Abstract

Thermoelectric cells convert directly heat into electricity but, due to the low conversion efficiency (up to 5%), most applications are in waste heat recovery. Another promising application is in biomass boiler. In this case, the installation of thermoelectric modules converts a biomass boiler into a cogeneration system, where the aim of the integration is not the electricity production for external power supply, but the realization of a stand-alone biomass power plant which could match the customer needs in isolated places. This review is focused on the recent research papers in thermoelectric biomass cogeneration.