Comparison between a Plate and a Tube Bundle Geometry of a Simulated Thermoelectric Generator in the Exhaust Gas System of a Vehicle

Numerous research projects in automotive engineering focus on the industrialization of the thermoelectric generator. The development and the implementation of thermoelectric systems into the vehicle environment are commonly supported by virtual designing activities. In this paper a customized simulation architecture [1] for thermoelectric generators, developed in research project TEG2020, is used to compare two very different TEG concepts: a plate and a tube bundle geometry. The installation space serves as a restriction and therefore is the same for both systems. There are slight advantages in maximum power output, nominal back pressure and overall weight of the tube bundle geometry compared to the lightweight and cost-effective planar thermoelectric generator presented in [1] and [2]. The efficiency of both systems is nearly the same. However there are some disadvantages of the tube bundle geometry in required mass of thermoelectric material, efficiency based on the mass of thermoelectric material, complexity and necessary cooling load. (C) 2015 Elsevier Ltd. All rights reserved.