• Advances in aircraft and spacecraft science
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• v.8 no.1
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• pp.17-30
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• 2021

This is an investigation for a more electric regional aircraft, considering the ATR 72 aircraft as an example and the electrification of its four double slotted flaps, which were estimated to require an energy of 540 Wh for takeoff and 1780 Wh for landing, with a maximum power requirement of 35.6 kW during landing. An analysis and evaluation of three energy harvesting systems has been carried out, which led to the recommendation of a combination of a piezoelectric and a thermoelectric harvesting system providing 65% and 17%, respectively, of the required energy for the actuators of the four flaps. The remaining energy may be provided by a solar energy harvesting photovoltaic system, which was calculated to have a maximum capacity of 12.8 kWh at maximum solar irradiance. It was estimated that a supercapacitor of 232 kg could provide the energy storage and power required for the four flaps, which proved to be 59% of the required weight of a lithium iron phosphate (LFP) battery while the supercapacitor also constitutes a safer option.

• ETRI Journal
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• v.45 no.3
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• pp.519-533
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• 2023

This paper implements a simultaneous solar and thermal energy harvesting system, as a hybrid energy harvesting (HEH) system, to convert ambient light into electrical energy through photovoltaic (PV) cells and heat absorbed in the body of PV cells. Indeed, a solar panel equipped with serially connected thermoelectric generators not only converts the incoming light into electricity but also takes advantage of heat emanating from the light. In a conventional HEH system, the diode block is used to provide the path for the input source with the highest value. In this scheme, at each time, only one source can be handled to generate its output, while other sources are blocked. To handle this challenge of combining resources in HEH systems, this paper proposes a method for collecting all incoming energies and conveying its summation to the load via the current mirror cells in an approach similar to the maximum power point tracking. This technique is implemented using off-the-shelf components. The measurement results show that the proposed method is a realistic approach for supplying electrical energy to wireless sensor nodes and low-power electronics.

• International Journal of Highway Engineering
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• v.13 no.1
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• pp.87-96
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• 2011

According to adverse effects of ecosystems due to a bulk of fossil fuel consumption, utilization of sustainable and renewable energy is required. In this paper, converting the energy crisis into an opportunity of new growth is expected by converting heat energy in asphalt pavement into electric power using thermoelectric effect. For this, experiments of inserting heat collector pipe and thermoelectric element into asphalt were performed, and the electric power of heat energy harvesting was measured for development of efficient harvesting system of heat energy. As the results of experiments, electric conversion of average 19.86W per day is possible at $1m^2$ conversion area at a depth of 5cm, and possibility of this system was confirmed. Consequently, a systematic "Green Road" using sustainable heat energy source in asphalt pavement simultaneously with environmental maintenance and econovic growth was suggested.

• Proceedings of the Korean Institute of Information and Commucation Sciences Conference
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• 2012.10a
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• pp.255-258
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• 2012

In this paper, with a thermoelectric device using the seebeck effect which generates electromotive force by temperature difference generates electric energy an energy harvesting circuit using MPPT(Maximun Power Point Traking) control is designed. After periodically sampling the open voltage of the thermoelectric device, the 1/2 voltage of open voltage which in a maximum power point is maintained through MPPT control circuit and harvested energy from thermoelectric device is delivered to load through a switch. The proposed thermal energy harvesting circuit is designed with $0.35{\mu}m$ CMOS process and the chip area excluding pads is $1168.7{\mu}m{\times}541.3{\mu}m$.

• Journal of the Korea Institute of Information and Communication Engineering
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• v.16 no.11
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• pp.2487-2494
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• 2012

In this paper, a thermal energy harvesting circuit with MPPT control is designed. MPPT(Maximum Power Point Tracking) control function is implemented using the linear relationship between the open-circuit voltage of a thermoelectric generator(TEG) and its MPP voltage. The designed MPPT control circuit traces the maximum power point by periodically sampling the open circuit voltage of a TEG, makes the reference voltages using sampled voltage and delivers the maximum available power to load. Simulation results show that the maximum power efficiency of the designed circuit is 94%. The proposed thermal energy harvesting circuit is designed with $0.35{\mu}m$ CMOS process, and the chip area except PAD is $1168.7{\mu}m{\times}541.3{\mu}m$.

• Journal of Advanced Marine Engineering and Technology
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• v.36 no.1
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• pp.51-56
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• 2012

This paper reports the generation efficiency and the thermal performance of a thermoelectric generator (TEG) harvesting energy from the waste heat of high power electronic components. A thermoelectric (TE) model containing thermal boundary resistances is used to predict generation efficiency and junction temperature of a high power electronic component. The predicted results are verified with measured values, and the discrepancy between prediction and measurement is seen to be moderate. The verified TE model predicts generation efficiencies, junction temperatures of the component, and temperature differences across a TEG at various source heat flows associated with various electrical load resistances. This study explores effects of the load resistance on the generation efficiency, the temperature difference across a TEG, and the junction temperature.

• Journal of IKEEE
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• v.17 no.3
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• pp.284-293
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• 2013

This paper describes a DC-DC boost converter for thermoelectric energy harvesting. The designed converter boosts the VDD through a start-up block from a low-output voltage of a thermoelectric device and the boosted VDD is used to operate the internal control block. When the VDD reaches a predefined value, a detector circuit makes the start-up block turn off to minimize current consumption. The final boosted VOUT is achieved by alternately operating the DC-DC converter for VDD and the main DC-DC converter for VOUT according to the comparator outputs. Simulation results shows that the designed converter generates 2.65V from an input voltage of 200mV and its maximum power efficiency is 63%. The area of the chip designed using a 0.35um CMOS process is $1.3mm{\times}0.7mm$ including pads.

• 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.

• Transactions of the Korean Society of Mechanical Engineers B
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• v.40 no.4
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• pp.255-262
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• 2016

There has been intense research on self-diagnosis systems in railway applications, since stability and reliability have become more and more significant issues. Wired sensors have been widely used in the railway vehicles, but because of the difficulty in their maintenance and accessibility, they ar not considered for self-diagnosis systems. To have a self-monitoring system, wireless data transmission and self-powered sensors are required. For this purpose, a thermoelectric energy harvesting module that can generate electricity from temperature gradient between the bogie axle box and ambient environment was introduced in this work. The temperature gradient was measured under actual operation conditions, and the behavior of the thermoelectric module with an external load resistance and booster circuits was studied. The proposed energy harvesting system can be applied for wireless sensor nodes in railroad vehicles with optimization of thermal management.

• Proceedings of the Korean Institute of Information and Commucation Sciences Conference
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• 2016.10a
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• pp.520-523
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• 2016

This paper describes a DC-DC converter with MPPT control for thermoelectric energy harvesting. The designed circuit converts low voltage harvested from a thermoelectric generator into higher voltage for powering a load. A start-up circuit supplies VDD to a controller, and the controller turns on and off a NMOS switch of a main-boost converter. The converter supplies the boosted voltage to the load through the switch operation. Bulk-driven comparators can do the comparison under low voltage condition and are used for voltage regulation. Also, bulk-driven comparators raise system's efficiency. A peak conversion efficiency of 76% is achieved. The proposed circuit is designed in a 0.35um CMOS technology and its functionality has been verified through simulations. The designed chip occupies $933um{\times}769um$.