Design of a Biomass Combustion System and Experimental Testing of a Thermoelectric Generator

Abstract

Abstract This research is geared towards the design and testing of a biomass powered thermoelectric generator for household electrical appliances. Sensibility analysis and construction of the thermoelectric generator were carried out. The setup consists of biomass burner, thermoelectric generator, battery, MTM-380SD three channel temperature logger and voltmeter. A maximum voltage of 24V was generated with ten thermoelectric modules containing one thousand two hundred and sixty thermocouple junctions. Analysis of the burner shows that at 30% excess air, there is 15% reduction in SO2 formed compared to stoichiometric and 4.85% O2 appeared in the products, further reduction of SO2 by 28.5% occurred for 50% excess air and 44.3% increase in O2 formed compared to stoichiometric. The results obtained shows biomass powered thermoelectric generation is an excellent solution to power generation issues in rural areas as it uses renewable source of energy which is environmentally friendly.