Primary Factors Affecting the Efficiency of Thermoelectric Power Generation Sheets for Waste-Heat Recovery from the Ship’s Exhaust Gas

Abstract

In order to investigate the effect of different influencing factors on the application of temperature differential power generation in the ship exhaust gas and to explore the potential of waste heat recovery and the utilization of exhaust gas during ship travel, an experimental system based on the temperature differential power generation of ship exhaust gas in the marine environment was established. The maximum output power and the maximum efficiency of each temperature-difference power generation module were theoretically calculated. The results showed that the insulation material and the salt water (seawater) had little effect on the efficiency of the temperature differential power generation modules. Conversely, the installation pressure, the heat transfer oil, the cooling water temperature (seawater temperature), and the heat source temperature (exhaust gas pipe temperature) had a great influence on the open-circuit voltage and the maximum output power. The thermally conductive silicone grease and the cooling water temperature of 10 °C increased the open-circuit voltage by 31.54% and 18.95%, respectively, and increased the maximum output power by 82.05% and 51.79%, respectively. The maximum output of a single temperature differential power generator reached 63.5% when using an installation pressure of 3 bar, a cooling water temperature of 20 °C, double-layer aluminum insulation, and thermally conductive silicone grease. Finally, this study provides relevant data support for using temperature differential power generation devices for ship exhaust gas.