ICT2014 Abstracts

  In recent years, environmental problem such as global warming and the depletion of energy resources has become serious matters. As one of the methods of reducing such that problems, thermoelectric power generation technology has been receiving attention.  Thermoelectric conversion technology can convert the thermal energy directly into the electrical energy. Therefore, the exhaust heat can be converted into the electrical energy. Moreover, it is a clean power generation method of not discharging the CO₂ gas when electricity is generated.

  The purpose of this study is the fabricating thermoelectric (TE) module that can be used in the middle range temperature of 573-873 K. The materials of elements were selected Mg₂Si as a n-type semiconductor and MnSi_1.73 as a p-type semiconductor. These compounds have the feature of non-toxicity, environmental friendliness, lightweight property, and comparative abundance compared with other TE modules.  The Ag paste was used for the joint of elements. In order to prevent diffusion of Ag, at the interface of the elements and electrodes, top and bottom of these elements were covered with metal Ni. TE module was composed of 12 pairs of elements, and Ag seats were used for the electrodes. The dimensions of both p- and n-type elements were 5.0 mm × 5.0 mm × 6.3 mm^t. 

The module size was 36.5 mm × 36.0 mm × 7.0 mm^t using alumina for the substrate.

The module was inserted between the hot platen and the cold plate in the air, and measured output power. The values of the open circuit voltage and the maximum output power were 1.6V and 5.6 W respectively, at DT=548K (hot side : 860K and cold side : 312K) , and the estimated output power density from these results was 4.4kW/m².