Abstract
A thermoelectric generator (TEG) module is designed to harvest low grade waste heat from a 2 kW fuel cell vehicle and improve its energy utilization. The module integrates a TEG cell with a heat pipe and a finned heat sink. A numerical model is developed based on an experiment setup where the fuel cell temperature is 45–60 °C while the cruise speed is 25 kmh−1. The numerical model is validated with less than 5% deviation. Extended cases are simulated for series and parallel power train configuration under changes to the waste heat temperature and vehicle speeds to evaluate the power and heat recovery ratio. A single TEG cell output between 2 and 3 W is achievable even at low grade heat. The parallel drive generates 50% more power than the series drive at 100 kmh−1 speed. A 2% heat recovery is theoretically achievable for a 16 cell module assembly.
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