Harvesting Electric Energy Using Thermoelectric Generators in a Residential Heating Application

Biomass combustors provide space heating by converting chemical energy in woody biomass into low-temperature thermal energy. Thermoelectric generators (TEGs) can generate electricity from the heat flux without significantly reducing heating performance. However, most current TEGs are small (40 mm x 40 mm), requiring many TEG elements to generate useful power from a biomass combustion-based space heater. This work compares the electrical generation potential of an array of small TEGs with a larger (80 mm x 120 mm) TEG in a vertical configuration representative of a residential heating appliance. An experimental facility was developed for various representative cold-side ducts and controllable hot-side temperature and cooling airflows, and the Taguchi method was used to evaluate the impacts of temperature, airspeed, and ducting configurations. The results indicate that temperature and airspeed significantly influence TEG power, while ducting configurations have an insignificant influence. The large TEG achieved more consistent temperatures but produced lower power than an array of smaller TEGs with the same total area. The study emphasizes optimizing TEG design and operating conditions to enhance electricity generation efficiency in space heating combustors.