Characterization of Thermoelectric Modules for Powering Autonomous Sensors

The characterization of three commercial thermoelectric modules, which are designed for cooling/heating applications, is presented to employ the devices for power conversion, i.e., as thermoelectric generators (TEGs). The thermoelectric theory is briefly summarized at first, taking into account the relationship between the effective temperature difference across the TEG junctions and the temperature difference applied externally, considering insulating ceramic plates having finite thermal conductance. The thermoelectric modules have been characterized in terms of open-circuit output voltage and output power density for different temperature gradients and load conditions. Measurement techniques and experimental data are reported, which show the possibility of using thermoelectric devices for energy-harvesting applications. A comparison of the results from the tested devices with the performance data of commercial TEGs that are specifically designed for power harvesting is then presented, and the main characteristics of the two device typologies are discussed. A TEG was then used to supply an autonomous system that interfaces with a temperature sensor and periodically transmits the measurement information via an RF link. Experimental data show that the system works correctly and sends the RF signal when the temperature difference that is applied across the TEG is higher than 34 K.      

Integration of dye-sensitized solar cells, thermoelectric modules and electrical storage loop system to constitute a novel photothermoelectric generator

This study self-develops a novel type of photothermoelectric power generation modules. Dye-sensitized solar cells (DSSCs) serve as the photoelectric conversion system and a copper (Cu) heat-transfer nanofilm coating on both sides of the thermoelectric generator (TEG) acts as a thermoelectric conversion system. Thus module assembly absorbs light and generates electricity by DSSCs, and also recycles waste heat and generates power by the TEG. In addition, a set of pulsating heat pipes (PHP) filled with Cu nanofluid is placed on the cooling side to increase cooling effects and enhance the power generation efficiency. Results show that when the heat source of thermoelectric modules reaches 90 degrees C, TEG power output is increased by 85.7%. Besides, after thermoelectric modules are heated by additional heat source at 80 degrees C, the electrical energy generated by them can let a NiMH cell (1.25 V) be sufficiently charged in about 30 minutes. When photothermoelectric modules is illumined by simulated light, the temperature difference of two sides of TEG can reach 7 degrees C and the thermoelectric conversion efficiency is 2.17%. Furthermore, the power output of the thermoelectric modules is 11.48 mW/cm2, enhancing 1.4 % compared to merely using DSSCs module.     

Thermoelectric cooling of microelectronic circuits and waste heat electrical power generation in a desktop personal computer

Thermoelectric cooling and micro-power generation from waste heat within a standard desktop computer has been demonstrated. A thermoelectric test system has been designed and constructed, with typical test results presented for thermoelectric cooling and micro-power generation when the computer is executing a number of different applications. A thermoelectric module, operating as a heat pump, can lower the operating temperature of the computer's microprocessor and graphics processor to temperatures below ambient conditions. A small amount of electrical power, typically in the micro-watt or milli-watt range, can be generated by a thermoelectric module attached to the outside of the computer's standard heat sink assembly, when a secondary heat sink is attached to the other side of the thermoelectric module. Maximum electrical power can be generated by the thermoelectric module when a water cooled heat sink is used as the secondary heat sink, as this produces the greatest temperature difference between both sides of the module.     

Basic study of high Tc superconducting magnet excited by thermoelectromotive force

This paper describes experimental results of a high T_c superconducting magnet excited by a thermoelectromotive force. This magnet system has an advantage of simple configuration because a thermoelectric element is much smaller than a conventional external power source for a superconducting magnet. It is demonstrated that more than 50 A of transport current is obtained in the present experiment. The heat leakage to the coil is about double amount as compared with a conventional magnet system with an external power source.     

Hybrid Micropower Source for Wireless Sensor Network

Wireless sensor networks have become a very significant enabling technology in many applications and the use of environmental energy is a feasible source for low-power wireless sensor networks. The challenges of developing a power supply including generation or conversion, storage, and power management are manifold to extend the lifetime of a wireless sensor network. The objective of this research is to develop an intelligent hybrid power system to realize a self-sustaining wireless sensor node. The photovoltaic and thermoelectric generators are adopted as energy converters. The lithium ion battery and ultracapacitor are used as reservoirs. An intelligent power management system has been developed to control the power distribution. The design data and experimental results show that the hybrid micropower source can extend the lifetime of a sensor network.     

