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

• International Journal of Highway Engineering
• /
• v.17 no.5
• /
• pp.33-38
• /
• 2015

PURPOSES : The purpose of this paper is to investigate the application of thermoelectric technology to concrete structures for harvesting solar energy that would otherwise be wasted. In various fields of research, thermoelectric technology using a thermoelectric module is being investigated for utilizing solar energy. METHODS: In our experiment, a halogen lamp was used to produce heat energy instead of the solar heat. A data logger was used to record the generated voltage over time from the thermoelectric module mounted on a concrete specimen. In order to increase the efficiency of energy harvesting, various factors such as color, architecture, and the ability to prevent heat absorption by the concrete surface were investigated for the placement of the thermoelectric module. RESULTS : The thermoelectric module produced a voltage using the temperature difference between the lower and upper sides of the module. When the concrete specimen was coated with an aluminum foil, a high electric power was measured. In addition, for the power generated at low temperatures, it was confirmed that the voltage was generated steadily. CONCLUSIONS: Thermoelectric technology for energy harvesting can be applied to concrete structures for generating electric power. The generated electricity can be used to power sensors used in structure monitoring in the future.

• Journal of Energy Engineering
• /
• v.25 no.4
• /
• pp.184-189
• /
• 2016

Recently, due to limitation of $CO_2$ gas emission and increase of demand to reduce energy consumption, lots of researches are conducted to harvest wasted heat energy with a thermoelectric module to produce electricity by Seebeck effect. This study was conducted to analyze characteristics of the thermoelectric module to apply for a heat energy harvesting device. Thermoelectric module composed of bismuth telluride was tested with various temperature conditions to analyze thermoelectric behavior of the module. Power generation efficiency of the thermoelectric module for various temperature condition was analysed with both experimental and theoretical methods. From the results, an optimum condition to harvest wasted heat energy with the thermoelectric module more efficiently was proposed.

• Journal of the Korean Institute of Electrical and Electronic Material Engineers
• /
• v.35 no.2
• /
• pp.119-128
• /
• 2022

Recent advancement of Internet of Things (IoT) and energy harvesting technology enable realization of flexible thermoelectric energy harvester (f-TEH), with technological prowess for use in biomedical monitoring system integrated applications. To expand a flexible thermoelectric energy harvesting platform, the f-TEH must be required for optimized flexible thermoelectric materials and device structure. In response to these demands related to thermoelectric energy harvesting, many research groups have investigated various f-TEHs applied as a power source for wearable electronics. As a key member of the f-TEH, film-based f-TEHs possess significant applicability in research to realize self-powered wearable electronics, owing to their excellent flexibility, low thermal conductivity, and convenient fabrication process. Thus, based on the rapid growth of thermoelectric film technology, this review aims to overview comprehensively the f-TEH made of various inorganic/organic thermoelectric materials including developed fabrication methods, high thermoelectric performance, and wide-range applications.

• Elastomers and Composites
• /
• v.58 no.1
• /
• pp.11-16
• /
• 2023

Electronic skin (e-skin), devices that are mounted on or attached to human skin, have advanced in recent times. Yet, the development of a power supply for e-skin remains a challenge. A stretchable thermoelectric generator is a promising power supply for the e-skin patches. It is a safe and semi-permanent energy harvesting device that uses body heat for generating power. Carbon nanotube (CNT) clays are used in energy-harvesting e-skin patches. In this study, we report improved thermoelectric performance of CNT clays by using chemical doping and physical blending of thermoelectric enhancers. The n-type and p-type thermoelectric enhancers increase electrical conductivity, leading to increased power factors of the thermoelectric CNT clays. The blend of CNT clays and enhancers is intrinsically stretchable up to 50% while maintaining its thermoelectric property.

• Journal of the Korean Ceramic Society
• /
• v.54 no.2
• /
• pp.75-85
• /
• 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 IKEEE
• /
• v.25 no.1
• /
• pp.206-211
• /
• 2021

This paper proposes a Self-Reset Zero-Current Switching (ZCS) Circuit for thermoelectric energy harvesting. The Self-Reset ZCS circuit minimizes the operating current consumed by the voltage comparator, thereby reduces the power consumption of the energy harvesting circuit and improves the energy conversion efficiency by adding the self-reset function to the comparator. The Self-Reset ZCS circuit shows 3.4% of improvement in energy efficiency compared to the energy harvesting system with the conventional analog comparator ZCS for the output/input voltage ratio of 5.5 as a result of circuit simulation. The proposed circuit is useful for improving the performance of the wearable and bio-health-related harvesting circuits, where low-power and energy-efficient thermoelectric energy harvesting is needed.

• Journal of IKEEE
• /
• v.19 no.2
• /
• pp.210-218
• /
• 2015

In this paper an auto-switching energy harvesting circuit using vibration and thermoelectric energy is proposed. Since the maximum power point of a thermoelectric generator(TEG) output and a vibration device(PEG) output is 1/2 of their open-circuit voltage, an identical MPPT controller can be used for both energy sources. The proposed circuit monitors the outputs of the TEG and PEG, and chooses the energy source generating a higher output voltage using an auto-switching controller, and then harvests the maximum power from the selected device using the MPPT controller. The proposed circuit is designed in a $0.35{\mu}m$ CMOS process and its functionality has been verified through extensive simulations. The designed chip occupies $1.4mm{\times}1.2mm$ including pads.

• 한국연소학회:학술대회논문집
• /
• 2015.12a
• /
• pp.323-323
• /
• 2015

In recent years, increasing concerns of environmental issues of global warming and limitations of conventional energy resources have resulted in extensive researches into energy harvesting from unused energy. Thermoelectric generation (TEG) is a promising technology for waste heat to power, and various kinds of applications are possible if a waste heat source meets the requirements of TEG operation. In terms of commercialization, economic feasibility is important for an emerging technology like TEG. In this study, economic analysis was conducted for the application of TEG on various sources of waste heat.

• Journal of IKEEE
• /
• v.21 no.1
• /
• pp.66-69
• /
• 2017

In recent year, energy harvesting technologies from the ambient environments such as light, motion, wireless waves, and temperature again a lot of attraction form research community [1-5] due to its efficient solution in order to substitute for conventional power delivery methods, especially in wearable together with on-body applications. The drawbacks of battery-powered characteristic used in commodity applications lead to self-powered, long-lifetime circuit design. Thermoelectric generator, a solid-state sensor, is useful compared to the harvesting devices in order to enable self-sustained low-power applications. TEG based on the Seebeck effect is utilized to transfer thermal energy which is available with a temperature gradient into useful electrical energy. Depending on the temperature difference between two sides, amount of output power will be proportionally delivered. In this work, we illustrated a low-input voltage energy harvesting circuit applied discontinuous conduction mode (DCM) method for getting an adequate amount of energy from thermoelectric generator (TEG) for a specific wearable application. With a small temperature gradient harvested from human skin, the input voltage from the transducer is as low as 60mV, the proposed circuit, fabricated in a $0.6{\mu}m$ CMOS process, is capable of generating a regulated output voltage of 4.2V with an output power reaching to $40{\mu}W$. The proposed circuit is useful for powering energy to battery-less systems, such as wearable application devices.