IDEAS home Printed from https://ideas.repec.org/a/eee/energy/v140y2017ip1p929-940.html
   My bibliography  Save this article

Design for thermoelectric power generation using subsurface coal fires

Author

Listed:
  • Su, Hetao
  • Zhou, Fubao
  • Qi, Haining
  • Li, Jinshi

Abstract

Coal fires are worldwide environmental and economic hazards, which consume a large amount of valuable natural energy resources and cause environmental pollution. Given the enormous amount of waste heat produced, coal fires exhibit tremendous potential as recoverable energy sources, and can prove beneficial. This work proposes using the commercially available thermoelectric power generators to convert the waste heat generated from coal fires into useful power. In order to optimise the generators, experiments of thermoelectric power generation models were conducted to analyse the main thermoelectric characteristics such as the thermoelectromotive force of a thermoelectric couple, generator electrical resistance, maximum power output per unit cross-sectional area of thermoelements, maximum power output per unit contact area, and maximum thermoelectric conversion efficiency, as well as the cost-effectiveness of different types of generators. The TEG1-241-1.4-1.2 generator was identified as an optimal generator, after comprehensive analysis. Furthermore, it was found that the thermoelectric conversion efficiency could be improved by lowering the cold side temperature of the thermoelectric module. Finally, a distributed thermoelectric setup was designed with an installed maximum power output of 700 W for a temperature difference of ∼80 °C.

Suggested Citation

  • Su, Hetao & Zhou, Fubao & Qi, Haining & Li, Jinshi, 2017. "Design for thermoelectric power generation using subsurface coal fires," Energy, Elsevier, vol. 140(P1), pages 929-940.
    • Handle: RePEc:eee:energy:v:140:y:2017:i:p1:p:929-940
    DOI: 10.1016/j.energy.2017.09.029
    as

    Download full text from publisher

    File URL: http://www.sciencedirect.com/science/article/pii/S0360544217315505
    Download Restriction: Full text for ScienceDirect subscribers only
    File URL: https://libkey.io/10.1016/j.energy.2017.09.029?utm_source=ideas
    LibKey link: if access is restricted and if your library uses this service, LibKey will redirect you to where you can use your library subscription to access this item
    ---><---

    As the access to this document is restricted, you may want to search for a different version of it.

    References listed on IDEAS

    as
    1. Champier, D. & Bedecarrats, J.P. & Rivaletto, M. & Strub, F., 2010. "Thermoelectric power generation from biomass cook stoves," Energy, Elsevier, vol. 35(2), pages 935-942.
    2. Zheng, X.F. & Liu, C.X. & Yan, Y.Y. & Wang, Q., 2014. "A review of thermoelectrics research – Recent developments and potentials for sustainable and renewable energy applications," Renewable and Sustainable Energy Reviews, Elsevier, vol. 32(C), pages 486-503.
    Full references (including those not matched with items on IDEAS)

    Citations

    Citations are extracted by the CitEc Project, subscribe to its RSS feed for this item.
    as


    Cited by:

    1. Gao, Mingyuan & Su, Chengguang & Cong, Jianli & Yang, Fan & Wang, Yifeng & Wang, Ping, 2019. "Harvesting thermoelectric energy from railway track," Energy, Elsevier, vol. 180(C), pages 315-329.
    2. Chen, Wei-Hsin & Lin, Yi-Xian & Wang, Xiao-Dong & Lin, Yu-Li, 2019. "A comprehensive analysis of the performance of thermoelectric generators with constant and variable properties," Applied Energy, Elsevier, vol. 241(C), pages 11-24.
    3. Zhao, Jingyu & Deng, Jun & Wang, Tao & Song, Jiajia & Zhang, Yanni & Shu, Chi-Min & Zeng, Qiang, 2019. "Assessing the effectiveness of a high-temperature-programmed experimental system for simulating the spontaneous combustion properties of bituminous coal through thermokinetic analysis of four oxidatio," Energy, Elsevier, vol. 169(C), pages 587-596.
    4. Wang, Yijiang & Peng, Yizhu & Guo, Kehui & Zheng, Xiaofeng & Darkwa, Jo & Zhong, Hua, 2021. "Experimental investigation on performance improvement of thermoelectric generator based on phase change materials and heat transfer enhancement," Energy, Elsevier, vol. 229(C).
    5. Lan, Yuncheng & Lu, Junhui & Mu, Lianbo & Wang, Suilin & Zhai, Huixing, 2023. "Waste heat recovery from exhausted gas of a proton exchange membrane fuel cell to produce hydrogen using thermoelectric generator," Applied Energy, Elsevier, vol. 334(C).
    6. Zhao, Jingyu & Wang, Tao & Deng, Jun & Shu, Chi-Min & Zeng, Qiang & Guo, Tao & Zhang, Yuxuan, 2020. "Microcharacteristic analysis of CH4 emissions under different conditions during coal spontaneous combustion with high-temperature oxidation and in situ FTIR," Energy, Elsevier, vol. 209(C).
    7. Zhu, WenChao & Yang, Wenlong & Yang, Yang & Li, Yang & Li, Hao & Shi, Ying & Yan, Yonggao & Xie, Changjun, 2022. "Economic configuration optimization of onboard annual thermoelectric generators under multiple operating conditions," Renewable Energy, Elsevier, vol. 197(C), pages 486-499.
    8. Deng, Jinchang & Zhou, Fubao & Shi, Bobo & Torero, José L. & Qi, Haining & Liu, Peng & Ge, Shaokun & Wang, Zhiyu & Chen, Chen, 2020. "Waste heat recovery, utilization and evaluation of coalfield fire applying heat pipe combined thermoelectric generator in Xinjiang, China," Energy, Elsevier, vol. 207(C).
    9. Mirhosseini, Mojtaba & Rezania, Alireza & Rosendahl, Lasse, 2019. "Harvesting waste heat from cement kiln shell by thermoelectric system," Energy, Elsevier, vol. 168(C), pages 358-369.
    10. Zhao, Yulong & Wang, Shixue & Ge, Minghui & Li, Yanzhe & Liang, Zhaojun & Yang, Yurong, 2018. "Performance analysis of a thermoelectric generator applied to wet flue gas waste heat recovery," Applied Energy, Elsevier, vol. 228(C), pages 2080-2089.

