• 한국태양에너지학회:학술대회논문집
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• 2008.04a
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• pp.68-74
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• 2008

This paper describes the causes and effects that have influence on thermoelectric generation. If heat transfer is unequal to thermoelectric modules, we could not get the maximum thermoelectric power. So, by experiment, we analysed the differences of power generation according to the state of the contact between thermoelectric module and heat source. And with the variation of heat transfer area, the generated power was analysed also. Using the experimental results we proposed a thermoelectric generation system.

• Journal of Powder Materials
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• v.29 no.2
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• pp.152-158
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• 2022

Thermoelectric materials can reversely convert heat and electricity into each other; therefore, they can be very useful for energy harvesting from heat waste. Among many thermoelectrical materials, SnSe exhibits outstanding thermoelectric performance along the particular direction of a single crystal. However, single-crystal SnSe has poor mechanical properties and thus it is difficult to apply for mass production. Therefore, polycrystalline SnSe materials may be used to replace single-crystal SnSe by overcoming its inferior thermoelectric performance owing to surface oxidation. Considerable efforts are currently focused on enhancing the thermoelectric performance of polycrystalline SnSe. In this study, we briefly review various enhancement methods for SnSe thermoelectric materials, including doping, texturing, and nano-structuring. Finally, we discuss the future prospects of SnSe thermoelectric powder materials.

• Journal of the Korean Ceramic Society
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• v.54 no.6
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• pp.518-524
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• 2017

A flexible thermoelectric device using body heat has drawn attention as a power source for wearable devices. In this study, thermoelectric thick films were fabricated by cold pressing method using p-type antimony telluride and n-type bismuth telluride powders in accordance with specific loads. Thermoelectric thick films were denser and improved the electrical and thermoelectric properties while increasing the load of the cold pressing. The thickness of the specimen can be controlled by the amount of material; specimens were approximately 700 um in thickness. Flexible thermoelectric devices were manufactured by using the thermoelectric thick films on PI (Polyimide) substrate. The process is cheap, efficient, easy and scalable. Evaluation of power generation performance and flexibility on the fabricated flexible thermoelectric device was carried out. The flexible thermoelectric device has great flexibility and good performance and can be applied to wearable electronics as a power source.

• Proceedings of the KIEE Conference
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• 2000.07c
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• pp.1614-1616
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• 2000

The purpose of this study is to manufacture and test a thermoelectric generator which converts unused energy from close-at-hand sources, such as garbage incineration heat and industrial exhaust, to electricity. A manufacturing process and the properties of a thermoelectric generator are discussed before simulating the thermal stress and thermal properties of a thermoelectric module located between an aluminum tube and alumina plate. We can design the thermoelectric modules having the good properties of thermoelectric generation. Resistivity of thermoelectric module for thermoelectric generation consisting of 62 cells was $0.15{\sim}0.4{\Omega}$. The maximum power of thermoelectric generator using thermoelectric generating modules can be defined as temperature function, and in this case it can be analogized the linear relation between current and voltage characteristics as function of temperature. The thermoelectric generator using 128 generating modules was assembled with 4 parallel connected modules sets composed with 32 directly connected modules.

• Korean Journal of Air-Conditioning and Refrigeration Engineering
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• v.19 no.2
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• pp.162-168
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• 2007

This paper presents the effects of thermoelectric module arrangement on the cooling performance of an air conditioner using thermoelectric module. A prototype of air cooling system, employing several thermoelectric modules, has been designed and built. The evaporative cooling technique is adopted for hot side of the module. The number of thermoelectric module in the system has been varied in the range of $2{\sim}8$. The optimal operation conditions, such as input power to the thermoelectric module, fans and pump, have been determined for each arrangement of the system and the cooling performance has been compared under the optimal operation. It is found that both cooling capacity and COP are increased as the number of thermoelectric module increased. It is also found that cooling capacity can be improved by connecting the thermoelectric modules in series than in parallel, while the COP is little affected.

