Power generation and heat recovery using heat pipe thermoelectric generator (HPTEG)

This study looks at unique method of recovering industrial waste heat and converting it to electricity using a combination of heat pipes and thermoelectric generators (HPTEG). This paper presents design of a bench top system for this purpose. The system consists of a thermoelectric generator (TEG) sandwiched between two finned heat pipes heat sinks, one is connected to the hot side of the TEG and the second is connected to the cold side of TEG. A theoretical model has been developed and presented in the paper to predict the performance of such a waste heat recovery system. Initial theoretical predictions have shown that the 8 modules of HPTEG are capable of recovering about 1.9 kW of waste heat and produce 26W of electrical power