Determining methods of utilizations of waste heat in industrial applications and marking a termophotovoltaic application

Increasing energy demand, decreasing sources of fossil fuels and their polluting emissions quicken the research to find new energy sources and to get more efficient ways to use the existing ones. In this study the main aim is developing methods to minimize energy losses. First, methods for making use of waste heat in industrial applications in literature is studied. Then a theoretical model is developed to transform the waste heat energy to electrical energy by using thermophotovoltaic energy conversion systems. A thermophotovoltaic conversion system that generates electrical energy by using the radiation propagating from the waste heat of iron and steel industries is investigated. The thermophotovoltaic energy conversion system consists of heat source, selective emitter, fiter and a photovoltaic energy module. Part of the energy loss is recovered by providing thermal energy to photovoltaic cell module and then converting this thermal energy into electrical energy. Suggestions for feasibility and efficiency of thermophotovoltaic conversion systems is presented after getting the results of this study. It is aimed to provide a source for future works.