• Proceedings of the KSME Conference
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• 2007.05b
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• pp.1942-1947
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• 2007

A thermoelectric module can be used for cooling or power generation. The basic requirements to achieve a significant thermoelectric performance are the same for both generators and coolers. Thermoelectric modules with $Bi_2Te_3$ materials are usually employed in the cooling applications below room temperature but it can also be used for the power generation in the similar temperature range. In the present study, the power generation with a $Bi_2Te_3$ thermoelectric module has been investigated. The temperature difference between the hot and cold sides of the module is maintained with electric heater and cold water from the circulating water bath. The result shows that the electric current generated increases with temperature difference and decreases with the load resistance. However, the voltage increases with both the temperature difference and load resistance. The electric power increases with temperature difference and it has the maximum value when the load resistance is about 4 ${\Omega}$ for a given device.

• Transactions of the Korean Society of Mechanical Engineers B
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• v.26 no.10
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• pp.1333-1340
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• 2002

The objective of this study is to develop a thermoelectric generation system which converts unused energy from close-at-hand sources such as garbage incineration heat and industrial exhaust etc. into electricity. This paper presents applicability of a commercially available thermoelectric generator f3r waster heat recovery. The test facility consists of water heater, pump, thermoelectric module and aluminium tubes and hot and cold water is used as heat source and sink fluids. It is shown that the three components of thermoelectric research exist in manufacturing a thermoelectric generator. The first component is fabrication of thermoelectric materials, the second is manufacturing of thermoelectric generator with 32 thermoelectric modules. The last one is characteristic measuring of thermoelectric generator with 32 thermoelectric modules of two types, cooling and power purpose. It was found that the rate of cold and hot water is 25 and 37 liter per minute and the maximum power of thermoelectric generator is 28Watts and its efficiency is 1.04%.

• Proceedings of the KIEE Conference
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• 2001.07b
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• pp.1319-1321
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• 2001

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 simulation 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 generation modules can be defined as temperature function, and in this case. It can be analogized the lineal relation between current and voltage characteristics as function of temperature. The thermoelectric generator using 32 thermoelectric modules was assembled with 32 directly connected modules that they constrained for two kinds of heat transfer tube with key joints.

• 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.

• Transactions of the Korean Society of Mechanical Engineers B
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• v.33 no.9
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• pp.718-721
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• 2009

A new progressive advanced approach (Loop thermosyphon Thermoelectric Power generation System) is suggested to optimize heat recovery ability from vehicle exhaust gas. As an initial look at device feasibility, the present new TE system adopted the loop thermosyphon as a cooling heat exchanger. The TE system with loop thermosyphon was investigated in terms of working fluids, instability of system, amount of working fluid, and so on. Basically, the present experimental works have been focused on finding the optimum working condition of the system to improve thermoelectric power output and to obtain stable power generation to operate hybrid vehicles. The present experimental results with the loop thermosyphon TE module shows possibilities as an improved TE system for future thermoelectric hybrid vehicles.

• Journal of the Korean Institute of Illuminating and Electrical Installation Engineers
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• v.29 no.8
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• pp.1-6
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• 2015

In this paper, we propose the LED(Light-Emitting-Diode) emergency lighting in a tunnel by using the thermoelectric devices. To achieve high generated power, thermoelectric device should be have high Seebeck coefficient and small contact area. Also, we reveal that a moderate heatsink required for high generated power. From the waste heat of LED tunnel lighting module (25W), the generated power was 0.062W by thermoelectric device, and it could illuminate for 1hour after charge the battery of emergency lighting during about 101hours.

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

• 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.22 no.3
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• pp.165-170
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• 2010

Experiments have been performed to investigate the key parameters determining the performance of thermoelectric power generation. The experimental results obtained show that the power output significantly increases with the temperature difference between cold and hot sides of thermoelectric generator. However, the effect of the hot side temperature under the identical temperature difference on the overall performance of a thermoelectric generator is meager. The conversion efficiency defined as the ratio of the power generated to the heat absorbed at the hot side increases with the temperature difference. The behavior of the thermoelectric generator is shown to be consistent with the theoretical analysis. The optimum current giving the maximum conversion efficiency and the maximum conversion efficiency are linearly increased with the temperature difference.

• Journal of the Korean Institute of Electrical and Electronic Material Engineers
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• v.21 no.12
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• pp.1135-1140
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• 2008

Bismuth-telluride based thin film materials are grown by Metal Organic Chemical Vapor Deposition(MOCVD). A planar type thermoelectric device has been fabricated using p-type $Bi_{0.4}Sb_{1.6}Te_3$ and n-type $Bi_2Te_3$ thin films. Firstly, the p-type thermoelectric element was patterned after growth of $4{\mu}m$ thickness of $Bi_{0.4}Sb_{1.6}Te_3$ layer. Again n-type $Bi_2Te_3$ film was grown onto the patterned p-type thermoelectric film and n-type strips are formed by using selective chemical etchant for $Bi_2Te_3$. The top electrical connector was formed by thermally deposited metal film. The generator consists of 20 pairs of p- and n-type legs. We demonstrate complex structures of different conduction types of thermoelectric element on same substrate by two separate runs of MOCVD with etch-stop layer and selective etchant for n-type thermoelectric material. Device performance was evaluated on a number of thermoelectric devices. To demonstrate power generation, one side of the sample was heated by heating block and the voltage output measured. As expected for a thermoelectric generator, the voltage decreases linearly, while the power output rises to a maximum. The highest estimated power of $1.3{\mu}W$ is obtained for the temperature difference of 45 K. we provide a promising procedure for fabricating thin film thermoelectric generators by using MOCVD grown thermoelectric materials which may have nanostructure with high thermoelectric properties.