    Most related items

    These are the items that most often cite the same works as this one and are cited by the same works as this one.
    1. Kütt, Lauri & Millar, John & Karttunen, Antti & Lehtonen, Matti & Karppinen, Maarit, 2018. "Thermoelectric applications for energy harvesting in domestic applications and micro-production units. Part I: Thermoelectric concepts, domestic boilers and biomass stoves," Renewable and Sustainable Energy Reviews, Elsevier, vol. 98(C), pages 519-544.
    2. Sajid, Muhammad & Hassan, Ibrahim & Rahman, Aziz, 2017. "An overview of cooling of thermoelectric devices," Renewable and Sustainable Energy Reviews, Elsevier, vol. 78(C), pages 15-22.
    3. Mustafa, K.F. & Abdullah, S. & Abdullah, M.Z. & Sopian, K., 2017. "A review of combustion-driven thermoelectric (TE) and thermophotovoltaic (TPV) power systems," Renewable and Sustainable Energy Reviews, Elsevier, vol. 71(C), pages 572-584.
    4. Date, Abhijit & Gauci, Luke & Chan, Raymond & Date, Ashwin, 2015. "Performance review of a novel combined thermoelectric power generation and water desalination system," Renewable Energy, Elsevier, vol. 83(C), pages 256-269.
    5. Ravi Anant Kishore & Roop L. Mahajan & Shashank Priya, 2018. "Combinatory Finite Element and Artificial Neural Network Model for Predicting Performance of Thermoelectric Generator," Energies, MDPI, vol. 11(9), pages 1-17, August.
    6. Ding, L.C. & Akbarzadeh, A. & Tan, L., 2018. "A review of power generation with thermoelectric system and its alternative with solar ponds," Renewable and Sustainable Energy Reviews, Elsevier, vol. 81(P1), pages 799-812.
    7. Champier, D. & Bédécarrats, J.P. & Kousksou, T. & Rivaletto, M. & Strub, F. & Pignolet, P., 2011. "Study of a TE (thermoelectric) generator incorporated in a multifunction wood stove," Energy, Elsevier, vol. 36(3), pages 1518-1526.
    8. Fan, Zeng & Zhang, Yaoyun & Pan, Lujun & Ouyang, Jianyong & Zhang, Qian, 2021. "Recent developments in flexible thermoelectrics: From materials to devices," Renewable and Sustainable Energy Reviews, Elsevier, vol. 137(C).
    9. Li, Guo-neng & Zhang, Shuai & Zheng, You-qu & Zhu, Ling-yun & Guo, Wen-wen, 2018. "Experimental study on a stove-powered thermoelectric generator (STEG) with self starting fan cooling," Renewable Energy, Elsevier, vol. 121(C), pages 502-512.
    10. Jia, Xiao-Dong & Wang, Yuan-Jing & Gao, Yuan-Wen, 2017. "Numerical simulation of thermoelectric performance of linear-shaped thermoelectric generators under transient heat supply," Energy, Elsevier, vol. 130(C), pages 276-285.
    11. Twaha, Ssennoga & Zhu, Jie & Yan, Yuying & Li, Bo, 2016. "A comprehensive review of thermoelectric technology: Materials, applications, modelling and performance improvement," Renewable and Sustainable Energy Reviews, Elsevier, vol. 65(C), pages 698-726.
    12. Kane, Aarti & Verma, Vishal & Singh, Bhim, 2017. "Optimization of thermoelectric cooling technology for an active cooling of photovoltaic panel," Renewable and Sustainable Energy Reviews, Elsevier, vol. 75(C), pages 1295-1305.
    13. Ding, L.C. & Akbarzadeh, A. & Date, Abhijit, 2016. "Electric power generation via plate type power generation unit from solar pond using thermoelectric cells," Applied Energy, Elsevier, vol. 183(C), pages 61-76.
    14. Hongkun Lv & Guoneng Li & Youqu Zheng & Jiangen Hu & Jian Li, 2018. "Compact Water-Cooled Thermoelectric Generator (TEG) Based on a Portable Gas Stove," Energies, MDPI, vol. 11(9), pages 1-19, August.
    15. Mustafa, K.F. & Abdullah, S. & Abdullah, M.Z. & Sopian, K. & Ismail, A.K., 2015. "Experimental investigation of the performance of a liquid fuel-fired porous burner operating on kerosene-vegetable cooking oil (VCO) blends for micro-cogeneration of thermoelectric power," Renewable Energy, Elsevier, vol. 74(C), pages 505-516.
    16. Najjar, Yousef S.H. & Kseibi, Musaab M., 2017. "Thermoelectric stoves for poor deprived regions – A review," Renewable and Sustainable Energy Reviews, Elsevier, vol. 80(C), pages 597-602.
    17. Song, Zhiying & Ji, Jie & Zhang, Yuzhe & Li, Yunhai & Li, Jing & Zhao, Xudong, 2023. "Annual analysis of the photovoltaic direct-expansion heat pump assisted by double condensing equipment for secondary power generation," Renewable Energy, Elsevier, vol. 209(C), pages 169-183.
    18. Owoyele, Opeoluwa & Ferguson, Scott & O’Connor, Brendan T., 2015. "Performance analysis of a thermoelectric cooler with a corrugated architecture," Applied Energy, Elsevier, vol. 147(C), pages 184-191.
    19. Georgopoulou, Chariklia A. & Dimopoulos, George G. & Kakalis, Nikolaos M.P., 2016. "A modular dynamic mathematical model of thermoelectric elements for marine applications," Energy, Elsevier, vol. 94(C), pages 13-28.
    20. Massaguer Colomer, Albert & Massaguer, Eduard & Pujol, Toni & Comamala, Martí & Montoro, Lino & González, J.R., 2015. "Electrically tunable thermal conductivity in thermoelectric materials: Active and passive control," Applied Energy, Elsevier, vol. 154(C), pages 709-717.

    Corrections

    All material on this site has been provided by the respective publishers and authors. You can help correct errors and omissions. When requesting a correction, please mention this item's handle: RePEc:eee:energy:v:140:y:2017:i:p1:p:929-940. See general information about how to correct material in RePEc.

    If you have authored this item and are not yet registered with RePEc, we encourage you to do it here. This allows to link your profile to this item. It also allows you to accept potential citations to this item that we are uncertain about.

    If CitEc recognized a bibliographic reference but did not link an item in RePEc to it, you can help with this form .

    If you know of missing items citing this one, you can help us creating those links by adding the relevant references in the same way as above, for each refering item. If you are a registered author of this item, you may also want to check the "citations" tab in your RePEc Author Service profile, as there may be some citations waiting for confirmation.

    For technical questions regarding this item, or to correct its authors, title, abstract, bibliographic or download information, contact: Catherine Liu (email available below). General contact details of provider: http://www.journals.elsevier.com/energy .

    Please note that corrections may take a couple of weeks to filter through the various RePEc services.

    IDEAS is a RePEc service. RePEc uses bibliographic data supplied by the respective publishers.