Syaripuddina, Muhammad
Aidhil Samsudinc

a Department of Electrical & Electronics Engineering, Faculty of Engineering, National Defense University of Malaysia, Sg. Besi Camp,
57000 Kuala Lumpur, Malaysia
b Centre for Tropicalisation, Universiti Pertahanan Nasional Malaysia, Kem Perdana Sungai Besi, 57000 Kuala Lumpur, Malaysia
c Royal Malaysian Navy, Lumut Naval Base, 32100 Lumut, Perak, Malaysia

*Corresponding author: [email protected]

ARTICLE INFO ABSTRACT

Article history: Gas and electricity have been utilized greatly as the amount of usage in residential,
Received industrial, and transportation has increases which would lead to the production of
27-08-2022 waste energy in the form of waste heat from the numerous electrical, machinery and
Received in revised
electronic appliances. In this study, harvesting energy from the waste heat of
30-08-2022
motorcycle exhaust using thermoelectric generator (TEG) modules was aimed for a
Accepted
15-11-2022 better output. TEG was used to convert heat energy to electrical energy whenever
Available online there was the presence of temperature difference between the hot and cold side of
31-12-2022 the TEG. It was found that, the higher the number of TEG used has achieved even
higher output voltage and current due to the arrangement of series array of TEG
Keywords: modules producing up to 5.802W during the engine ramp.
Thermoelectric
generator, Waste heat,
Seebeck effect, Energy
harvesting

e-ISSN: 2773-5281
Type: Article
© 2022 UPNM Press. All rights reserved.

Introduction

In recent years, discussion on waste energy recovery has emerged and discoursed among researchers as
development of technologies especially in industrial and automotive grow rapidly. Due to the consumption
and operation of the technologies, an abundance of waste energy is produced. With numerous advanced
research, waste energy can be transformed into renewable energy which is very highly needed in current
generation. The usage in power generation, industrial processes, electrical machines, and automotive give
out heat as a waste heat [1]. Because of the increasing environmental and economic issues such as, energy
security, energy prices, progressively competitive global markets and stringent environmental emission
regulations; these are primary driving forces in solving for systematic, maintainable and economically
workable technologies for conversion and application of the energy [2]. In the developing era,
102
 Tawil et al./ Zulfaqar J. Def. Sci. Eng. Tech. Vol. 5 Issue 2 (2022)

manufacturing, data processing, heating, cooling, lighting, transportation and food processing are activities
that causes energy becoming crucial to the society and environment. Therefore, green technologies such as
solar photovoltaic, wind turbine, hydrogenation and biomass are essential are the subject of current
interest in finding appropriate solutions to overcome the energy and environmental problems [3].

Waste energy is able to recuperate by collecting them from various sources of energy used since a
large number industrial and transportation processes use a vast amounts of energy in the form of heat.
Thus with the heat and temperature variation produced as waste energy from many sources, renewable
energy can be harvested in means to recover and conserve the depletion of energy sources. Thermoelectric
can be significantly applied in harvesting energy from heat whereas Seebeck effect, Peltier effect, and
Thomson effect have been utilized in the devices. In this work, Thermoelectric generator (TEG) is an
essential component of the device to transform heat to electricity and vice versa with entirety on the
principle of the Seebeck effect. TEG is highly decisive, having motionless parts, and being environmentally
friendly, when related with conventional electric power generators [4]. Thermoelectric modules are
mandatory alternatives to heat engines in the harvesting of waste heat [1] as the development of
transformation (power generation) ability of TEGs is a critical factor to make TEGs more interesting for
recovering energy from waste heat.

Consumption of energy in human activities as an alternative energy becomes significantly important

as sources of energy for harvesting include, but are not limited, to light, thermal gradient, vibration, and
radio frequency radiation. Hence, almost 60% of waste heat is produced compare to the energy used in the
world. Therefore, TEG is used to harvest waste heat energy to become alternative source of energy.
However, the low efficiency in harvesting waste energy using TEG has been the basis of this study where
there is the necessity to further investigate the progress in attempt to increase the performance of
harvesting waste heat energy using TEG modules. This study is embarked to develop and assess the
thermoelectric based energy harvesting using TEG modules whereby the waste heat is harvested from the
motorcycle exhaust.

Experimental

This study focuses on the harvesting of waste heat from the motorcycle exhaust. The methodology is
divided into two main sections; circuit simulation and hardware of the waste heat energy harvesting system
is consisting of array of waste heat source, TEG modules and step-up DC-DC buck converter circuit as
indicated in Fig. 1.

For simulation process, by using Proteus Professional 7.7 software the simulation process is
conducted to design the circuit and to get the preliminary results based on the TEG modules with certain
specification and physical. While in terms of hardware, there are some components that are being used in
this work which is bismuth telluride-based TEG modules that are connected in series array and followed
by a step-up DC-to-DC converter to enhance output power.

