Compact Water-Cooled Thermoelectric Generator (TEG) Based on a Portable Gas Stove

Hongkun Lv, Guoneng Li, Youqu Zheng, Jiangen Hu and Jian Li
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Hongkun Lv: State Grid Zhejiang Electric Power Research Institute, Hangzhou 310000, China
Guoneng Li: Department of Energy and Environment System Engineering, Zhejiang University of Science and Technology, Hangzhou 310023, China
Youqu Zheng: Department of Energy and Environment System Engineering, Zhejiang University of Science and Technology, Hangzhou 310023, China
Jiangen Hu: State Grid Zhejiang Electric Power Research Institute, Hangzhou 310000, China
Jian Li: Hangzhou YiNeng Power Technology Corporation Limited, Hangzhou 310014, China

Energies, 2018, vol. 11, issue 9, 1-19

Abstract: A compact water-cooled thermoelectric generator (TEG) based on a portable gas stove was designed and analyzed to supply electricity in off-grid scenarios. The TEG incorporates a newly designed heat collector, eight thermoelectric (TE) modules, and a radiator to ensure its portability (5.9 kg) and sufficiency of electric power (12.9 W). Detailed measurements and discussions on power load feature and TE efficiency are presented. Experiments showed that the power generation capability of the proposed TEG is compromised by its compactness over previous water-cooled TEGs. A theoretical model incorporated with heat leaks from various origins has been developed to illustrate that the designed TEG exerts the potential of every TE module, and to reveal the proportion of various heat fluxes. The predicted electric power, various heat fluxes, and TE efficiency agree well with experimental data. The limitations of TE efficiency and the nonlinearity caused by Joule heat are discussed quantitatively.

Keywords: gas stove; thermoelectric generator; theoretical model; thermoelectric efficiency (search for similar items in EconPapers)
JEL-codes: Q Q0 Q4 Q40 Q41 Q42 Q43 Q47 Q48 Q49 (search for similar items in EconPapers)
Date: 2018
References: View references in EconPapers View complete reference list from CitEc
Citations: View citations in EconPapers (8)

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