Transcript Thermoelectric Stove for Haiti Electrical Engineers: Lauren Cummings, Colin McCune, Andrew Phillips, Xiaolong Zhang Mechanical Engineers: Marissa Blockus, Sam Huynh, Bri Stephenson-Vallot,

Thermoelectric Stove for Haiti
Electrical Engineers: Lauren Cummings, Colin McCune, Andrew Phillips, Xiaolong Zhang
Mechanical Engineers: Marissa Blockus, Sam Huynh, Bri Stephenson-Vallot, Dustin Tyler
Industrial Engineer: Brandon Harbridge
Kate Gleason College of Engineering | Rochester Institute of Technology
Motivation
Customer Needs | Our Goals
•Over 3 billion people use plant material or animal waste (biomass) as fuel for cooking
which requires a considerable amount of their income, energy, and time collecting and
preparing the fuel
•Using biomass leads to deforestation, which is a big problem in Haiti
•Most people in the Haiti live on $2 a day
•1.6 million people die each year from indoor air pollution
•The 2010 earthquake has left people in Haiti without vital resources
We set out to create a stove system that:
1.Reduces fuel use by half;
2.Reduce emissions;
3. Increases efficiency and thus reduces costs for cooking;
4. Allows locals to easily manufacture and sell the stove
5. Is intuitive, transportable, and enhances conventional cooking techniques for
traditional foods;
6.Provides an electrical power source; and
7.Improves the air quality for women and children
System Integration – Thermoelectric Generator (TEG)
Heat from the stove is absorbed into one side of the TEG while cool air
from a fan helps to reject heat from the TEG on the other side.
Electrical System Design
With one side cooled and the other side heated, the TEG generates
electricity, and provides to a USB charger, which powers electronics
such as cell phones
Mechanical System Design
The mechanical design features:
1. A stove intended to reduce emissions and
increase efficiency
2. An air duct and a beam that directs both cool
air from a fan and heat from the stove to the TEG
unit
The electrical system uses an Maximum Power
Point Tracking (MPPT) technique to obtain the
largest amount of power from the TEG unit. Both
the battery and the MPPT provide power to the
fan in the mechanical system as well as the USB
charging system.
Mechanical System
Results Electrical System
Time to Boil (min)
Total Fuel Use (kg)
Start
Cook
CO (g)
Start
Cook
PM (mg)
Tests of the whole system with varying temperature from 100 C to 200 C are shown above. As
expected, TEG and battery current goes down when the temperature drops. Negative battery means
battery is discharging. It results in decline power of TEG. Both fan and USB currents and voltages are
constant as designed, that results in constant power outputs.
CCT Rebar
Targeted
Stove
Performance
15
25
0.380
0.760
0.230
0.459
0.202
0.403
6.3
25.0
1.9
7.7
4.3
17.3
15.2
3.8
CCT New
Stove
19
0.674
0.352
0.322
19.4
6.6
12.8
8.2
 We have reduced the time to boil, from the time the pot is
place
Controlled Cook Test – A realistic test, emulating
on the fire, to 19 minutes.
results that would be achieved in the field.
 Reduced fuel burn during the start up by 23%
Temperature Difference and Power Production –
 Reduced fuel burn during the cook portion by 20%
Determined based on circuit voltage of TEG hooked
 Decreased carbon monoxide by 22%
up to an external resistance equal to electrical
 Reduced particulate matter by 46%
resistance of TEG
Special Thanks: Dr. Robert Stevens, Professor Ed Hanzlik, Dr. Jagdish Tandon, Mr. Neal Eckhaus, Dr. Lynn Fuller,
Mr. Rob Kraynik, Mr. Dave Hathaway, Satchit Mahajan, and H.O.P.E. for Haiti