Small Scale Electricity Generation from a Portable Biomass Cookstove: Prototype Design and Preliminary Results
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2013Citation:
S.M. O'Shaughnessy, M. Deasy, C. Kinsella, V. Doyle, A.J. Robinson, Small Scale Electricity Generation from a Portable Biomass Cookstove: Prototype Design and Preliminary Results, Applied Energy, 102, 0, 2013, 374 - 385Download Item:
small scale.pdf (Accepted for publication (author's copy) - Peer Reviewed) 2.594Mb
Abstract:
The World Health Organisation estimates that over 20% of the global population (~1.4 billion people) lack access to electricity. Furthermore, 40% of the global population (~2.7 billion people) rely on the traditional use of biomass for cooking (WHO 2011, OEDC/IEA, 2010). This study details the development of aprototype electrical generator for portable stoves commonly in use in the developing world. This generator is capable of delivering small amounts of off-grid electricity. Power is generated using the thermoelectric effect. A single thermoelectric module is utilised to convert asmall portion of heat from the stove to electricity. The electricity produced is used to charge a single 3.3 V lithium?iron phosphate battery and drive a low power fan, as well as some other auxiliary features. The airflow produced by the fan is used in conjunction with a commercially available heat pipe heat sink to maintain an adequate temperature difference across the thermoelectric module. From experiments in the laboratory, a maximum TEG power output of 5.9 W has been obtained. On average, 3 W h of energy was stored in a battery during a typical 1 h long burn. Three 1 h long burns produced sufficient energy to fully charge the battery. The performance of the electricity generating cooking stove has subsequently been tested in Malawi using locally sourced fuel and fire stoking methods.
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Grant Number
Intel
Irish Research Council for Science and Engineering Technology (IRCSET)
Author's Homepage:
http://people.tcd.ie/arobinshttp://people.tcd.ie/oshaugse
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PUBLISHED
Author: O'Shaughnessy, Seamus; Robinson, Anthony
Type of material:
Journal ArticleSeries/Report no:
Applied Energy102
0
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Full text availableSubject (TCD):
International Development , Smart & Sustainable Planet , TelecommunicationsDOI:
http://dx.doi.org/10.1016/j.apenergy.2012.07.032ISSN:
0306-2619Licences: