Thermoelectric power generations from vehicle exhaust gas by using TiO₂ nanofluid cooling / Mohd Noor Hariz Mohd Hilmin

Vehicle engine efficiency is a big challenge today since it is considered low by approximately around 30% only. More than half of the energy is loss in exhaust piping and heat dissipated through cooling systems. There is an urgent need to tackle these issues in order to reduce the world energy consumption. One alternative approach is the application of waste heat recovery which specifically emphasize on the conversion from heat energy to electrical energy. This is possible with the use of thermoelectric modules. The challenges of using thermoelectric generator (TEG) in application are due to its low thermal conversion and low power output. In order to increase the efficiency of TEG, cooling fluid nanofluid specifically titanium oxide (TiO2) was introduced into the system. Nanofluids have been tested in the past in many heat exchanger applications and have showed heat transfer improvements. The study was conducted through series of testing a designed thermoelectric generator onto vehicle exhaust system and cooling fluid water and titanium oxide with varying engine idling conditions speed of 700-800, 1000 and 1500 RPMs. The aim of this project is to investigate and conduct experiment on waste heat power generation using thermoelectric cells from vehicle exhaust gas by considering the different parameters which includes the thermal performance of cooling systems and the analysis of heat transfer effect of using TiO2. It was found that TiO2 has positively enhance TEG thermal conversion and electrical power output when compared to base fluid, through various engine speeds.