A design method of thermoelectric coolerConception d'un refroidisseur thermoélectrique

A system design method of thermoelectric cooler is developed in the present study. The design calculation utilizes the performance curve of the thermoelectric module that is determined experimentally. An automatic test apparatus was designed and built to illustrate the testing. The performance test results of the module are used to determine the physical properties and derive an empirical relation for the performance of thermoelectric module. These results are then used in the system analysis of a thermoelectric cooler using a thermal network model. The thermal resistance of heat sink is chosen as one of the key parameters in the design of a thermoelectric cooler. The system simulation shows that there exists a cheapest heat sink for the design of a thermoelectric cooler. It is also shown that the system simulation coincides with experimental data of a thermoelectric cooler using an air-cooled heat sink with thermal resistance 0.2515°C/W. An optimal design of thermoelectric cooler at the conditions of optimal COP is also studied. The optimal design can be made either on the basis of the maximum value of the optimal cooling capacity, or on the basis of the best heat sink technology available.     

点热源热脉冲法测算生物流体的热物性参数

采用微珠状热敏电阻作为点热源和测温元件，在一维点源脉冲传热模型的基础上建立一种同时测量生物流体热扩散系数、导热系数和热容的瞬态方法。运用非线性参数拟合，直接从感温热敏电阻对热脉冲温度响应中同时获取待测的热物性参数。实验中设计了一个高灵敏度的温度测量电路，测试结果表明，本方法测量误差小于4％。此外，还讨论了测量数据的处理和影响测量的因素。     

Wireless and batteryless biomedical microsystem for neural recording and epilepsy suppression based on brain focal cooling

This work presents a biomedical microsystem with a wireless radiofrequency (RF)-powered electronics and versatile sensors/actuators for use in nanomedicinal diagnosis and therapy. The cooling of brain tissue has the potential to reduce the frequency and severity of epilepsy. Miniaturised spiral coils as a wireless power module with low-dropout linear regulator circuit convert RF signals into a DC voltage, can be implanted without a battery in monitoring free behaviour. A thermoelectric (TE) cooler is an actuator that is employed to cool down brain tissue to suppress epilepsy. Electroencephalogram (EEG) electrodes and TE coolers are integrated to form module that is placed inside the head of a rat and fastened with a bio-compatible material. EEG signals are used to identify waveforms associated with epilepsy and are measured using readout circuits. The wireless part of the presented design achieves a low quiescent current and line/load regulation and high antenna/current efficiency with thermal protection to avoid damage to the implanted tissue. Epilepsy is suppressed by reducing the temperature to reduce the duration of this epileptic episode. Related characterisations demonstrate that the proposed design can be adopted in an effective nanomedicine microsystem.     

Thermoelectric Converters of Human Warmth for Self-Powered Wireless Sensor Nodes

Solar cells are the most commonly used devices in customer products to achieve power autonomy. This paper discusses a complementary approach to provide power autonomy to devices on a human body, i.e., thermoelectric conversion of human heat. In indoor applications, thermoelectric converters on the skin can provide more power per square centimeter than solar cells, particularly in adverse illumination conditions. Moreover, they work day and night. The first sensor nodes powered by human heat have been demonstrated and tested on people in 2004-2005. They used the state-of-the-art 100-muW watch-size thermoelectric wrist generators fabricated at IMEC and based on custom-design small-size BiTe thermopiles. The sensor node is completed with a power conditioning module, a microcontroller, and a wireless transceiver mounted on a watchstrap     

A simple and effective load-pull system for RF power transistorlarge-signal measurements for wireless communication power amplifierdesign

Conventional load-pull methods for RF power transistor large-signal measurements usually need complicated RF measurement instrumentation. A simple load-pull measurement setup and a test procedure with IEEE-488 GPIB control and data acquisition capability has been developed. This is used to facilitate the design of an RF power amplifier (PA) for wireless communication applications. Compared with the conventional load-pull method, it is simpler and less costly, yet effective. Measured examples of Siemens GaAs FET's CLY-2 and CLY-10, which are used to design a RF PA module for ISM-band (902-928 MHz) wireless communications, are presented     

Improvement of the Efficiency of a Solar Thermoelectric Battery

A refined model for calculation of the heat transfer inside a thermoelectric temperature transducer of the module type is considered as applied to the structure of a solar thermoelectric battery. An investigation is made of the dependence of the useful electric power of the battery on the geometric characteristics of its thermomodules and the structural parameters of the battery. It is shown that for each value of the external load optimum values of the crosssectional area and height of the thermoelement arms exist, at which the maximum useful electric power is realized.     

基于C8051单片机的多路温度无线遥测系统

基于C8051F020单片机和DTD465无线数传模块设计了多路温度双向无线遥测系统.温度测量采用铂电阻;无线数传模块基于FSK调制,采用高效前向纠错信道编码技术;系统为低功耗设计.介绍了测量站和主控站的软件,以及数据通信协议.系统已成功地应用于汽车导航实验中,使用结果表明,本系统软硬件设计完善,可靠性高,使用方便.     

