A new type of open-cell metal foam-filled plate heat exchanger based thermoelectric generator system (HE-TEG) is proposed to utilize low grade waste heat. This system can realize waste heat recovery through heat exchange and thermoelectric (TE) power generation. An experimental prototype is constructed to demonstrate the feasibility. High heat exchange efficiency of 83.56% between heated air and cold water is achieved. The maximum open circuit voltage of 16 TE couple is 108.1 mV. Several improving methods have been proposed and experimented, including adjustment of the cold water flow rate, enhancement of the heated air inlet temperature and increase of the number of TE couples. The performances of heat exchanger (HE) and thermoelectric generator (TEG) are discussed, respectively. (C) 2014 Elsevier Ltd. All rights reserved.