Solar-biomass thermoelectric power generation simulation
J. Eakburanawat1, J. Khedari1, J. Hirunlabh1, M. Daguenet2, S. Teekasap3
1Building Scientific Research Center, King Mongkut’s University of Technology Thonburi, Bangmod, Tungkru, Bangkok, Thailand
2Laboratoire de Thermodynamique et Energétique, Université de Perpignan, France
3Faculty of Engineering South - East Asia University, Bangkok, Thailand
This paper presents simulation results of a new hybrid thermoelectric power generator combining solar energy and biomass. The system considered is composed of a domestic cook-stove that uses charcoal or wood as fuel, thermoelectric (TE) modules, a photovoltaic panel and control devices. Simulations were performed using TRNSYS with IIsibat program with a new component we developed for thermoelectric modules. Different TE input data could be used corresponding to different manufacturers (China, USA). Temperature profile of cook-stove was extracted from the experiment and the average 5 years (1998-2002, Bangkok) hourly solar radiation and ambient temperature were used. The operating conditions of the system are as follows: hot side temperature of thermoelectric modules of about 250oC and power output of 100 W that represents a minimum domestic requirement of a small family. By considering equal power generated by the TE modules and the PV panel, the maximum power output that could be produced by this hybrid TE-PV cook-stove, on the worst-month (September) is 68.38 W. The TRNSYS software and the developed thermoelectric component is therefore an extremely powerful tool for the design of solar-biomass thermoelectric power generation of whatever size.