Waste Heat Recovery From a Retrofitted Generator Using a Thermoelectric Generator (Teg)

The study investigated a 2.0 HP generator operated with petrol and liquefied petroleum gas (LPG), with the aim of converting part of the rejected thermal energy into useful electrical power through a TEG module mounted close to the exhaust shield. Temperature, voltage, and current were measured over 45 minutes at 5-minute intervals for both fuel conditions, and power and energy were evaluated from the measured electrical quantities. Under petrol operation, the reported mean hot-side temperature, cold-side temperature, temperature difference, voltage, current, power, and energy were 59.58°C, 42.53°C, 17.25°C, 0.28 V, 0.0077 A, 0.0021 W, and 0.0441 J, respectively. Under LPG operation, the corresponding mean values were 59.5°C, 46.5°C, 12.9°C, 0.32 V, 0.001 A, 0.0003 W, and 0.0015 J. The results show a clear linear relationship between temperature difference and voltage, power, and energy, and confirm the technical feasibility of small-scale TEG-based waste heat recovery, with potential for off-grid powering of low-power portable devices and reduction of fuel wastage and emissions in domestic and small industrial applications.