太阳能半导体制冷的实验研究与数值分析

建立了以水为热交换媒介的太阳能光伏半导体制冷模块实验系统.制冷装置模块化,用以适应制冷功率变化较大的不同空间布局,通过太阳能光电半导体制冷实验获得了不同工作状态下电流、制冷量、制冷系数等重要参数,该参数可为确定系统最佳工作区域提供可靠依据.给出了太阳能热电制冷系统组合方案,介绍了一种新型组合式半导体制冷器和半导体热电发电装置,其数值计算的结构参数、最大制冷系数和制冷率等重要参数以及热电器件最佳工作区域和结构参数的最优范围,可为系统优化设计的配置提供理论上的指导.     

CCD芯片热电制冷的非稳态传热研究

针对散热受限热电制冷系统中温度非稳态变化过程,建立了一个简单的分析模型,基于该模型对CCD芯片热电制冷进行了仿真分析和实验研究.仿真和实验结果均表明:在散热受限条件下,热电制冷系统的热传过程长时间处于非稳态;存在一个最优制冷电流I_(max),当I_c相似文献   

System model identification of a Fabry-Perot fiber optic sensingsystem

A Fabry-Perot fiber optic temperature sensing system is presented in this paper. It uses a Fabry-Perot interferometer (FPI) to transform the environmental temperature into modulated reflected light. This light is directed to a patented light cross-correlator that locates the position of the maximum interference fringe intensity, which is detected by a linear CCD array. Therefore, the actual observed data is the position of the CCD pixel detecting the maximum interference fringe intensity rather than the light intensity itself. Consequently, this sensing mechanism is tolerant to the loss of light power that may result from external effects. Based on an analysis of the entire sensing system, a theoretical dynamic model was developed, which shows that the system dynamic response depends on the heat transfer process in the sensor head and the signal processing in the signal conditioner. An experimental method was developed to validate the theoretical model. Two empirical dynamic models are also obtained from the experimental data. Comparing the theoretical model with the empirical models, the poles result from the heat transfer process in the sensor head     

Contribution to the Transient Plane Source Method for Measuring Thermophysical Properties of Solids

The transient plane source method of measuring the thermal conductivity and thermal diffusivity uses a sensor in the shape of a thin disk, which simultaneously serves as the heat source and thermometer. This study describes improvements of the experimental apparatus, providing some details of the electrical bridge with the aim to obtain maximum reliability of the measurement results. The aim of the temperature function analysis is to find the optimal time of measurement. The relation between the data time window used for fitting, the uncertainty of the sensor temperature measurement, and the uncertainty of the results is presented and graphically illustrated using numerical simulation of the experiment. The theory was confirmed by the evaluation of real measurements on polymethylmetacrylate. The temperature function analysis revealed that a decrease of the temperature measurement uncertainty need not always lead to a fall in the total uncertainty of the results but to shorter experiments and smaller specimens.     

便携式温湿度舒适性测试仪研究

为了解列车运行时客室内温湿度的动态变化以及该变化对乘客舒适性的影响,研究设计一种便携式温湿度舒适性实时测试系统。通过在高速列车实测温湿度数据和乘客调查问卷的统计分析基础上,给出适用于我国高速列车的温湿度舒适性评价指标。系统以STM32系列处理器和数字式温湿度传感器SHT21为核心,采用模块化设计,由电源模板、温湿度测量模块、存储模块和LCD显示模块组成。实验表明该系统可满足高速列车客室内温湿度动态变化及乘客温湿度舒适性的测试要求。     

In-Circuit Loss Measurement of a High-Frequency Integrated Power Electronics Module

This paper presents a practical approach to accurately measure the in-circuit power loss of an integrated power electronics module. Based on several reasonable assumptions, the heat flux out of the module is related to the temperature drop across the thermal resistance material in the heat dissipation path. By performing a calibration experiment, the total dissipated heat can be identified. The experimental results prove the high accuracy of this measurement method. This measurement method can be extended to other situations when the assumptions that are applicable to this experiment are satisfied.     

半导体光纤温度传感器特性研究

设计了一种新颖的半导体光纤温度的传感器。通过实验的方法研究了采用不同光源时传感器的输出特性。根据实验数据了分析了传感器的灵敏度、测量范围、线性度和重复性与光源光谱性之间的关系。实验结果表明用该光纤温度传感系统可以实现对温度的非接触稳定测量。     

空间百瓦自由活塞斯特林发电机的实验研究

搭建了实验测试系统并对研制的百瓦自由活塞斯特林发电机进行性能优化实验,探究了板簧刚度、运行压力、外负载和冷端温度等因素对发电机输出功率、热电效率、运行频率、热端温度等输出特性的影响.结果 表明:同一工况下,配气、动力活塞板簧刚度均存在最佳值使得发电机的输出功率与热电效率最高,运行频率对前者的变化更为敏感.运行压力和外负...