Fig. 1: TEG-based energy harvesting

103
 Tawil et al./ Zulfaqar J. Def. Sci. Eng. Tech. Vol. 5 Issue 2 (2022)

Heat source

The waste heat produced by the motorcycle exhaust during the motorcycle engine running was chosen as
a heat source for the TEG to be converted into useful energy. TEG modules were positioned at the hottest
temperature to get the higher temperature difference. Once the temperature of the motorcycle Kawasaki
Z800 800cc exhaust was measured, it was possible to determine the most suitable area to place the TEG
modules. The heat produced was able to create a higher temperature difference as the higher the
temperature difference, the better output can be obtained from the TEG. TEG would perform better if it is
facing the hottest temperatures side. Fig. 3 reveals the potential heat source from the motorcycle exhaust
employed for this study.

Fig. 2: Heat source

TEG module

The main component to convert heat energy to electrical energy in this study is the TEG module. TEG
module of different materials with the same temperature difference could produce different output. In this
experiment, TEG consists of bismuth telluride (Bi2Te3) module that can hold out at maximum temperature
of 200℃ with the dimension of 40 mm length 40 mm wide and 3.4 mm height has been utilized.

Bismuth telluride-based TEG is used because of its wide availability in the market, and it performs
much better at lower temperatures [5] since the waste heat is in the range of low temperature and suitable
for the scope of this study (< 450 Kelvin). Bismuth telluride also has a good value of figure of merit; Z value
which is determined by Seebeck coefficient (α), electrical resistivity (ρ), and thermal conductivity (κ). The
larger the value of Z, the better properties of the thermoelectric material [6]. Hence, the voltage output that
can be produced by TEG depends on the size and the thickness of the module. To enhance the performance
of TEG, the number of TEG is increased and it is connected in series array. This is because such arrangement
system could produce excellent conversion efficiency for waste heat recovery using TEG module.

Heat sink

In this study, the type of materials and the geometry of heat sinks as a cooling system become the main role
in order to increase the performance of the TEG system. Elliptical shaped heat sink corresponds to least
thermal resistance and the graphite heat sink possessed the lowest thermal resistance while the aluminium
and copper have the highest [7]. Based on those materials, aluminium heat sink was chosen in this study
because of its utmost property in thermal resistance. The comparison of maximum temperature and
minimum temperature with the four different type of geometry of the heat sink which are parallel plate fin
heat sink (H1), parallel plate fin heat sink with difference length and thickness of fin (H2), staggered pin fin
(H3), elliptical pin fin (H4) and three different type of materials are shown in Table 1. From Table 1,
aluminium indicates the best performance in temperature difference.

104
 Tawil et al./ Zulfaqar J. Def. Sci. Eng. Tech. Vol. 5 Issue 2 (2022)

Table 1: The comparison of maximum temperature and minimum temperature with the four
different type of geometry of heat sink and three different types of materials [7]
Materials Temperature of heat sink models (℃)
Temperature H1 H2 H3 H4
Tmax 60 60 60 60
Aluminium
Tmin 25.52 25.51 25.13 25.12
Tmax 60 60 60 60
Copper
Tmin 26.62 26.61 25.56 25.53
Graphite Tmax 60 60 60 60
Tmin 32.71 32.39 30.39 30.32

Step-up DC to DC converter

Step-up DC-to-DC buck converter was used to boost the output voltage of TEG from 3V into 40V DC voltages.
The TEG modules are connected to the Step-up DC-to-DC buck converter and the circuit of the respective
converter is shown in Fig. 3.

Fig. 3: Step-up DC to DC buck converter

Results and discussions

For this study, several experiments have been carried out from the usage of waste heat in generating
voltage and current by using TEG modules. The results of the experiment were properly taken during
engine start, ramp and stop conditions. All the experiments were conducted by using motorcycle type
Kawasaki Z800 800cc with TEG modules attached on the exhaust pipe of the motorcycle as shown in Fig. 4.

105
 Tawil et al./ Zulfaqar J. Def. Sci. Eng. Tech. Vol. 5 Issue 2 (2022)

Fig. 4: Input part attached to exhaust system

During engine start

Before starting the engine, the equipment and instrument were set up as shown in Fig. 5 to measure the
temperature on the hot side and the cold side of TEG, voltage output, and current that produced by TEG.
The temperature values of hot and cold side of heat sink, the voltage and current were measured every
minute throughout the duration of 15 minutes.

