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CNC studying wood stove electricity generators

The College of New Caledonia is partnering on a research project looking at green energy commonly used with wood stoves. The college joined with Thermal Electronics Corp.
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The College of New Caledonia is partnering on a research project looking at green energy commonly used with wood stoves.

The college joined with Thermal Electronics Corp. to see how thermoelectric generation (TEG) technology can best generate power in a TEG stove.

The CNC press release describes thermoelectric generation as "a method of producing electricity from two surfaces with different temperatures" and a technology that is best used for devices that create high or wasted heat - like wood stoves, boilers, kitchens, and gas pipelines.

With wider use, the technology has the potential to improve overall energy efficiency of numerous residential and industrial energy systems, the release said.

Researchers also plan to set up systems that protect the TEG device. The hope is to "prolong the life" of those systems when installed in an unregulated woodstove.

CNC researcher Sorin Pasca said students will help design, assemble and test the proposed mechanism.

"Faculty and students alike will benefit from this research study by better understanding challenges related to the operation of TEG modules and systems," said Pasca in a press release.

"This is a great learning experience for them."

For two decades Thermal Electronics, an Aurora, Ont. company, has produced "thermoelectric components for cooling and power generation," its owner Gerard Campeau said.

"We are also heavily involved in a number of high impact projects that will provide a platform to expose the TEG Power technology to the masses, as this technology is still not well understood."

The research, which started in September, builds on a previous project where thermoelectric generation was used for greenhouse.