JP7305313B2 - thermoelectric generator - Google Patents

Description

BACKGROUND OF THE INVENTION 1. Field of the Invention The present invention relates to a thermoelectric power generator that generates power according to a temperature difference.

2. Description of the Related Art A thermoelectric conversion module conventionally used in a thermoelectric generator generates power according to a temperature difference between a high-temperature side to which heat is supplied from a heat source and a low-temperature side facing the high-temperature side. When such a thermoelectric conversion module is used, it is necessary to lower the temperature of the surface on the low temperature side in order to increase the temperature difference, in other words, to increase the amount of power generation. Therefore, it is common to construct a thermoelectric generation unit with a cooling device attached to the low temperature side.

In order to lower the temperature of the low-temperature side, recently, a natural air cooling type cooling device using a heat pipe has been adopted for a thermoelectric generation unit (see, for example, Patent Document 1). Since heat pipes have excellent thermal conductivity, when a cooling device using such heat pipes is employed, the amount of heat on the surface on the low temperature side can be efficiently radiated.

Japanese Patent No. 3776065

The cooling performance of a natural air cooling system strongly depends on the size. This is because the cooling performance improves as the area exposed to air increases. Therefore, by employing a larger cooling device, the temperature difference between the hot side surface and the cold side surface can be made larger.

In many cases, multiple thermoelectric generator units are used. Since the space available as a heat source is finite, the number of thermoelectric generator units that can be installed decreases if the cooling system is simply larger. Therefore, even if the individual thermoelectric power generating units can generate a desired amount of power, the entire thermoelectric power generating apparatus may not necessarily generate a desired amount of power unless the number of installable thermoelectric power generating units is sufficiently secured. Also, the larger and heavier the cooling device, the higher the manufacturing cost. For these reasons, when adopting a cooling device, it is important to consider the total amount of power generated by the entire thermoelectric generator and the manufacturing cost.

SUMMARY OF THE INVENTION The present invention has been made to solve such problems, and an object of the present invention is to provide a thermoelectric generator capable of obtaining a larger total power generation amount while suppressing manufacturing costs.

A thermoelectric power generator according to the present invention comprises a thermoelectric conversion module fixed to the outer periphery of a pipe whose axial direction is parallel to the vertical direction , a heat receiving plate fixed to a surface of the thermoelectric conversion module facing the pipe, and a bent shape. a plurality of heat pipes fixed to the heat receiving plate so that one end of the bent shape forms an evaporating portion and the other end forms a condensing portion, and the condensing portion is positioned higher than the evaporating portion in the axial direction ; and a fixing member for fixing the portion including to the heat receiving plate.

ADVANTAGE OF THE INVENTION According to this invention, a bigger total electric power generation amount can be obtained, suppressing a manufacturing cost.

BRIEF DESCRIPTION OF THE DRAWINGS It is a figure which shows the installation environment example of the thermoelectric power generator which concerns on Embodiment 1 of this invention. BRIEF DESCRIPTION OF THE DRAWINGS It is a perspective view which shows the installation example of the thermoelectric generator which concerns on Embodiment 1 of this invention. FIG. 2 is a diagram showing an arrangement example of thermoelectric generation units provided in the thermoelectric generator according to Embodiment 1 of the present invention; FIG. 4 is a diagram showing another installation example of the thermoelectric generator according to Embodiment 1 of the present invention; FIG. 2 is a perspective view of a thermoelectric generation unit included in the thermoelectric generator according to Embodiment 1 of the present invention; FIG. 2 is an exploded view showing a configuration example of a power generation unit included in the thermoelectric power generator according to Embodiment 1 of the present invention; FIG. 2 is a perspective view showing an example of a cooling unit used in the thermoelectric generator according to Embodiment 1 of the present invention; FIG. 4 is a perspective view showing another example of the cooling unit used in the thermoelectric generator according to Embodiment 1 of the present invention; FIG. 10 is a diagram showing an example of a cooling unit when the cooling performance ratio is 0.3; FIG. 10 is a diagram showing an example of a cooling unit when the cooling performance ratio is 0.1; FIG. 5 is a diagram illustrating examples of changes in the amount of power generated by the thermoelectric conversion module and changes in the weight ratio depending on the cooling performance ratio; FIG. 4 is a diagram illustrating examples of changes in the total power generation amount of the thermoelectric generator and changes in the number of installable thermoelectric power generation units depending on the cooling performance ratio; FIG. 4 is a diagram illustrating examples of changes in the weight ratio in a thermoelectric power generator and changes in the number of thermoelectric power generation units required to obtain a certain amount of power generation, depending on the cooling performance ratio; FIG. 4 is a perspective view showing an installation example of a thermoelectric generator according to Embodiment 2 of the present invention; FIG. 9 is a diagram showing an arrangement example of thermoelectric generation units included in a thermoelectric generator according to Embodiment 2 of the present invention; FIG. 7 is a perspective view showing an example of a cooling unit used in a thermoelectric generator according to Embodiment 2 of the present invention; FIG. 8 is a perspective view showing another example of the cooling unit used in the thermoelectric generator according to Embodiment 2 of the present invention; FIG. 11 is a perspective view showing an installation example of a thermoelectric generator according to Embodiment 3 of the present invention; FIG. 10 is a diagram showing an arrangement example of thermoelectric generation units included in a thermoelectric generator according to Embodiment 3 of the present invention; FIG. 10 is a perspective view showing an example of a cooling unit used in a thermoelectric generator according to Embodiment 3 of the present invention; FIG. 11 is a perspective view showing another example of the cooling unit used in the thermoelectric generator according to Embodiment 3 of the present invention;

