Automotive Waste Heat Recovery
BSST began developing high efficiency Thermoelectric Waste Energy Recovery Systems for passenger vehicle applications in November 2004 under a contract awarded by the U.S. Department of Energy Vehicle Technologies Program.
The goal of the effort is to reduce fuel consumption by converting exhaust gas waste heat into electricity using a Thermoelectric Generator (TEG). The electric power that is harvested from the waste heat would replace a significant portion of the electric power that is produced by a vehicle's alternator. BSST's TEG design and development are supported by contributions from BMW, Ford and Visteon in the areas of vehicle system simulation and subsystem hardware development.
In 2004 (Phase 1), the team created a system architecture and established subsystem designs that were modeled in a bumper-to-bumper performance simulation that showed up to 12% fuel economy improvement.
In Phase 2, completed in January 2007, key subsystem components; including a Primary Heat Exchanger, Thermoelectric Generator Module, and Power Control System, were built and tested. Additionally, a more refined vehicle system model was developed by BMW.
In Phase 3, Ford Motor Company joined the program and the subsystems were integrated and operated on a test bench, using a simulated source of hot gas, as a final developmental step preceding engine integration. A subscale generator was also attached to a single cylinder engine and tested on a dynamometer at Ford.
In Phase 4 the TEG will be tested with BMW's 6 cylinder engine on a dynamomter at the National Renewable Energy Laboratory in Golden, Colorado. In Phase 5 (late 2010) a complete thermoelectric system will be installed into both BMW and Ford vehicles. The vehicles will be tested over a wide range of driving conditions to validate fuel savings and emissions reduction performance.