JP2014232831A - Thermoelectric element mounting vehicle - Google Patents

Abstract

PROBLEM TO BE SOLVED: To provide a thermoelectric element mounting vehicle which efficiently absorbs heat energy.SOLUTION: A thermoelectric element 1 includes: a thermoelectric element body 11 where thermoelectric materials 11p, 11n are provided between a heat absorption part 112 and a heat radiation part 113; an attachment substrate 12 thermally connected with the heat absorption part; and a heat radiation member 13 thermally connected with the heat radiation part. The thermoelectric element 1 is bonded onto a front surface of an oil pan 22, which is located at the front side when the vehicle is viewed in a vehicle travel direction, or a rear surface 211 of an internal combustion engine 21 through an adhesive 15 containing a heat conductive metal.

Description

  The present invention relates to a thermoelectric element-equipped vehicle.

  There is known a vehicle in which a thermoelectric generator that has a heat absorbing element and a heat sink and generates electric energy by a temperature gradient between them is directly arranged in an internal combustion engine (Patent Document 1).

Special table 2010-518996

  However, in the above prior art, it is necessary to make the thermoelectric generator directly adhere to a thermal energy source such as an internal combustion engine. However, the thermal energy is efficiently transferred due to the shape of the contact surface of the internal combustion engine and the thermal conductivity of the adhesive material. There is a problem that it is difficult to obtain.

  The problem to be solved by the present invention is to provide a thermoelectric element-equipped vehicle capable of efficiently absorbing heat energy.

  This invention solves the said subject by adhere | attaching a thermoelectric element to an internal combustion engine through the adhesive agent containing a heat conductive metal.

  According to the present invention, since the thermoelectric element is bonded to the internal combustion engine using the adhesive containing the heat conductive metal, the heat energy of the internal combustion engine can be transferred to the heat absorbing portion of the thermoelectric element without performing special processing on the internal combustion engine. Can absorb heat efficiently.

It is a disassembled perspective view which shows an example of the thermoelectric element which concerns on the thermoelectric element mounting vehicle of this invention. It is a perspective view which shows an example of the temperature sensor unit connected to the thermoelectric element of FIG. 1A. It is sectional drawing which shows the state which mounted | wore the oil pan of the internal combustion engine with the thermoelectric element of FIG. 1A. It is sectional drawing which shows the state with which the other example of the thermoelectric element of FIG. 1A was mounted | worn with the oil pan of the internal combustion engine. It is a principal part side view which shows an example of the vehicle which mounts the thermoelectric element of FIG. It is a bottom view which shows the floor back of the vehicle of FIG. It is sectional drawing which follows the VI-VI line of FIG. It is a VII arrow line view of FIG. It is a VIII arrow line view of FIG. It is a graph which shows the power generation efficiency characteristic of thermoelectric element material. It is a figure for demonstrating the electric power generation principle of a thermoelectric element.

Hereinafter, an embodiment of the present invention will be described with reference to the drawings.
FIG. 1A is an exploded perspective view showing the thermoelectric element 1 of this example, and FIG. 1B is a perspective view showing the temperature sensor unit 3. A thermoelectric element-equipped vehicle 1 (hereinafter also simply referred to as a vehicle 1) of this example is equipped with a temperature sensor unit 3 for collecting traveling environment data of an automobile put on the market, for example, temperature data in an engine room. The thermoelectric element 1 is mounted as a power source for the temperature sensor unit 3. Such a measurement unit for collecting various data may be temporarily mounted on an experimental vehicle or the like, and is removed when the data collection is completed. Therefore, if the thermoelectric element 1 which can be attached / detached instead of being supplied from the vehicle-mounted battery is used for the power of the measurement unit, no battery cable arrangement is required, which is convenient. For this reason, in the vehicle 1 of this example, the thermoelectric element 1 that generates electric power to be supplied to the temperature sensor unit 3 using the thermal energy generated in the internal combustion engine 21 is mounted. The power supply destination of the thermoelectric element 1 according to the present invention is not limited to the temperature sensor unit 3 and may be other power loads.