Hereinafter, each embodiment of the thermoelectric generator according to the present invention will be described with reference to the drawings.

Embodiment 1.
FIG. 1 is a diagram showing an installation environment example of a thermoelectric generator according to Embodiment 1 of the present invention. The thermoelectric generator according to Embodiment 1 is installed in a factory for waste heat utilization.

The factory facility 1 generates a hot gas, ie, a heat source fluid that enables thermoelectric power generation, for example, by burning fuel, waste, or the like. This high temperature gas is discharged to the atmosphere via the pipe 2 and the chimney 3 . It is assumed that the thermoelectric generator according to Embodiment 1 is attached to the pipe 2 and generates power using high-temperature gas discharged into the atmosphere as a heat source.

Note that the thermoelectric generator according to Embodiment 1 is not limited to use in factories. The thermoelectric generator according to Embodiment 1 can be widely used in places where there is a heat source for thermoelectric power generation.

FIG. 2 is a perspective view showing an installation example of the thermoelectric generator according to Embodiment 1 of the present invention, and FIG. 3 is an arrangement example of thermoelectric generator units provided in the thermoelectric generator according to Embodiment 1 of the present invention. It is a figure which shows.

As shown in FIGS. 2 and 3, the thermoelectric generator 10 according to Embodiment 1 is attached outside the pipe 2 . The thermoelectric generator 10 includes a plurality of thermoelectric generator units 11 , and the plurality of thermoelectric generator units 11 are attached to the outside of the pipe 2 side by side in the circumferential direction. FIG. 3 shows an arrangement example of each thermoelectric generation unit 11 from the viewpoint of the axial direction of the pipe 2 .

The thermoelectric generator 10 is attached to a portion where the pipe 2 is horizontal or substantially horizontal, in other words, the axial direction of the pipe 2 is vertical or substantially vertical to the vertical direction indicated by the arrow in FIG. It is the part where In Embodiment 1, as shown in FIGS. 2 and 3, the thermoelectric generator unit 11 constituting the thermoelectric generator 10 is installed within the upper half range of the pipe 2 . Each thermoelectric generation unit 11 is sandwiched and fixed between the mounting member 15 and the pipe 2 by the mounting member 15 .

In the mounting member 15, connection plates 15a to which one thermoelectric generation unit 11 can be mounted are connected in a manner of a hinge. Thereby, the thermoelectric generator units 11 are maintained in relative positional relationship by the mounting member 15 . After the positional relationship is maintained, each thermoelectric generating unit 11 can be fixed to the pipe 2 by connecting the connecting plates 15a located at both ends of the mounting member 15 with a belt-like member, for example. Each thermoelectric generation unit 11 may be fixed to the pipe 2 by directing each connection plate 15 a of the mounting member 15 toward the pipe 2 using another belt-like member. The method of attaching each thermoelectric power generation unit 11 to the pipe 2, that is, the fixing method is not particularly limited. This is the same even when each thermoelectric generation unit 11 is attached to a pipe 2 having a non-circular cross-sectional shape or to an object other than the pipe 2 .

The pipe 2 is a pipe having a circular cross section along the radial direction, as shown in FIG. However, the cross-sectional shape of the pipe 2 is not limited to circular. For example, as shown in FIG. 4, the pipe 2 may have a rectangular cross-sectional shape.

FIG. 5 is a perspective view of a thermoelectric generation unit included in the thermoelectric generator according to Embodiment 1 of the present invention. The thermoelectric power generation unit 11 is roughly divided into a power generation section 51 and a cooling section 52, as shown in FIG. The power generation unit 51 is provided with electric wires 53 for outputting electric power obtained by thermoelectric power generation to the outside.

