JP7144832B2 - Thermoelectric power generation system and manufacturing method thereof - Google Patents

Description

TECHNICAL FIELD The present invention relates to heat radiation fins for cooling the outside of a thermoelectric generation module attached to a heat source pipe, and a method of attaching the same.

In modern industrial society, a huge amount of waste heat, which accounts for more than 60% of the total primary energy supply, is discharged into the global environment, especially in factories, power plants, steelworks, automobiles, buildings, lighting, ships, etc. , more than 75% of which is estimated to be wastewater and exhaust at temperatures below 250°C.

Thermoelectric power generation is extremely useful for protecting the global environment because it generates electricity from this wasteful heat. These waste heats are generally transported through exhaust heat pipes such as cylindrical exhaust pipes and drain pipes. Therefore, in order to simply and efficiently utilize such waste heat as a heat source for thermoelectric power generation, a flexible thermoelectric power generation module that can be brought into close contact with the outer surface of the exhaust heat pipe is required.

When configuring a thermoelectric power generation system using such flexible thermoelectric power generation modules, it is necessary to cool the portion of the thermoelectric power generation module opposite to the heat source in order to create a temperature difference as much as possible. There is

As a simple method, Patent Document 1 discloses that, as shown in FIG. A thermoelectric power generation system is disclosed in which radiating fins 130 attached to a flexible thermally conductive substrate 120 are provided along the cylinder axis direction of 100 . In the power generation system of Patent Literature 1, air is sent from the direction of the arrow W to the radiation fins 130 by a blower fan, so that the side of the thermoelectric conversion module 110 opposite to the exhaust heat pipe 100 is cooled.

JP 2016-207995 A

However, the radiating fins and mounting thereof disclosed in Patent Document 1 only disclose a general form. Moreover, the method of attaching and fixing the heat radiation fins to the heat exhaust pipe is not shown in detail. Therefore, there is room for improvement from the viewpoint of realizing heat radiation fins and a mounting method thereof, which have low thermal resistance and excellent heat radiation properties for thermoelectric power generation modules.

The present invention has been made in view of the above problems, and its main purpose is to apply uniform pressure to the thermoelectric generation module when the thermoelectric generation module is attached to the outer surface of the heat source pipe and heat radiation fins are provided on the outside thereof. To provide a heat radiating fin which can be mounted, has excellent heat radiation properties, and is low in cost, and a mounting method thereof.

A radiating fin according to the present invention is a radiating fin wound around the outside of a thermoelectric generation module mounted on an outer surface of a heat source pipe, and comprises a base plate located on the side of the thermoelectric generation module, and bent fins provided on the base plate. and rigid flanges provided at both ends of the base plate and having a mechanism for tightening and fixing the base plate while the base plate is wound around the thermoelectric power generation module.

In a preferred embodiment, the rigid flange has at least three two-dimensionally arranged screw holes as a fixing function.

The dimension between the rigid flanges of the base plate in the circumferential direction of the heat source pipe or the thermoelectric power module when the base plate is wound around the thermoelectric power module is
It may be smaller than (the outer diameter of the heat source pipe + twice the thickness of the thermoelectric power generation module) x the circumference ratio.

The folding fins may be adhered to the base plate with a flexible adhesive or adhesive sheet.

The bent fins may be joined to the base plate by metal-to-metal pressure welding or brazing.

In still another preferred embodiment, the radiating fins are open at the top of the bent fins opposite the base plate.

In addition, at least the surface of the radiation fins may be surface-finished for blackbody radiation sensitization.

Here, when attaching the heat radiation fins to the outside of the thermoelectric power generation module, the steps of winding the heat radiation fins around the outer surface of the thermoelectric power generation module attached to the outer surface of the heat source pipe; A flexible sheet is placed between the base plate and the heat source pipe so as not to create a gap between the base plate and the heat source pipe at the mating portions of the rigid flanges at both ends while the heat radiation fins are wound. inserting and, after inserting the flexible sheet, tightening and fixing the rigid flanges at both ends together.

The method may further include inserting a flexible spacer in accordance with the gap between the rigid flanges at the mating portion of the rigid flanges on both ends.

According to the present invention, when the thermoelectric generation module is attached to the outer surface of the heat source pipe and the heat dissipation fins are provided on the outside thereof, the thermoelectric generation module can be attached with uniform pressure, and the heat dissipation property is excellent with low interfacial thermal resistance. , and a low-cost radiation fin and its mounting method can be provided.

FIG. 3 is an external perspective view of the heat radiating fins according to Embodiment 1 of the present invention; FIG. 2 is a cross-sectional view of an embodiment in which the heat radiating fins of FIG. 1 are attached; FIG. 8 is an external perspective view of a heat radiating fin according to Embodiment 2 of the present invention; FIG. 4 is a cross-sectional view of an embodiment in which the heat radiating fins of FIG. 3 are attached; FIG. 10 is a perspective view showing a configuration in which conventional heat radiating fins are mounted;

BEST MODE FOR CARRYING OUT THE INVENTION Hereinafter, embodiments of the present invention will be described in detail based on the drawings. In addition, this invention is not limited to the following embodiment. In addition, appropriate modifications are possible without departing from the scope of the effects of the present invention.

