Prototype of a thermoelectric generator made from low-cost thermoelectric cells tested in a furnace from the structural ceramics industry

• A scalable prototype of a thermoelectric generator made from low-cost thermoelectric cells was tested in a furnace from the structural ceramics industry. • Low and high-capacity thermoelectric modules were used for energy generation from wasted heat. • Simulations using Ansys software showed the temperature distribution thought heat sink. • Results revealed very promising results in inexpensive cells proved in a collaborative work with a large industry. Energy demand is increasing every day with the corresponding heat released to the environment, a large contribution to pollution and global warming. This research shows a promising scalable industrial prototype of a thermoelectric generator system able to recover part of this polluted heat, made from low-cost thermoelectric cells and tested in a large furnace, used in the structural ceramics industry for processing ceramic parts. The main goal is to compare two type of cells, generation and refrigeration cells, in a real large-scale furnace. The main goal is to analyze the feasibility of recovering heat using either one or a combination of these cells in the field in this large structure, a collaborative study involving a large industrial sector. Low and high-capacity thermoelectric modules were used for energy generation from wasted heat. The modules were tested in packages of six cells with three different configurations of circuitry connection and temperatures, aiming to determine the optimum heat recovery conditions. Electrical and thermographic characterization showed that the system can be a solution for many industries, particularly in developing countries, because it is easy to implement to recover waste heat and relatively inexpensive when compared to other thermoelectric alternatives. Simulations were also conducted using computational fluid dynamics (CFD) with Ansy fluent to describe the temperature distribution through the heat sink. The test results revealed that the most efficient setup was TEC and TEP cells in parallel connection, achieving an efficiency of 8.92 % and 8.33 % respectively. Finally, TEP cells were selected as the optimal setup and tested at industrial level due to are most cost-effective in terms of efficiency and temperature resistance compared with TECs, which also present good performance but are recommended for lower temperature conditions.