The use of thermo electric generator to utilize the waste heat from the biomass stove into electricity

Abstract

Indonesia has a huge potential for biomass energy resources. In 2013, the estimated potential of forest biomass in Indonesia for bioenergy was 132 PJ, 50.4% from harvest residues and 49.6% from wood processing residues. Until now, the technology of burning biomass using a stove continues to develop. Biomass stoves are designed, modified and tested to get maximum performance, at least approaching the performance of LPG-fueled stoves. Several studies concluded that about 14.66% of the total heat loss is on the walls of the biomass stove. The purpose of this study was to investigate whether the waste heat in the wall of a biomass stove can be used to generate electricity. Many researchers have studied the heat loss on the walls of the biomass stove, this heat loss can reduce the thermal efficiency of the stove and can cause the stove user to feel uncomfortable. Based on the Seebeck effect method where the temperature difference can be converted into electricity. If there is a temperature difference between the two sides of the thermoelectric, electricity will arise. This principle is used by thermoelectric generators. To maximize the temperature difference, the cold side of the Thermoelectric Generator (TEG) needs a cooling system. In this study, the TEG was attached to the wall of the biomass stove, then the voltage generated by the TEG was measured for each type of biomass fuel. the highest average voltage produced by wood chips, followed by candlenut shells, corn cobs and coconut shells. This is unique, although the calorific value of coconut shells (19,5 MJ/kg) is higher than hard wood (18,8 MJ/kg) and corn cobs (5.32 MJ/Nm3 ), but the highest average voltage is produced by wood 1.30 volts, then 1.12 volts of candlenut shells, 1.08 volts of corn cobs, and 0.79 volts of coconut shells.