FIG. 6 is an exploded view showing a configuration example of the power generation unit. The power generation unit 51 is a structure in which a heat transfer medium 61, a thermoelectric conversion module 62, and a heat transfer medium 63 are stacked from the piping 2 side. The heat transfer medium 61 is a medium that is brought into direct contact with the piping 2 , and the heat transfer medium 63 is a medium that is brought into direct contact with the cooling section 52 . A thermoelectric conversion module 62 is sandwiched between these two heat transfer media 61 , 63 . As a result, in the thermoelectric conversion module 62, the surface in contact with the heat transfer medium 61 becomes the surface on the high temperature side, that is, the first surface into which the amount of heat from the pipe 2 flows, and the surface in contact with the heat transfer medium 63, that is, the first surface. is the second surface on the low temperature side. The thermoelectric conversion module 62 generates power according to the temperature difference between the two surfaces, and supplies the power obtained by the power generation to the outside through two electric wires 53 . Since the thermoelectric conversion module 62 may be manufactured using a well-known technique, detailed description is omitted.

FIG. 7 is a perspective view showing an example of a cooling section. The cooling unit 52 is a part corresponding to the cooling device according to the first embodiment, and as shown in FIG. I have.

The heat receiving plate 71 is a medium that is brought into contact with the heat transfer medium 63 , and the amount of heat from the second surface of the thermoelectric conversion module 62 on the low temperature side is transferred via the heat transfer medium 63 . Therefore, the heat receiving plate 71 has substantially the same shape and size as the heat transfer medium 63 . The heat pipe 72 is a component fixed as if sandwiched between the heat receiving plate 71 and the fixing member 75 . The heat pipe 72 is attached to the heat receiving plate 71 along the longitudinal direction of the fixing member 75, as shown in FIG. As a method for attaching the heat pipe 72, for example, brazing can be used. Although the mounting method is not particularly limited, it is preferable to employ a method that enables efficient heat transfer from the heat receiving plate 71 to the heat pipe 72 .

Brazing is classified into brazing and soldering according to the type of filler material used. Brazing is performed at higher temperatures than soldering due to differences in filler metals. Brazing is much superior to soldering in terms of both heat resistance and strength.

The fixing member 75 is provided with four projecting portions 75 a projecting to the opposite side of the heat receiving plate 71 . Each connection plate 15a constituting the mounting member 15 is provided with a hole for inserting the projecting portion 75a. Thereby, as shown in FIG. 2, the fixing member 75 is used to connect each thermoelectric generation unit 11 and fix each thermoelectric generation unit 11 to a place to be mounted. When each thermoelectric generator unit 11 is attached to the pipe 2 by a belt-like member that contacts the connection plate 15a, the projecting portion 75a functions to prevent the belt-like member from slipping in the axial direction of the pipe 2. . A method for attaching the fixing member 75 to the heat receiving plate 71 is not particularly limited, but brazing can be used, for example.

As shown in FIG. 7, the heat pipe 72 has a linear central portion extending over the entire longitudinal direction of the heat receiving plate 71 . The linear center portion is covered with a support member 74 . Thereby, the heat pipe 72 receives heat from the heat receiving plate 71 via the support member 74 . The reason why such a structure is adopted for mounting the heat pipe 72 is that the heat pipe 72 is more stably fixed by the support member 74 covering the circumference and the area for transmitting heat to the heat pipe 72 is increased. is. By increasing the area, the amount of heat can be transferred from the heat receiving plate 71 to the heat pipes 72 more efficiently.

The support member 74 may be eliminated by directly attaching the heat pipe 72 to the heat receiving plate 71 . A fixing member 75 may be used to fix the heat pipe 72 . This is because heat transfer from the heat receiving plate 71 to the heat pipe 72 via the fixing member 75 can be expected. In either variant, brazing is preferably employed or used in combination to achieve more efficient heat transfer.

The heat pipe 72 has a generally U-shaped shape, and from a portion where the heat receiving plate 71 and the heat receiving plate 71 are in contact with each other through the support member 74 to both end portions, the heat receiving plate 71 and the power generation section 51 are overlapped with each other. Distance is getting longer. The radiator plate 73 is a member for radiating heat, and is attached to both ends of the heat pipe 72 . The radiator plate 73 is attached to a portion that is parallel or substantially parallel to the direction in which the heat receiving plate 71 and the power generation section 51 are stacked. Henceforth, this overlapping direction is described as a "height direction." This height direction basically coincides with the radial direction of the pipe 2 .

