Power Generation Enhancement Using Hybrid Thermoelectric Generator with Synthetic Oil-Based Nanofluids

Abstract

Power generation enhancement of hybrid thermoelectric generator (TEG) using the synthetic oil (Therminol 55) and a small volume concentration of Al2O3 nanoparticles (0.05 and 0.1%) is experimentally studied. The hot side of the hybrid TEG is varied from 150 to 380 °C and load resistance up to 2 ohms, respectively, while the cold side temperature is kept constant at 30 °C. The effect of hot side temperature and load resistance on the power generation is experimentally analyzed. The experimental results showed that the use of single hybrid TEG gave a power output of about 9.262 W with a temperature difference of 350 °C between hot and cold sides when using Therminol 55. By adding a small amount of Al2O3 nanoparticles to Therminol 55, the heat transfer capacity has increased and resulted in the enhancement of power output to 13.2 W for 0.05% concentration and 19.22 W for 0.1% concentration for the same temperature difference. Also, the use of nanoparticles resulted in increasing the efficiency of the hybrid TEG system. An enhancement of 2.65% is observed in the power output when nanoparticles suspended synthetic oil and used as the hot side fluid.