Thermoelectric system optimization for waste heat energy recovery in building kitchen hoods

Unutilized thermal energy is a prevalent issue, particularly in cooking-related activities within kitchens. Thermoelectric technology presents a viable solution by converting this wasted heat into alternative electrical energy, a prospect that has garnered significant research interest in applying of thermoelectric generators. In this study, a numerical model is developed to evaluate the combined effect of stage configuration and positive leg material on the performance of a kitchen hood–based thermoelectric generator system. The design employs a cross-flow arrangement, in which hot air from the hood provides the heat source and outside air serves as the cooling medium. The investigation is conducted using ANSYS simulation software. The results show that the two-stage design with BiTe as the positive leg provides the best performance, producing 10.74 W from a 40 × 40 mm module. When scaled to a full kitchen hood containing 600 modules, the output reaches 6.104 kW. This work highlights a pathway to transform wasted kitchen heat into a meaningful power source. It demonstrates that carefully selecting the stage number and material configuration can substantially improve system efficiency. • This work investigates new design of thermoelectric systems with single and double stages. • The materials used are different in every stage, and for single stage use two kinds of material. • The heat source is from kitchen hoods and using waste heat recovery.