A portion of the heat pipe 72 in contact with the linear heat receiving plate 71 is an evaporating portion where the working fluid inside evaporates because the heat of the heat receiving plate 71 is transferred. The portion to which the heat sink 73 is attached is a condensing portion where the vaporized working fluid is liquefied.

Note that the shape of the heat pipe 72 is not limited to the U shape. The heat pipe 72 adopts a shape in which the height direction becomes longer as it goes from the straight central portion to both ends. This is because it can be expected to be brought into contact with the heat sink 73 . The overall shape of the heat pipe 72 may be arcuate, V-shaped, or the like, as long as it can be expected to come into contact with such air.

In addition, although one heat pipe 72 is used in the first embodiment, two or more heat pipes 72 may be used. For example, as shown in FIG. 8 , two heat pipes 72 ( 1 ) and 72 ( 2 ) may be arranged in the lateral direction of the heat receiving plate 71 and attached to the heat receiving plate 71 . In FIG. 8, since the number of heat pipes 72 is two, the height of the heat pipes 72 from the heat receiving plate 71 is lower than that of the heat pipes 72 shown in FIG.

The amount of power generated by the thermoelectric generation unit 11, that is, the thermoelectric conversion module 62, is proportional to the square of the temperature difference between the high temperature side surface and the low temperature side surface. Assuming that the installation environment of the thermoelectric generator 10 is constant, in order to increase the temperature difference, the thermal resistance of the cooling unit 52 is decreased, that is, the surface area of the cooling unit 52 involved in heat dissipation is increased. Cooling performance needs to be improved.

The smaller the thermal resistance of the cooling unit 52, the larger the space required for installation of the cooling unit 52, and the heavier the weight of the cooling unit 52 becomes. This is because it is necessary to increase the area of the cooling portion 52 that is in contact with the air. In order to increase the area, the number of heat sinks 73 should be increased, the length of the heat pipes 72 should be increased, and the contact area of the evaporator, which is the contact portion between the heat receiving plate 71 and the heat pipes 72, should be widened. is also effective, the length of the heat receiving plate 71 in the longitudinal direction is lengthened and the thickness thereof is increased so that the amount of heat from the thermoelectric conversion module 62 is transmitted to the end portion of the heat receiving plate. is necessary. Therefore, the manufacturing cost of the cooling unit 52, that is, the manufacturing cost of the thermoelectric generator 10 is also increased.

On the other hand, the greater the thermal resistance of the cooling part 52, the smaller the temperature difference between the high-temperature-side surface and the low-temperature-side surface of the thermoelectric conversion module 62. quantity becomes less. Therefore, when the amount of power generated by the thermoelectric power generation device 10 is increased to a certain level or higher, the number of necessary thermoelectric conversion modules 62 is increased.

Thus, the thermal resistance of the cooling part 52 greatly affects the configuration and structure of the thermoelectric generator 10 . Therefore, using the thermal resistance of the thermoelectric conversion module 62 as a reference, changes in various characteristics due to the thermal resistance ratio between the thermal resistance of the thermoelectric conversion module 62 and the thermal resistance of the cooling section 52 were calculated by simulation. This thermal resistance ratio is a value obtained by dividing the thermal resistance of the cooling section 52 by the thermal resistance of the thermoelectric conversion module 62 . This thermal resistance ratio is hereinafter referred to as "cooling performance ratio".

When the cooling performance ratio is small, the cooling unit 52 has a smaller thermal resistance than the thermoelectric conversion module 62, so the temperature difference between the high-temperature side and the low-temperature side of the thermoelectric conversion module 62 increases. Since this temperature difference increases, the amount of power generated by the thermoelectric conversion module 62, that is, the thermoelectric generation unit 11 increases.

Before describing changes in various characteristics due to the cooling performance ratio, changes in the outer shape of the cooling section 52 due to the cooling performance ratio will be specifically described with reference to FIGS. 9 and 10. FIG. FIG. 9 is a diagram showing an example of the cooling unit when the cooling performance ratio is 0.3, and FIG. 10 is a diagram showing an example of the cooling unit when the cooling performance ratio is 0.1.

Here, as shown in FIGS. 9 and 10, as the cooling part 52, a part including one end is attached to the heat receiving plate 71, and the height increases from that part to the other end. The cooling section 52 using the pipe 72, that is, the heat pipe 72 having an overall L-shape is taken as an example.

9, the length of the heat receiving plate 71 in the longitudinal direction is length L, the length in the width direction is width W, and the heat receiving plate 71 and power generation The length in the direction in which the portions 51 are overlapped is expressed as height H. The height H of the cooling portion 52 is expressed with reference to the bottom surface of the heat receiving plate 71 , that is, the surface in contact with the heat transfer medium 63 .