  As shown in FIG. 1A (refer to FIG. 10 for the internal structure of the thermoelectric element body 11), the thermoelectric element 1 of this example is a thermoelectric device in which thermoelectric materials 11p and 11n are provided between a heat absorbing portion 112 and a heat radiating portion 113. It has an element body 11, a mounting substrate 12 thermally connected to the heat absorbing part 112, and a heat sink 13 thermally connected to the heat radiating part 113.

  FIG. 10 shows the basic structure and power generation principle of the thermoelectric element body 11. In general, a thermoelectric element is an element in which two types of metals or semiconductors having different thermoelectromotive forces are joined, and generates power using the Seebeck effect in which an electromotive force is generated when a temperature difference is generated between both ends. In the example shown in FIG. 10, three p-type thermoelectric materials 11p (for example, p-type semiconductors) whose carriers are holes and three n-type thermoelectric materials 11n (for example, n-type semiconductors) whose carriers are electrons are alternately arranged in parallel. These are connected in series, the heat absorption part 112 is provided at one end of each thermoelectric material 11p, 11n, and the heat dissipation part 113 is provided at the other end.

  When the heat absorption unit 112 is connected to the internal combustion engine 21 to supply heat energy to the heat absorption unit 112 and the heat dissipation unit 113 is provided with the heat sink 13 to release heat energy from the heat dissipation unit 113, a p-type thermoelectric In the material 11p, holes move from the heat absorbing portion 112 toward the heat radiating portion 113 (that is, electrons move from the heat radiating portion 113 toward the heat absorbing portion 112), and in the n-type thermoelectric material 11n, the heat absorbing portion 112 moves to the heat radiating portion 113. Electrons move toward. Since these p-type thermoelectric material and n-type thermoelectric material are connected in series as shown in FIG. 10, electrons move in series from the leftmost p-type thermoelectric material 11p toward the rightmost n-type thermoelectric material 11n. To do. As a result, a voltage difference is generated between the two terminals P1 and P2, and a counterclockwise current flows through the circuit 114 connecting P1 and P2.

As the thermoelectric materials 11p and 11n, bismuth tellurium (Bi ₂ Te ₃ ), lead / tellurium (PbTe), cobalt antimony (CoSb ₃ ), silicon germanium (SiGe), lanthanum tellurium (La ₃₎ Te ₄ ) and the like can be exemplified. As shown in FIG. 9, the bismuth-tellurium-based thermoelectric material has the highest power generation efficiency at the oil pan 22 temperature of 100 to 140 ° C., and thus it is desirable to use this.

  Returning to FIG. 1A, the mounting substrate 12 is fixed to the heat absorbing portion 112 of the thermoelectric element body 11 by screwing bolts 121 into screw holes such as nuts (hidden in FIG. 1A). The mounting substrate 12 is required to be a rigid body that can support the thermoelectric element body 11 and the heat sink 13. Further, as will be described later, the back surface shown in FIG. 1A is bonded to the wall surface of the internal combustion engine 21 and the oil pan 22, and it is necessary to transmit the heat energy from here to the heat absorbing portion 112 of the thermoelectric element body 11. It is desirable that the material is made of a metal rich in materials such as aluminum, iron and copper. Note that the mounting substrate 12 does not have to be flat as illustrated, and may be appropriately formed according to the shape of the mounting portion of the internal combustion engine 21.

  The heat sink 13 is fixed to the heat radiation portion 113 of the thermoelectric element body 11 by screwing bolts 131 into screw holes 111 such as nuts. Since the heat sink 13 needs to release heat energy from the heat radiating portion 113 (cool the heat radiating portion 113), it is desirable that the heat sink 13 is made of a material having a high thermal conductivity, such as aluminum, iron, or copper. As shown in FIG. 6, the heat sink 13 is preferably laid out so as to be exposed to the air flow during traveling when the thermoelectric element 1 is mounted on the oil pan 22 of the internal combustion engine 21. Further, as shown in the figure, when mounting on the back surface of the internal combustion engine 21, it is preferable to apply a heat dissipating paint on the surface of the heat sink 13 because the air flow does not reach when traveling and the air stagnates. The heat-dissipating paint is a paint added with silica, zirconia, silicon carbide, aluminum nitride or the like having a high thermal emissivity, although the base resin is not particularly limited such as an acrylic resin. By applying the heat radiation paint, the heat transmitted to the sheet sink 13 is radiated in the form of infrared electromagnetic waves.

