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Automotive Thermoelectricity 02 - 04 December, 2013 - Dorint Pallas, Wiesbaden, Germany Website: http://bit.ly/1btt1Iy Fiat’s HeatReCar project combines the efforts and skill sets of seven partners to develop and integrate a working thermoelectric generator into a vehicle. Download the Article for free on the Automotive Thermoelectricity conference website under infocenter - check out the website: http://bit.ly/1btt1Iy The HeatReCar TEG was not designed for max electric power output, rather to achieve a wellpackaged, lightweight component providing a maximum overall energy efficiency increase at the vehicle level. Find out more: http://bit.ly/1btt1Iy
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Case Study Fiat: The First Light Commercial Vehicle Equipped with a
Thermoelectric Generator
Introduction
Internal combustion engines (ICE) lose up to 70% of the energy they produce, mainly through heat. As fuel economy becomes more important for the auto industry each year and with the passing of increasingly stringent regulations, car manufacturers have had a watchful eye on an old concept known as the thermoelectric generator (TEG). Thermal energy which is otherwise wasted can potentially be converted to improve the vehicle’s overall efficiency.
Fiat’s HeatReCar project combines the efforts and skill sets of seven partners to develop and integrate a working thermoelectric generator into a vehicle.
The reference vehicle used is an IVECO Daily equipped with a 2.3l Diesel engine. The design reference conditions are:
• Vehicle @130kph• Exhaust gas temperature: 450°C• Gas flow : 70g/s (max torque), 140g/s (full load)
TEG Basic Design
The HeatReCar TEG was not designed for max electric power output, rather to achieve a well-packaged, lightweight component providing a maximum overall energy efficiency increase at the vehicle level.
The TEG created utilized cross flow architecture with hot tubes made out of stainless steel and cold tubes of aluminium. This design was used to simplify the connection to the fluid’s network in the car. Material selection is very important and for this project, the group considered the well-established composition of Tellurium, Antimony, Germanium and Silver (TAGS) as well as segmented Bi2Te3-PTe, Skutterudites (developed and manufactured at module level), known for their good electrical conductivity, and Bi2Te3: used for the full scale prototype manufacturing with specific module design. The thermoelectric modules to tubes contact is controlled through ‘tie rods’ at each TEM’s corner. A modular design was chosen for ease-of-fit to a large scale of applications.
The constraints of the design are exhaust gas pressure drop <30 mbar, a low sensitivity to exhaust gas fouling, limitation on the thermal heat to be rejected to avoid an unsustainable increase on the vehicle heat rejection system.
