03. Electronics Packaging and Thermal Management

Thermoelectric power generation can generate electrical energy from waste heat and is one of the effective energy harvesting technologies. This technology uses the device called thermoelectric module and can generates electricity only by applying a temperature difference to it. This technology is being considered for combined systems with IoT devices that utilize large-scale waste heat from factories. To realize this systemization, various issues have emerged. One of these is to accurately evaluate whether the modules can supply the enough power for the electronic equipment to run. In addition, since the application environment differs even within the same factory, evaluation at each site is necessary for optimization, and the measurement time and cost must be kept to a minimum. The power generation efficiency of the module is determined by the temperature difference applied to it. When considering the use of the module in a factory, the difference becomes several degrees Celsius, so we must determine the efficiency in these situations. However, the conventional method can produce large error of the input heat flow at low temperature differences and affect the efficiency calculation. Moreover, it is difficult to accurately measure the module temperature by using existing methods and it takes more time and cost because of the complicated setup. In this study, we propose a method to evaluate thermoelectric performance in a short time and with high accuracy using a laser and a thermography. Using lasers reduces the measurement error of the input heat flow and improves the measurement accuracy of the power generation efficiency. Furthermore, using thermography to measure the temperature of the module is make it possible to perform all measurements in a non-contact and to simplify the measurement process. In this presentation, we report on the validation of the measurement method.

Hosei NAGANO

Mr.

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