Studying the applicability of different thermoelectric materials for efficiency calculation in hybrid thermoelectric generator for waste heat recovery from automobile and steel industry

Abstract: In this work, we study the suitability of different thermoelectric materials like $Bi_2Te_3$, $Sb_{2}Te_{3}$, $PbTe$, $TAGS$, $CeFe_{4}Sb_{12}$, $SiGe$ and $TiO_{1.1}$ in estimation of thermoelectric generator's (TEG) efficiency. The efficiency of TEG made up of ${Be_{2}Te_{3}}$ or $Sb_{2}Te_{3}$ gives $\sim$7\% in temperature range of 310 K - 500 K. $PbTe$ or $TAGS$ or $CeFe_{4}Sb_{12}$ gives $\sim$6\% in temperature range of 500 K - 900 K and $SiGe$ or $TiO_{1.1}$ also have remarkable efficiency in higher temperature range i.e $\sim$1200 K. Here, we report the enhancement of efficiency by using hybridization technique for different combination of above-mentioned materials. Hybridization of two different materials of TEG module is done by considering compatibility factor aspect. To this end, the proposed values of overall efficiency of TEG by hybridizing ${Be_{2}Te_{3}}$ and $PbTe$; ${Be_{2}Te_{3}}$ and $TAGS$; $Bi_{2}Te_{3}$ and $CeFe_{4}Sb_{12}$ are 12\%, 14\% and 11.88\%, respectively, for temperature range of 310 K to 900 K, which can be installed in an automobile. For steel industry and spacecraft application (till 1200 K) hybridization of $Bi_{2}Te_{3}$, $PbTe$ and $SiGe$; ${Be_{2}Te_{3}}$ and $TiO_{1.1}$ yields efficiency of $\sim$15.2\% and $\sim$17.2\%, respectively. The proposed results can be treated as a viable option for engineers, who are looking for fabricating TEG in real life applications such as automobile, spacecraft and steel industry.