Study of Thermoelectric Generation Unit for Radiant Waste Heat

Abstract Thermoelectric generation technology is a promising technology which converts the industrial process waste heat energy to useful electrical energy. Using thermoelectric generation unit which consists of several thermoelectric generation modules, verification experiments have been held at some industrial process. In this paper, the output power and thermal performance of the thermoelectric generation unit are described in radiant waste heat recovery. The output power of thermoelectric generation unit depends on thermoelectric element size and number. We discuss the optimum performance for various sizes and number of thermoelectric elements in practical thermoelectric generation unit. Also, the comparison of generation performance of thermoelectric generation unit using Bi-Te material and high temperature thermoelectric material is discussed.