  A temperature sensor unit 3 shown in FIG. 1B includes a temperature sensor, a microchip including a communication circuit that transmits temperature data measured by the temperature sensor, and a secondary battery as a unit. An electric wire 31 is connected to one output terminal 14. The electric wire 31 has a length necessary for connecting a portion where the temperature sensor unit 3 is mounted and a portion where the thermoelectric element 1 is mounted. By separating the thermoelectric element 1 and the temperature sensor unit 3 from each other in this way, the thermoelectric element can be mounted at an optimum site for each, and a component having a problem of heat resistance such as a microchip or a secondary battery can be used. 1 can be separated from the high heat part to which 1 is mounted.

  The thermoelectric element 1 of this example is bonded to the wall surface of the internal combustion engine 21 and the oil pan 22 with an adhesive 15 as shown in FIG. A preferable adhesive 15 used in this example is not particularly limited as an epoxy resin or a methacrylate resin as a base resin, but includes an adhesive (including a putty material) to which a metal having high thermal conductivity such as aluminum or copper is added. ). Examples of commercially available products include HR-303 putty material manufactured by ITW Debcon, and structural adhesive M series manufactured by ITW Plexus. The adhesive 15 containing such a heat conductive metal is applied to the mounting substrate 12 and / or the wall surface of the internal combustion engine 21 and the oil pan 22 and cured, whereby the thermal energy of the internal combustion engine 21 is efficiently applied to the mounting substrate 12. Can be communicated to.

  In addition, as shown in FIG. 3, you may process the adhesion surface of the mounting substrate 12 in uneven | corrugated shape. By doing so, the convex portion of the mounting substrate 12 directly contacts the internal combustion engine 21, while the concave portion exhibits an adhesive effect by the adhesive 15, so that heat energy can be transmitted more efficiently.

  Next, the mounting part of the thermoelectric element 1 will be described. 4 is a side view of the front portion of the vehicle 2 on which the thermoelectric element 1 of this example is mounted, FIG. 5 is a bottom view of the engine room as seen from behind the floor, and FIG. 6 is a sectional view taken along the line VI-VI in FIG. 7 is a view taken along arrow VII in FIG. 6, and FIG. 8 is a view taken along arrow VIII in FIG.

  In the figure showing the floor behind the engine room in FIG. 5, 21 is a bottom surface of the internal combustion engine, 22 is an oil pan, 23 is a front cross member, and 24 is an engine under cover (half type). In FIG. 6, 25 is an engine undercover (old type), and 26 is a radiator. As shown in FIG. 6, the thermoelectric element 1 of this example is a front surface of the oil pan 22 on the front side in the vehicle traveling direction (the thermoelectric element attached here is referred to as 1A) or the internal combustion engine 21 on the rear side in the vehicle traveling direction. It is attached to the rear surface 211 (the thermoelectric element attached here is referred to as 1B).

  A thermoelectric element 1A attached to the front surface of the oil pan 22 is shown in FIG. 7, and a thermoelectric element 1B attached to the rear surface 211 of the internal combustion engine 21 is shown in FIG. In FIG. 6, a half-type engine under cover 24 shown by a solid line is provided in a range from the front cross member 23 to the front portion of the internal combustion engine 21, and is a component that prevents damage to the internal combustion engine 21 due to a stepping stone or the like. . On the other hand, the full-type engine under cover 25 indicated by a dotted line is provided in a range from the front cross member 23 to the rear part of the internal combustion engine 21, and is a component that similarly prevents damage to the internal combustion engine 21 due to a stepping stone or the like.

  As shown in FIG. 6, the thermoelectric element 1 </ b> A mounted on the front surface of the oil pan 22 is bonded to the shadow of the engine under cover 24 or 25. Thereby, chipping with respect to the thermoelectric element 1A can be prevented. Further, as shown in FIG. 6, the front surface of the oil pan 22 is located in a flow path through which the air flow during traveling that has passed through the radiator 26 flows most, so that the heat sink 13 has a high cooling capacity by the heat sink 13. Power generation will also increase.

  On the other hand, the thermoelectric element 1B mounted on the rear surface 211 of the internal combustion engine 21 is not easily damaged by chipping. On the other hand, since the air flow during running is stagnant, the cooling ability of the heat radiating portion 113 by the heat sink 13 is inferior. However, the cooling capability of the heat radiation part 113 can be supplemented by applying a heat radiation paint to the heat sink 13 as described above.

