Experimental Performance and Economic Evaluation of a Thermoelectric Liquefied Petroleum Gas (TE-LPG) Cook Stove

The use of liquefied petroleum gas (LPG) cook stoves is widespread in households throughout Thailand. The LPG is burned by a cooker-top burner that gives off high thermal energy, some of which is lost to the environment. This lost heat can be used to drive thermoelectric (TE) modules which in turn produce electrical power. The TE-LPG cook stove comprises TE power modules, a dual purpose wind shield used to protect against wind flowing to the cooker-top burner while simultaneously serving as the hot side of the TE modules, a fin heat sink at the cold side of the TE modules, and a fan. An experimental setup was built to evaluate the conversion efficiency at various temperature ranges. The electricity produced was used to charge a lead-acid battery that drove a fan and some auxiliary features. The results showed that a maximum power output of 9.3 W was obtained. A theoretical model was then developed to describe the experimental results taking in to account convection and conduction phenomena at the cold side heat sink. An economic analysis indicates that payback period of the TE power generation system depends on the annual operating time.