Fig. 5: Setup of experiment

An experiment was also conducted to monitor the output voltage that produced from TEG versus
time when the engine started until minute 15th. Based on the graph in Figure 6, it shows that the voltage
increases when the time increases as the motorcycle exhaust also increases in temperature when there was
combustion in the engine system. Therefore, the hot side of TEG that attached to the exhaust indicates an
increase in temperature along with the increase in temperature difference between both parts.

106
 Tawil et al./ Zulfaqar J. Def. Sci. Eng. Tech. Vol. 5 Issue 2 (2022)

Fig. 6: Voltage vs. time

Through series of experiments, it has been observed that the maximum voltage produced is 37.80V
at 51.6℃ temperature difference between hot side and cold side of TEG modules. The current that has been
generated was at maximum during minute 15th which is 0.075A. By using basic formula of power (P=IV),
the maximum power that was produced by TEG during this experiment is 2.729W.

During engine ramp

An experiment was conducted when the engine of motorcycle is under “ramp” which means increasing in
combustion of the engine by the opening of throttle valve. It results in the temperature of exhaust from
motorcycle to increase due to time because amount of combustion occurred in the engine system
significantly greater. Therefore, the hot side temperature of TEG that attached to exhaust will increase as
well as the temperature difference between both sides of TEG. Similarly, the value of temperature on the
hot and the cold side of heat sink, the voltage and the current produced were measured and recorded every
minute for 15 minutes. The results recorded are shown in Fig. 7, Fig. 8, Fig. 9, and Fig. 10. Based on those
graphs, the maximum voltage produced is 40.10V at temperature difference between hot side and cold side
of TEG is 60.50 ºC. The current that has been generated is at the maximum during minute 10th which is
148.0 mA, whereas by using basic formula of power (P=IV), the maximum power produced by TEG during
this experiment is 5.802W.

Fig. 7: Temperature vs. time

107
 Tawil et al./ Zulfaqar J. Def. Sci. Eng. Tech. Vol. 5 Issue 2 (2022)

Fig. 8: Voltage vs. time

Fig. 9: Current vs. time

Fig. 10: Power vs. time

During engine stop

For the last experiment, data was also recorded when the engine of motorcycle was in stop condition.
Therefore, no combustion occurs within the engine system. Fig. 11 and Fig. 12 show the temperature
difference and voltage produced by TEG modules versus the time. We observed that the temperature
difference decreased when the time of engine approaching stop condition as no combustion occurred in
the motorcycle’s engine as the heat from the exhaust was released to surrounding area and later reducing
108
 Tawil et al./ Zulfaqar J. Def. Sci. Eng. Tech. Vol. 5 Issue 2 (2022)

the temperature of the exhaust system. Temperature on the hot side and the cold side achieved thermal
equivalent due to no heat supplied to the hot side of heat sink, and the voltage produced was also
decreasing. Based on all the results recorded in this experiment, the minimum voltage produced is 18.90V
at temperature difference of hot side and cold side of TEG is 15.70 ºC. In addition, the current that has been
generated is at the minimum during minute 15th that is 4.0 mA. By using basic formula of power (P=IV),
the minimum power that is produced by TEG during this experiment is 0.076 W.

Fig. 11: Temperature vs. time

Fig. 12: Voltage vs. time

Overall experimental result

Based on the data from all the three aforementioned experiments, Fig. 13 indicates the overall collective
data taken in those experiments. From this graph, the maximum voltage that can be produced by this
system is 40.1 V during minute 27th during the motorcycle is under ramp condition. Moreover, the
maximum output current and power produced for this system based on all of the experiments are
148.0 mA and 5.802 W, respectively observed during motorcycle was under ramp condition.

109
 Tawil et al./ Zulfaqar J. Def. Sci. Eng. Tech. Vol. 5 Issue 2 (2022)

Fig. 13: Voltage, current and power vs. time

From our previous study, a single TEG was used to employ the waste heat for thermoelectric based energy
harvesting system [8]. The comparison of previous and current studies in term of average, minimum, and
maximum power of data taken is shown in Table 2.

Table 2: The comparison result from the previous experiment

Previous study [8] Current study
Average power 263.56 mW 2.569 W
Minimum power 2.86 mW 0.897 mW
Maximum power 1242 mW 5.802 W

From this study, the energy harvesting system is significantly enhanced due to the number of TEG,
increasing surface area of the heat sink, and improvement of the cooling system in order to increase the
temperature difference. Based on those results in Table 2, the maximum power that can be produced by
the previous study is 1.242W while the current study is 5.802W signifying a significant increase by about
78% that could later possibly allow us to explore more towards its potential application for low power
device. In addition, it can be seen that the power increases as the system improved in term of number of
TEG and the cooling system.

Conclusion

The prototype of waste heat energy harvesting using thermoelectric generator has been successfully
developed to harvest energy from the motorcycle’s exhaust. The prototype of this study has undergone
several experiments to assess the voltage, current and power versus temperature difference, where it was
found that the temperature difference did affect the current and the voltage produced. Besides, we can
conclude that the output voltage and the current of TEG are depending on the temperature difference
between the hot and cold side; the higher the temperature difference the higher the output voltage and
current because every 30 ºC increment of temperature difference will produce approximately 20 mA.
Moreover, the output voltage and current are also depending on the number of TEG used; the higher the
number of TEG the higher the output voltage and current because series array of TEG modules can produce
maximum of 5.802W when attached to motorcycle type Kawasaki Z800 800cc during the engine ramp. Such
finding could further promote the potentiality of using this type of alternative source for low power devices.

Acknowledgment

This work is financially supported by UPNM Short Term Grant (UPNM/2019/GPJP/TK/16). The authors
fully acknowledged Ministry of Higher Education (MOHE) and Universiti Pertahanan Nasional Malaysia

110
 Tawil et al./ Zulfaqar J. Def. Sci. Eng. Tech. Vol. 5 Issue 2 (2022)

(UPNM) for this research feasible. The authors also would like to thank the technical staff in every
institution involved for their assistant.

References

[1] Yan, D. 2011 “Modeling and Application of a Thermoelectric Generator,” M.Sc Thesis, University of
Toronto, 2011.
[2] Wang, T., Luan, W., Wang, W., & Tu, S-T., “Waste Heat Recovery Through Plate Heat Exchanger based
Thermoelectric Generator System,” Appl. Energy, Vol. 136, 2014, pp. 860.
[3] Zheng, X. F., Liu, C. X., Yan, Y. Y., & Wang, Q. “A Review of Thermoelectric Research – Recent
Developments and Potentials for Sustainable and Renewable Energy Applications,” Renew. Sustain.
Energy Rev., Vol. 32, 2014, pp. 486.
[4] X. Niu, X., Yu, J., & Wang, S. 2009 “Experimental Study on Low-Temperature Waste Heat
Thermoelectric Generator,” J. Power Sources, Vol. 188, No. 2, 2009, pp. 621.
[5] Kumar, S., Heister, S. D., Xu, X., Salvador, J. R., & Meisner, G. P. “Thermoelectric Generators for
Automotive Waste Heat Recovery Systems Part II: Parametric evaluation and topological studies,”
J. Electron. Mater. Vol. 42, No. 6, 2013, pp. 944.
[6] Sano, S., Mizukami, H., & Kaibe, H. “Development of High-Efficiency Thermoelectric Power
Generation System,” Komatsu Tech. Rep., Vol. 49, 2003, pp. 20.
[7] Bouknadel, A., Rah, I., Elomari, H., & Elomari, H. “Comparative Study of Fin Geometries for Heat Sinks
in Natural Convection,” IEEE Proceedings of 2014 International Renewable and Sustainable Energy
Conference (IRSEC), 2014.
[8] Jfri, F., Mohd Tawil, S.N., Syaripuddin, M., Tengku Mohamad, T.N., Miskon, A. “Employment of Waste
Heat for Thermoelectric Based Energy Harvesting System,” ARPN J. Eng. Appl. Sci., Vol. 10, No. 20,
2015, pp. 9896.
[9] Maharaj, S., & Govender, P. “Waste Energy Harvesting with a Thermoelectric Generator,” Proc. 21st
Conf. Domest. Use Energy (DUE), 2013, pp. 79.
[10] Auparay, N. “Room Temperature Seebeck Coefficient Measurement of Metals and Semiconductors,”
B.Sc Thesis, Oregon State University, 2013.
[11] Tozaki K., & Sou, K. “Novel Determination of Peltier Coefficient, Seebeck Coefficient and Thermal
Resistance of Thermoelectric Module” Jpn. J. Appl. Phys. Vol. 45, 2006, pp. 5272.
[12] Tritt, T. M., & Subramanian, M. A. “Thermoelectric Materials, Phenomena, and Applications: A Bird’s
Eye View,” MRS Bull., Vol. 31, 2006, pp. 188.
[13] Pennelli, G. “Review of Nanostructured Devices for Thermoelectric Applications,” Beilstein J.
Nanotechnol., Vol. 5, 2014, p.p 1268.
[14] Angelina A. A., & Jayakumar, J. “Analysis of (Bi2Te3-Pbte) Hybrid Thermoelectric Generator for Effective
Power Generation,” IEEE Proceedings International Conference on Innovations in Information,
Embedded and Communication Systems (ICIIECS), 2015, pp. 1–6.
[15] Montecucco, A., Siviter, J., & Knox, A. R. “The Effect of Temperature Mismatch on Thermoelectric
Generators Electrically Connected in Series and Parallel,” Appl. Energy, Vol. 123, 2014, pp. 47.

111