Exhausts are hot, and that means heat is there. What can you do with heat? It’s a form of energy, and that means energy can be stored by means of conversion, and be used as an alternate energy source for the car. This is not a new thing actually, as BMW has been researching recycled energy sourced from car’s hot exhaust as early as 2005. Then again, there’s no result until, despite BMW indicating that a workable system will be employed on commercial vehicles as early as 2014.

Now, a team of students at Purdue University, led by mechanical engineering professor Xianfan Xu, are working on a similar concept project. Funded by General Motors, the team is working to create better thermoelectric generators, or TEGs, that will presumable work at much higher temperatures. As of current, the prototype is able to work at a temperature of 700⁰C, or 1,300F. It will be placed behind a car’s catalytic converter and generate enough electricity to reduce fuel consumption by an estimated five percent. With current research and development, they’re hoping to produce new prototype capable of working under higher temperature with better efficiency to further improve fuel consumption.

If we look around, there’s another technology that’s currently not being used widely. It’s KERS (Kinetic Energy Recovery Systems), which has already been tested in Formula One motorsports from 2008 to 2009. A KERS weighs at around 24kg, and will provide some 300-400kJ of energy for the car, which means a sudden surge of power around 80 horsepower for few seconds. However, it’s not widely used in typical road cars as it requires the car to brake from a certain high speed, which will generate enough heat to be converted, thus only efficient in powerful sport cars. However, current hybrid and electric cars are already starting to use this technique to extend the range of the battery pack. Examples include the Toyota Prius, Honda Insight, the Vectrix electric maxi-scooter, and the Chevrolet Volt.

SOURCE via Physorg