The removal of the amount of heat, that is, the heat dissipation, is mainly performed by the radiator plate 73 . As the amount of heat radiated by the heat sink 73 increases, the amount of heat transferred from the heat receiving plate 71 to the heat pipe 72 needs to be increased. Therefore, as shown in FIGS. 9 and 10, the smaller the thermal resistance of the cooling unit 52 and the smaller the cooling performance ratio, the greater the number of heat sinks 73 and the longer the length of the heat pipes 72. There is a need to. In addition, as shown in FIG. 10, the heat receiving plate 71 itself must be made larger, for example, the length L must be made longer so that a larger amount of heat can be transferred to the heat pipes 72 . Therefore, the smaller the cooling performance ratio, the larger the volume of the cooling section 52 and the heavier the weight. The volume of the cooling part 52 is, for example, a value obtained by multiplying the width W, length L, and height H of the cooling part 52 itself.

FIG. 11 is a diagram illustrating examples of changes in the amount of power generated by the thermoelectric conversion module and changes in the weight ratio depending on the cooling performance ratio. In FIG. 11, the horizontal axis represents the cooling performance ratio, the right vertical axis represents the weight ratio, and the left vertical axis represents the power generation amount. The weight ratio is a value based on the cooling unit 52 with a cooling performance ratio of 0.05, and the weight ratio when the cooling performance ratio is x is the weight of the cooling unit 52 when the cooling performance ratio is x. It is calculated by dividing by the weight of the cooling unit 52 when the performance ratio is 0.05 and multiplying by 100. The unit is %.

In FIG. 11, the change in the power generation amount due to the cooling performance ratio is indicated by the line with ◯, and the change in the weight ratio due to the cooling performance ratio is indicated by the line with Δ.

As shown in FIG. 11, in order to increase the amount of power generated by the thermoelectric conversion module 62, that is, the thermoelectric generation unit 11, it is necessary to reduce the cooling performance ratio. This is because, as described above, the smaller the cooling performance ratio, the larger the temperature difference between the high temperature side surface and the low temperature side surface of the thermoelectric conversion module 62 . However, the smaller the cooling performance ratio, the larger the volume of the cooling section 52 and the larger the weight ratio, as described above. Considering that the amount of power generated by one thermoelectric power generation unit 11 is as large as possible and the weight ratio is small, the weight ratio drops significantly while the cooling performance ratio changes from 0.05 to 0.1. The decrease in the amount remains at ten-odd percent.

It should be noted that the weight of the cooling section 52 strongly depends on the volume and is almost proportional to the volume. For this reason, the volume ratio may be used instead of the weight ratio. Similarly to the weight ratio, the volume ratio when the cooling performance ratio is x is the volume ratio when the cooling performance ratio is x. The volume of the cooling section 52 may be divided by the reference volume and multiplied by 100 for calculation.

FIG. 12 is a diagram illustrating examples of changes in the total amount of power generated by the thermoelectric generator and changes in the number of installable thermoelectric generator units depending on the cooling performance ratio. In FIG. 12, the horizontal axis represents the cooling performance ratio, the right vertical axis represents the number of installable thermoelectric generation units 11, and the left vertical axis represents the total power generation. The change in the total power generation due to the cooling performance ratio is indicated by the line with circles, and the change in the installable number due to the cooling performance ratio is indicated by the line with squares.

An increase in the total amount of power generation can be achieved by increasing the amount of power generated by each thermoelectric generation unit 11, increasing the number of thermoelectric generation units 11, or the like. In order to increase the amount of power generated by each thermoelectric generation unit 11, it is necessary to reduce the cooling performance ratio as shown in FIG. However, as shown in FIG. 12, the smaller the cooling performance ratio, the smaller the number of units that can be installed. While the cooling performance ratio changes from 0.5 to 1, even if the number of installable units increases, the total power generation does not increase significantly. This is because while the cooling performance ratio changes from 0.5 to 1, the drop in temperature difference in each thermoelectric generator unit 11 is relatively large. Since the amount of power generated by the thermoelectric generation unit 11 decreases with the square of the temperature difference, the decrease in temperature difference causes the amount of power generated by each thermoelectric generation unit 11 to decrease while the cooling performance ratio changes from 0.5 to 1. tend to

FIG. 13 is a diagram illustrating examples of changes in the weight ratio in a thermoelectric power generator and changes in the number of thermoelectric power generation units required to obtain a certain amount of power generation, depending on the cooling performance ratio. In FIG. 13, the horizontal axis represents the cooling performance ratio, the right vertical axis represents the required number of thermoelectric generator units 11 required, and the left vertical axis represents the weight ratio. The change in weight ratio is represented by the line with △, and the change in the required number is represented by the line with □. The weight of the thermoelectric generator is a value obtained by multiplying the weight of the thermoelectric generator unit 11 by the required number. These values are based on the device 10 . A thermoelectric generator 10 with a cooling performance ratio of 0.05 is a thermoelectric generator 10 that employs a thermoelectric generator unit 11 with a cooling performance ratio of 0.05.

