Title: An experimental investigation on the exhaust heat recovery system of the gasoline-driven vehicle for space conditioning applications

Authors: Amit Kumar Tiwary; Amit Kumar; Sharifuddin Mondal

Addresses: Department of Mechanical Engineering, National Institute of Technology, Patna, Bihar, 800005, India ' Department of Mechanical Engineering, National Institute of Technology, Patna, Bihar, 800005, India ' Department of Mechanical Engineering, National Institute of Technology, Patna, Bihar, 800005, India

Abstract: The thermal efficiency of internal combustion engines (ICEs) varies between 30% and 35% and does not exceed beyond 35%. The reasons behind such low efficiency are losses such as heat carried away by cooling water and heat rejected to the atmosphere in the form of exhaust gases. A large amount of fuel energy in the form of heat remains unused. Hence the need for recycling the waste heat from automotive exhaust is one of the important tasks to enhance the thermal efficiency of the ICEs. Recycling the waste heat from the exhaust as well as the coolant not only increases the thermal efficiency of the ICEs but also contributes to reducing the emission of carbon dioxide and other gases. Secondly, through the regenerative braking system in a hybrid hydraulic vehicle, 70-80% of the vehicle's braking/decelerating energy could be harvested. Such a facility will reduce the impact on payload capacity, especially for heavy vehicle classes. In this context, an efficient as well as cost-effective technology to generate electricity and later use this electrical power to run the automotive spaced air conditioning unit (heat pump) is proposed. A thermoelectric generator (TEG) module and a thermoelectric cooler (TEC) module are used for generating the electricity for heating and cooling effects in an automotive-spaced air conditioning unit. With such a goal in mind, the present study will be helpful for the practising engineer in developing as well as enhancing the thermal efficiency and exhaust heat recovery of the gasoline engine.

Keywords: waste heat recovery system; thermal efficiency; thermoelectric generator (TEG) module; thermoelectric cooler (TEC/HP) module; Seebeck effects; Peltier effect.

DOI: 10.1504/IJVP.2023.130049

International Journal of Vehicle Performance, 2023 Vol.9 No.2, pp.134 - 149

Received: 09 Mar 2022
Accepted: 15 Apr 2022
Published online: 04 Apr 2023 *

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