As described above, the thermoelectric element-equipped vehicle of this example has the following effects.
(1) In this example, since the thermoelectric element 1 is bonded to the heat source via the adhesive 15 containing the heat conductive metal, the heat energy of the heat source can be efficiently transmitted to the heat absorbing unit 112, and as a result. The amount of power generation can be increased. In addition, since it is fixed by the adhesive 15, it does not fall off at the time of mounting, but it can be removed when the data collection is completed, so there is no need to perform special processing on the internal combustion engine 21 or the like.

(2) In this example, as shown in FIG. 3, the mounting surface of the mounting substrate 12 is processed into a concavo-convex shape, so that the convex portion directly contacts the internal combustion engine 21 while the concave portion is bonded by the adhesive 15. Demonstrate the effect. Thereby, heat energy can be transmitted more efficiently.

(3) In this example, since the thermoelectric element 1A is mounted on the front surface of the oil pan 22 on the front side in the vehicle traveling direction, the thermoelectric element 1A is positioned in the flow path through which the air flow during traveling that has passed through the radiator 26 flows most. The cooling capacity of the part 113 is high, and this increases the amount of power generation.

(4) In this example, since the thermoelectric element 1A is adhered to the shadow of the engine under cover 24 or 25, chipping with respect to the thermoelectric element 1A can be prevented.

(5) In this example, since the thermoelectric element 1B is mounted on the back surface 211 of the internal combustion engine 21, it is difficult to be damaged by chipping. In addition, since the air flow during running is stagnant, the cooling capacity of the heat radiating portion 113 by the heat sink 13 is inferior, but the cooling capacity of the heat radiating portion 113 can be supplemented by applying a heat radiating paint to the heat sink 13.

(6) In this example, since the thermoelectric element 1 and the temperature sensor unit 3 are separately configured, the thermoelectric element 1 and the temperature sensor unit 3 can be mounted at optimal sites for each, and there is a problem with heat resistance such as a microchip or a secondary battery. Can be separated from the high-heat part to which the thermoelectric element 1 is mounted.

  The heat sink 13 corresponds to a heat radiating member according to the present invention.

DESCRIPTION OF SYMBOLS 1,1A, 1B ... Thermoelectric element 11 ... Thermoelectric element main body 11p, 11n ... Thermoelectric material 111 ... Screw hole 112 ... Heat absorption part 113 ... Heat sink part 12 ... Mounting board 121 ... Bolt 13 ... Heat sink 131 ... Bolt 14 ... Output terminal 2 ... Vehicle 21 ... Internal combustion engine 211 ... Back 22 ... Oil pan 23 ... Front cross member 24 ... Engine under cover (half type)
25 ... Engine under cover (full type)
26 ... Radiator 3 ... Temperature sensor unit 31 ... Electric wire

Claims (7)

  A thermoelectric element having a thermoelectric element body provided with a thermoelectric material between the heat absorbing part and the heat radiating part, a mounting substrate thermally connected to the heat absorbing part, and a heat radiating member thermally connected to the heat radiating part. A thermoelectric element-equipped vehicle in which the element is bonded to the internal combustion engine via an adhesive containing a heat conductive metal.   The thermoelectric element-equipped vehicle according to claim 1, wherein a mounting surface of the mounting substrate is formed in an uneven shape.   The thermoelectric element-equipped vehicle according to claim 1, wherein the thermoelectric element is bonded to a front surface of an oil pan of the internal combustion engine on the front side in the vehicle traveling direction.   The thermoelectric element-equipped vehicle according to claim 3, wherein the thermoelectric element is adhered to a front portion of the oil pan and a shadow portion by an engine undercover.   The thermoelectric element-equipped vehicle according to claim 1, wherein the thermoelectric element is bonded to a back surface of the internal combustion engine on the rear side in the vehicle traveling direction.   The thermoelectric element-equipped vehicle according to any one of claims 1 to 5, wherein the heat dissipating member is coated with a heat dissipating paint.   The thermoelectric element-equipped vehicle according to any one of claims 1 to 6, wherein a power load component is connected to an output terminal of the thermoelectric element via an electric wire.

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