As shown in FIG. 13 , in order to obtain a certain amount of power generation, the larger the cooling performance ratio, the larger the required quantity, and the larger the required quantity, the lighter the weight of the thermoelectric generator 10 . Since weight is almost proportional to volume, the lighter the weight, the smaller the thermoelectric generator 10 .

As with the thermoelectric generator unit 11, the weight ratio of the thermoelectric generator 10 greatly decreases while the cooling performance ratio changes from 0.05 to 0.1, while the required number increases relatively little. Moreover, while the cooling performance ratio changes from 0.5 to 1.0, the required number increases greatly even if the change in weight is small. This is because the amount of power generated by each thermoelectric power generating unit 11 decreases as described above. For this reason, the cost effectiveness, that is, the total power generation against the manufacturing cost is high when the thermoelectric power generation unit 11 having the cooling part 52 with the cooling performance ratio of 0.1 to 0.5 is adopted. Recognize.

From the above, in Embodiment 1, the cooling performance ratio is between 0.1 and 0.5, that is, the thermal resistance of the cooling unit 52 is 10% or more and 50% or less of the thermal resistance of the thermoelectric conversion module 62. and By using the cooling part 52 with such thermal resistance, the optimum thermoelectric generator 10 can be obtained. That is, it is possible to realize the thermoelectric generator 10 capable of obtaining a larger total power generation amount while suppressing an increase in size, weight, and manufacturing cost. In order to reduce the size, weight, and manufacturing cost, the large and heavy cooling unit 52, which is not cost-effective, is not used, the total amount of power cannot be expected to increase, or the amount of power generated that can be increased is small. It can be realized by not installing the unit 11 . By suppressing them, it is possible to obtain the thermoelectric generator 10 with a larger total amount of power generation at a lower cost.

Although the cooling performance ratio is set between 0.1 and 0.5 in the first embodiment, the range may be changed to some extent. For example, as shown in FIG. 13, the weight ratio of the thermoelectric generator 10 has a larger amount of change than the other portions until the cooling performance ratio changes from 0.1 to 0.2. . Considering this fact, the cooling performance ratio may be set between 0.2 and 0.5.

Embodiment 2.
In Embodiment 1, as described above, it is assumed that the thermoelectric generator 10 is attached to the portion where the pipe 2 is horizontal or substantially horizontal. In contrast, in the second embodiment, it is assumed that the pipe 2 is attached to a portion that changes the position in the vertical direction, for example, a portion that is vertical or almost vertical. Here, the same reference numerals are given to the parts that are the same as or correspond to those in the first embodiment, and the description will focus only on the parts that differ from the first embodiment.

FIG. 14 is a perspective view showing an installation example of a thermoelectric power generator according to Embodiment 2 of the present invention, and FIG. 15 is an arrangement example of thermoelectric power generation units included in the thermoelectric power generator according to Embodiment 2 of the present invention. It is a figure which shows.

As shown in FIGS. 14 and 15, in the thermoelectric generator 10 according to Embodiment 2, the vertical or substantially vertical portion of the pipe 2, that is, the axial direction is the vertical direction indicated by the arrow in FIG. It is attached to a part that is parallel or almost parallel to the direction. In the thermoelectric generator 10, as shown in FIG. 15, the thermoelectric generator units 11 are arranged all around the pipe 2. As shown in FIG.

In Embodiment 1, the heat pipe 72 is U-shaped, and is attached to the heat receiving plate 71 along the axial direction of the pipe 2 as shown in FIG. If the axial direction were vertical, one of the two condensing sections of the heat pipe 72 would be below the evaporating section. A state in which the condensation section is lower than the evaporation section is called top heat, and the heat transfer amount of the heat pipe 72 is significantly reduced. In Embodiment 1, the reason why the thermoelectric generation unit 11 is installed only in the upper part of the pipe 2 is to avoid this top heat.

FIG. 16 is a perspective view showing an example of a cooling unit used in a thermoelectric generator according to Embodiment 2 of the present invention. The cooling unit 52 is a component corresponding to the cooling device according to the second embodiment.

