Impact of Hydrogen on the Performance of a Gas-Fired Thermoelectric Generator

  • LI Qiangsheng ,
  • LI Guoneng ,
  • ZHENG Youqu ,
  • XIAO Yan ,
  • LIU Shaojun ,
  • GUO Wenwen ,
  • TANG Yuanjun
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  • 1. Department of Energy and Environment System Engineering, Zhejiang University of Science and Technology, Hangzhou 310023, China 
    2. College of Mechanical Engineering, Quzhou University, Quzhou 324000, China 
    3. CCTEG Hangzhou Research Institute Co., Ltd., Hangzhou 311201, China
    4. State Key Lab of Clean Energy Utilization, Zhejiang University, Hangzhou 310027, China

Online published: 2025-10-29

Supported by

This work is supported by Natural Science Foundation of Zhejiang Province (Grant no. LQZSZ24E060001), Hangzhou Key Scientific Research Program Project (2023SZD0082), “Pioneer” and “Leading Goose” R&D Program of Zhejiang (No. 2024C03116) and Graduate Research Innovation Foundation of Zhejiang University of Science and Technology (2023yjskc01).

Copyright

Science Press, Institute of Engineering Thermophysics, CAS and Springer-Verlag GmbH Germany, part of Springer Nature 2025

Abstract

Extreme weather and natural disasters have plagued people for a long time, and ensuring power source provision in such emergency situations is an urgent problem that needs to be solved. Combustion powered thermoelectric generator (CPTEG) is a promising solution to the power supply problem in off-grid areas and under emergency conditions. Adding hydrogen into the fuel is one of the effective ways to reduce carbon dioxide in the context of “Emission Peak” and “Carbon Neutrality”. In this study, the feasibility of the blended propane-hydrogen to power up a CPTEG is investigated, filling a research gap of standalone hydrogen CPTEG with an input power of kilowatt level. The combustion characteristics and the CPTEG performance at different hydrogen ratios (0%‒50%) were investigated, including the combustion temperature, hot-/cold-end temperatures, electric power, thermoelectric efficiency (electric power related to the heat flow rate passing through the thermoelectric module), systematic efficiency, and system effectiveness (EFS). Experimental results showed that the combustion is stable and a blue flame is anchored when the hydrogen ratio is less than 45% under the input power of 800 W, whereas the combustion becomes unstable and a bright yellow flame is detected when the hydrogen ratio exceeds 45%. The hydrogen addition considerably affects the CPTEG performance. The electric power is decreased by 13.0% (3.8 W) under the hydrogen ratio of 45% compared to that generated by burning pure propane when the input power is 800 W. The hydrogen addition impacts the combustion characteristics of CPTEG. The combustion stability has been improved, which is contributed by the reduced coefficient of variation. It is found that the standard deviation (SD) and coefficient of variation (COV) of flame temperature both sharply decreased by 66.8% under the hydrogen ratio of 45%. In addition, the hydrogen addition impact the carbon dioxide in the exhaust gas of CPTEG, and the CO2 concentration decreased by 11.5% under the hydrogen ratio of 45%. Furthermore, the total electric power and thermoelectric efficiency of the developed CPTEG are 32.4 W and 3.24%, respectively.

Cite this article

LI Qiangsheng , LI Guoneng , ZHENG Youqu , XIAO Yan , LIU Shaojun , GUO Wenwen , TANG Yuanjun . Impact of Hydrogen on the Performance of a Gas-Fired Thermoelectric Generator[J]. Journal of Thermal Science, 2025 , 34(6) : 2154 -2166 . DOI: 10.1007/s11630-025-2191-5

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