Showed that TEG can be used as TERs to harvest exhaust heat and boost HT PEM FC efficiency with emphasis on (i) heat exchanger surface type, (ii) its housing dimensions, and (iii) power conditioning
(i) about 40 specific applications of TEG were researched and it was noticed that TEG form factor is crucial to enable mounting anywhere (ii) TEG was used with various FCs to boost output power by 7-10%
Showed how energy was harnessed from intermittent heat sources and converted into stored charge via the ionic Soret effect in an ITESC. Max efficiency is very low compared to TEG of the same
The manufacturing of a TEG involve choosing a TE material with good (>1), electrodes insulating plate, adhesives, and module architecture. A real system was built to characterise TEG modules
Modelled TEGs and TECs on a chip. TECs are more efficient using more and better if operated at a steady state for frequent hotspots. For infrequent hotspots, TECs may be cooled with square root transient pulses of a very short duration. TEG MPT occurred at greater load resistance. TEG useful power is firstly linear and later parabolically proportional to the heat flux. More TEGs increase output power but decrease later. Thinner TIM improves TEC and TEG capabilities
Showed the use of a TEG with FC under simulated natural (static) and forced convection cooling (dynamic) to convert heat to power However, very high is required to generate significant power
Deduced that a TEG output power and efficiency in a thermal environment can be simultaneously maximised if its heat flux is constant but not the case if its temperature difference is constant
Proved that a TEC LT-PEM FC hybrid CCHP system is capable of producing 2.79 kW of electricity, 3.04 kW of heat, and 26.8 W of cooling with a total efficiency of ~77% and fuel saving of 43.25%
TEGs have no moving parts, have long service life, operate quietly, and are green. TEGs have low efficiency and are expensive. By using the manufacturer datasheets, TEGs were modelled, simulated, experimented, and result correlated. Impedance matching with boost converter and P&O MPPT schemes gave 98.64% efficiency