In the second embodiment, as shown in FIG. 16, heat pipes 72(1) and 72(2)2 having an overall L-shape are attached to a heat receiving plate 71. As shown in FIG. Attached to the heat receiving plate 71 is a linear portion including one end of each of the heat pipes 72(1) and 72(2). It is attached between the remote point and the other end. As shown in FIG. 14 , the portion where the heat sink 73 is attached is on the upper side when the thermoelectric generator 10 is attached to the pipe 2 . The vertical positions of the heat pipes 72(1) and 72(2) and the positions of the heat pipes 72(1) and 72(2) in the vertical direction are varied as shown in FIG. ing. Both the width W and the length L of the heat sink 73 are made shorter than when the heat pipe 72 is one.

By using such a cooling part 52, even when the thermoelectric generator 10 is attached to the vertical portion of the pipe 2, top heating can be avoided. Therefore, when the thermoelectric generator 10 is attached to the vertical portion of the pipe 2, the thermal resistance can be made smaller with the same volume and weight as compared with the first embodiment. Therefore, it is possible to realize the thermoelectric power generation device 10 with a lower cost and a larger total power generation amount.

Although two heat pipes 72 are attached to the heat receiving plate 71 in Embodiment 2, the number of the heat pipes 72 may be one as shown in FIG. The number of heat pipes 72 may be three or more. When the thermoelectric generator 10 is attached to a horizontal or substantially horizontal portion of the pipe 2, as shown in FIG. A book heat pipe 72 may be attached to the heat receiving plate 71 . For this reason, it is desirable that the heat pipe 72 be attached to the heat receiving plate 71 on any side in the longitudinal direction of the heat receiving plate 71 where the radiator plate 73 is provided.

Embodiment 3.
In the second embodiment, as shown in FIG. 15, the heat pipe 72 protrudes along the radial direction of the pipe 2 . Therefore, when the thermoelectric generator 10 is attached to the pipe 2 , it is a condition that there are no obstacles in a wide range in the radial direction of the pipe 2 . For this reason, in the third embodiment, the range required in the radial direction of the pipe 2, that is, the installation space in the radial direction is made smaller. By making the range smaller, the thermoelectric generator can be installed in places where it cannot be installed in the second embodiment. Here, as in the second embodiment, the same reference numerals are given to the same or corresponding parts as in the first embodiment, and the description will focus only on the parts different from the second embodiment.

FIG. 18 is a perspective view showing an installation example of a thermoelectric power generator according to Embodiment 3 of the present invention, and FIG. 19 is an arrangement example of thermoelectric power generation units provided in the thermoelectric power generator according to Embodiment 3 of the present invention. It is a figure which shows. Moreover, FIG. 20 is a perspective view showing an example of a cooling unit used in the thermoelectric generator according to Embodiment 3 of the present invention. The cooling unit 52 is a component corresponding to the cooling device according to the third embodiment.

As shown in FIGS. 18 and 19, the thermoelectric generator 10 according to the third embodiment has a vertical or substantially vertical portion of the pipe 2, that is, the portion shown in FIG. It is attached to a portion that is parallel or almost parallel to the vertical direction indicated by the arrow inside. In the thermoelectric generator 10, as shown in FIG. 19, the thermoelectric generator units 11 are arranged all around the pipe 2. As shown in FIG.

In the second embodiment, as shown in FIG. 16, the heat pipe 72 is L-shaped, and one end protrudes along the radial direction of the pipe 2 . In order to further reduce the radially projecting portion, that is, the height H, in the third embodiment, as shown in FIGS. is projected from the heat receiving plate 71 along the axial direction of the pipe 2 . The number of heat pipes 72 is two.

In the third embodiment, as shown in FIG. 20, the heat pipe 72 has a crank shape as a whole, that is, the heat pipe 72 has a shape obtained by bending the heat pipe 72 at a right angle or at an angle close to a right angle twice in the opposite direction. (1) and 72(2) are used. Therefore, each heat pipe 72 has two bent portions 72a and 72b that bend in different directions.

Attached to the heat receiving plate 71 is a linear portion including one end of each of the heat pipes 72(1) and 72(2). It is attached between the remote point and the other end. As shown in FIG. 18, when the thermoelectric generator 10 is attached to the pipe 2, the portion to which the heat sink 73 is attached is above the heat receiving plate 71 in the vertical direction. The positions of the heat pipes 72(1) and 72(2) in the radial direction of the pipe 2 and the positions in the circumferential direction of the heat pipes 72(1) and 72(2) are different as shown in FIG. . Both the width W and the length L of the heat sink 73 are made shorter than when the heat pipe 72 is one.

By adopting such a structure of the cooling part 52, as shown in FIG. can be made smaller. Therefore, in the third embodiment, the thermoelectric generator 10 can be installed in a place where it cannot be installed in the second embodiment.