• International Journal of Highway Engineering
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• v.16 no.6
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• pp.51-57
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• 2014

PURPOSES : An conventional method for electric power generation is converting thermal energy into mechanical energy then to electrical energy. Due to environmental issues such as global warming related with $CO_2$ emission etc., were the limiting factor for the energy resources which resulting in extensive research and novel technologies are required to generate electric power. Thermal energy harvesting using thermoelectric generator is one of energy harvesting technologies due to diverse advantages for new green technology. This paper presents a possibility of application of the thermoelectric generator's application in the direct exchange of waste solar energy into electrical power in road space. METHODS : To measure generated electric power of the thermoelectric generator, data logger was adopted as function of experimental factors such as using cooling sink, connection methods etc. Also, the thermoelectric generator、s behavior at low ambient temperature was investigated as measurement of output voltage vs. elapsed times. RESULTS : A few temperature difference between top an bottom of the thermoelectric generator is generated electric voltage. Components of an electrical circuit can be connected in various ways. The two simplest of these are called series and parallel and occur so open. Series shows slightly better performance in this study. An installation of cooling sink in the thermoelectric generator system was enhanced the output of power voltage. CONCLUSIONS : In this paper, a basic concepts of thermoelectric power generation is presented and applications of the thermoelectric generator to waste solar energy in road is estimated for green energy harvesting technology. The possibility of usage of thermoelectric technology for road facilities was found under the ambient thermal gradient between two surfaces of the thermoelectric module. An experiment results provide a testimony of the feasibility of the proposed environmental energy harvesting technology on the road facilities.

• Korean Journal of Air-Conditioning and Refrigeration Engineering
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• v.26 no.8
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• pp.375-380
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• 2014

The purpose of this paper is to investigate the cooling and heating performance of a standalone-type thermoelectric system equipped with a thermoelectric module. The system consists of a blower and two thermoelectric modules with a fin, which is soldered onto both sides of the thermoelectric module and a courtesy light. The thermoelectric system experiment is conducted with the intake voltage to find the optimum cooling and heating performance of each. The results showed that the cooling capacity and coefficient of performance (COP) were 22 W and 0.31, and the heating capacity and COP were 147 W and 1.1, respectively. In the vehicle cooling and heating performance test in a climate wind tunnel, the results showed that the standalone thermoelectric system's cooling performance was slightly better than the base system; and the heating performance of the standalone thermoelectric system was $54.1^{\circ}C$ and the COP was 1.3, compared to the base system.

• Journal of the Korean Ceramic Society
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• v.54 no.2
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• pp.75-85
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• 2017

Thermoelectric is a key technology for energy harvesting and solid-state cooling by direct thermal-to-electric energy conversion (or vice versa); however, the relatively low efficiency has limited thermoelectric systems to niche applications such as space power generation and small-scale or high-density cooling. To expand into larger scale power generation and cooling applications such as ATEG (automotive thermoelectric generators) and HVAC (heating, ventilation, and air conditioning), high-performance bulk thermoelectric materials and their low-cost processing are essential prerequisites. Recently, the performance of commercial thermoelectric materials including $Bi_2Te_3$-, PbTe-, skutterudite-, and half-Heusler-based compounds has been significantly improved through non-equilibrium processing technologies for defect engineering. This review summarizes material design approaches for the formation of multi-dimensional and multi-scale defect structures that can be used to manipulate both the electronic and thermal transport properties, and our recent progress in the synthesis of conventional thermoelectric materials with defect structures is described.

• Journal of the Korean Society of Safety
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• v.24 no.6
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• pp.13-19
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• 2009

The thermoelectric cooling system consisted of the thermoelectric module, a heat sink and a cooling fan, respectively. Also, the piezoelectric actuator was applied to improve the performance of thermoelectric cooling system and investigate the heat transfer phenomenon. The temperature distribution of test section was measured to investigate cooling characteristics of thermoelectric cooling system. The flow phenomenon of test section was visualized using visualization device. When the piezoelectric actuator was applied to the heat transfer process of thermoelectric cooling system, acoustic streaming was occurred in test section. The acoustic streaming was occurred forced convection flow, and was regularly formed the temperature distribution in test section. The results clearly show that the acoustic streaming is one of the prime effects to enhance the convection heat transfer and can enhance the performance of thermoelectric cooling system.

• Journal of the Korean Institute of Electrical and Electronic Material Engineers
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• v.35 no.5
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• pp.419-430
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• 2022

Defects in solids play a vital role on thermoelectric properties through the direct impacts of electronic band structure and electron/phonon transports, which can improve the electronic and thermal properties of a given thermoelectric semiconductor. Defects in semiconductors can be divided into four different types depending on their geometric dimensions, and thus understanding the effects on thermoelectric properties of each type is of a vital importance. This paper reviews the recent advances in the various thermoelectric semiconductors through defect engineering focusing on the charge carrier and phonon behaviors. First, we clarify and summarize each type of defects in thermoelectric semiconductors. Then, we review the recent achievements in thermoelectric properties by applying defect engineering when introducing defects into semiconductor lattices. This paper ends with a brief discussion on the challenges and future directions of defect engineering in the thermoelectric field.