Technology method and functional characteristics of road thermoelectric generator system based on Seebeck effect

• Published in: Applied energy Vol. 331; p. 120459
• Main Authors: Yuan, Dongdong, Jiang, Wei, Sha, Aimin, Xiao, Jingjing, Wu, Wangjie, Wang, Teng
• Format: Journal Article
• Language: English
• Published: Elsevier Ltd 01-02-2023
• Subjects: Asphalt pavement; Energy conversion; Output voltage; Snow melting; Temperature-reduction; Thermoelectricity; Asphalt pavement; Output voltage; Snow melting; Thermoelectricity; Energy conversion; Temperature-reduction
• ISSN: 0306-2619; 1872-9118
• DOI: 10.1016/j.apenergy.2022.120459

•Three types of road thermoelectric generator systems were developed.•The road thermoelectric generator system with the largest power density at present was realized.•Output voltage and power of road thermoelectric generator systems were investigated.•The temperature-reduction and melt snow of road thermoelectric generator system were tested.
The conversion of the thermal energy contained in roads to electricity is an emerging field of sustainable technology. Along these lines, in this works, three types of road thermoelectric generator systems (RTEGSs) based on the Seebeck effect were proposed, which were denoted as pavement-subgrade, pavement-ambient, and pavement-flowing water, according to the hot- and cold-side thermal sources. The functional characteristics including output voltage and temperature characteristics were thoroughly investigated by using a combination of indoor and outdoor tests. From the acquired results, it was demonstrated that the RTEGSs can convert the heat energy in a road into electricity, while road-surface temperatures in summer and melting snow in winter were reduced, albeit to different degrees. The systems could also produce output voltages in the order of pavement-flowing water > pavement-ambient > pavement-subgrade. Furthermore, the developed pavement-flowing water RTEGS exhibited a higher power density (maximum = 4.28 mW/cm3) than any previously reported system in the literature. The pavement-subgrade RTEGS melts snow in winter about 60 min quicker than the conventional pavement. The pavement-ambient RTEGS can also reduce summer road-surface temperatures by up to the value of 10 °C, whereas the pavement-flowing water RTEGS can reduce summer road-surface temperatures by up to the value of 5.46 °C. In addition, can also melt snow in winter 33 min quicker than the conventional pavement.