Laboratory Scale Testing of Thermoelectric Regenerative Braking System

Thermoelectric Regenerative Braking System (TERBS) employs an energy recovery mechanism by utilizing the energy conversion at the time of braking in an automobile to generate electricity accordingly. During braking, the kinetic energy of the disc rotor which is transformed into heat energy is recovered using a Thermoelectric Generator (TEG). A comparison of performance between air and water cooled heat sink is made and then the optimum way of cooling is selected for the TERBS. A customized TEG module with water cooled heat sink is designed. The experimental results are analyzed for optimum performance. TERBS evidently increased the life of a battery.