In the third embodiment, the angles at which the bent portions 72a and 72b are bent are right angles or angles close to right angles, but are not limited to these angles. Therefore, the heat pipe 72 may be Z-shaped. Also, the bending direction does not have to be the opposite direction.

For example, assume a two-dimensional plane whose axes are the height direction and the length direction. In the two-dimensional plane, let α be the angle formed between the portion between the curved portion 72a and the curved portion 72b and the height direction, and let β be the angle formed between the portion beyond the curved portion 72a and the height direction. The portion between the curved portion 72a and the curved portion 72b is, for example, the axial direction of the portion of the heat pipe 72 therebetween. The portion beyond the bent portion 72a is, for example, the axial direction of the portion of the heat pipe 72 beyond that.

In this assumption, the bending angles and bending directions of the bent portions 72a and 72b may be determined so as to satisfy the relationship of absolute value of angle α<absolute value of angle β. If the relationship is satisfied, if the length of the heat pipe 72 is the same, the height H when only the bent portion 72b exists>the height H when the bent portions 72a and 72b exist. Because it becomes In other words, the length L when only the curved portion 72b exists<the length L when the curved portions 72a and 72b exist. Therefore, the space required for installing the thermoelectric generator 10 in the radial direction of the pipe 2 can be made smaller than in the second embodiment. Although the number of curved portions may be three or more, if the reference angle is assumed to be α, it is necessary to provide one or more curved portions that realize the angle β that satisfies the above relationship.

Also, although two heat pipes 72 are used in the third embodiment, only one heat pipe 72 may be used as shown in FIG. The number of heat pipes 72 may be three or more. Also, when the thermoelectric generator 10 is attached to a horizontal or substantially horizontal portion of the pipe 2, as shown in FIG. Alternatively, two heat pipes 72 may be attached to the heat receiving plate 71 . Also, a radiator plate 73 may be provided on both end sides of one heat pipe 72 , and the central portion of the heat pipe 72 may be attached to the heat receiving plate 71 . Two or more heat pipes 72 may be attached to the heat receiving plate 71 .

In Embodiments 1 to 3, one cooling unit 52 is attached to one thermoelectric conversion module 62 , that is, one power generation unit 51 . This is because the cross-sectional shape of the pipe 2 to which the thermoelectric generator 10 is supposed to be attached is assumed to be circular. However, the installation of the thermoelectric generator 10 is not limited to the pipe 2, and the thermoelectric generator 10 may be installed on a flat portion. For this reason, one cooling unit 52 may be attached to a plurality of power generation units 51 , in other words, a plurality of thermoelectric conversion modules 62 may be used in one thermoelectric generation unit 11 .

Further, in Embodiments 1 to 3, the thermoelectric generator 10 includes a plurality of thermoelectric generation units 11, that is, a plurality of thermoelectric conversion modules 62, but the number of thermoelectric conversion modules 62 is not particularly limited. .

1 factory equipment, 2 piping, 10 thermoelectric generator, 11 thermoelectric generator unit, 51 power generation section, 52 cooling section (cooling device), 61, 63 heat transfer medium, 62 thermoelectric conversion module, 71 heat receiving plate, 72, 72 (1 ), 72(2) heat pipe, 73 radiator plate.

Claims (4)

a thermoelectric conversion module fixed to the outer circumference of a pipe whose axial direction is parallel to the vertical direction ;
a heat receiving plate fixed to a surface of the thermoelectric conversion module facing the pipe;
A plurality of heat-receiving plates having a curved shape, one end of which forms an evaporating portion and the other end of which forms a condensing portion, and which are fixed to the heat receiving plate so that the condensing portion is positioned higher than the evaporating portion in the axial direction. a heat pipe and
a fixing member that fixes a portion of the heat pipe including the evaporator to the heat receiving plate. The plurality of heat pipes are bent in an L-shape, one side of the L-shape is fixed to the pipe as the evaporator, and the other side of the L-shape is positioned higher than the evaporator as the condenser. The thermoelectric generator of claim 1, fixed. The plurality of heat pipes are bent in a crank shape, and the first sides of the plurality of heat pipes bent in the crank shape are fixed to the pipe as the evaporator and extend parallel to the first side. A second side is fixed as the condensation section at a position higher than the evaporation section, and a third side connecting the first side and the second side extends in a direction separating the condensation section from the pipe. The thermoelectric generator according to claim 1. The thermoelectric generator according to any one of claims 1 to 3, wherein the heat resistance of the cooling section including the heat pipe as a component is 10% or more and 50% or less of the heat resistance of the thermoelectric conversion module.

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