(Embodiment 1)
FIG. 1 is a perspective view schematically showing the configuration of a heat radiation fin 1 according to Embodiment 1. FIG. 2 is a cross-sectional view perpendicular to the cylindrical axis direction of the heat source pipe 21 in a state where the heat radiating fins 1 of FIG. be.

As shown in FIG. 1 , the radiation fin 1 according to the first embodiment has a base plate 11 and bent fins 12 bonded with an adhesive sheet 13 . A flexible adhesive may be used instead of the adhesive sheet 13 .

Base plate 11 is preferably a thin sheet of metal such as aluminum or copper so that it can be easily bent. The folded fins 12 can be manufactured from similar materials in various shapes and sizes at low cost. It is preferable to use a flexible adhesive or an adhesive sheet 13 in order to secure flexibility for joining the two. In addition, it is desirable that the joint portion has a low heat resistance, and the adhesive sheet 13 is suitable in consideration of workability. As the adhesive sheet 13, for example, a double-sided adhesive carbon sheet with high thermal conductivity can be used.

Rigid flanges 14 and 15 having a mechanism for tightening and fixing the base plate 11 wound around the outer surface of the thermoelectric generation module 22 are provided at both ends of the base plate 11 in the longitudinal direction, respectively. Here, the base plate 11 needs to be mounted in close contact with the outer surface of the thermoelectric power generation module 22 without deviation. Therefore, both rigid flanges 14 and 15 have rigidity without deformation. Further, for example, when both rigid flanges 14 and 15 are fixed with screws, both rigid flanges 14 and 15 are two-dimensionally arranged so that parallelism of both rigid flanges 14 and 15 is ensured and there is no misalignment. It has at least three screw holes 16 that are evenly arranged.

In addition, since the radiating fins 1 are wrapped around the outer surface of the thermoelectric power generation module 22 and tightened, the dimension between the two rigid flanges 14 and 15 is equal to the circumference of the circular tube formed by the outer surface of the thermoelectric power generation module 22. must be smaller. Therefore, it must be smaller than the value calculated by the following formula.
(outer diameter of heat source pipe + twice the thickness of thermoelectric power generation module)×pi It is desirable to have a surface finish for For this purpose, black paint may be applied or black alumite treatment may be performed.

In a preferred example of attachment of the heat radiating fins 1, as shown in FIG. At this time, even if the thermoelectric power generation module 22 does not extend over the entire outer periphery of the heat source pipe 21, the base plate 11 and the heat source pipe are separated from each other at the joining portions of the rigid flanges 14 and 15 at both ends so that the thermoelectric generation module 22 can be formed into a cylindrical shape and can be uniformly pressurized. A flexible sheet 23 is preferably inserted between the base plate 11 and the heat source pipe 21 so that no air gap is formed between the base plate 11 and the heat source pipe 21 . The flexible sheet 23 is, for example, a silicone resin sheet.

Furthermore, in the first embodiment, both rigid flanges 14 and 15 are joined together by a difference between the circumferential length of the circular tube formed by the outer surface of the thermoelectric power generation module 22 and the length of the heat radiating fin 1 in the longitudinal direction. , 15, a flexible spacer 24 is inserted, and the heat radiating fin 1 is tightened with a screw 25. As a result, the heat radiation fins 1 can be attached to the outer surface of the thermoelectric power generation module 22 with uniform pressure without gaps. In the first embodiment, heat radiation sheets 26 and 27 are also used in order to attach the thermoelectric power generation module 22 and the heat radiation fins 1 to the heat source pipe 21 with low thermal contact resistance.

For example, the base plate 11 is an aluminum plate with a thickness of 0.5 mm, and the bent fins 12 are an aluminum plate with a thickness of 0.2 mm. Also, for example, the number of bent fins 12 is 23, the height of each bent fin 12 is 30 mm, and the width of each bent fin 12 is 60 mm. The bottom of the bent fins 12 is adhered to the base plate 11 with, for example, a 0.3 mm thick carbon sheet with double-sided adhesive. The rigid flanges 14, 15 at both ends are, for example, 2.5 mm thick aluminum plates. The length in the longitudinal direction of the radiating fins 1 between both rigid flanges is, for example, a heat source pipe 21 with an outer diameter of 34 mm (the outer circumference of which is about 106 mm) and a thermoelectric generation module 22 with a thickness of 1.5 mm wrapped around the heat radiating module 22 on the outside. When the fin 1 is attached, it is 115 mm. Each of the rigid flanges 14 and 15 is provided with three φ5 mm holes for fixing screws. The entire heat radiation fin 1 is black alumite treated.

Suitable heat-resistant materials for bonding the bent fins 12 to the base plate 11 include, for example, silicone-based materials, acrylic-modified silicone-based materials, flexible epoxy-based materials, polyester-based materials, urethane-based materials, and acrylic-based materials.

Another effective method of joining the folded fins 12 to the base plate 11 is metal-to-metal compression welding. Although the above combination is direct welding of aluminum and aluminum, it is also possible to weld copper and aluminum by using copper for the base plate 11 and aluminum for the bent fins 12 . A uniform and strong bond can be obtained. Alternatively, the bent fins 12 and the base plate 11 may be joined by brazing. As a brazing material, an aluminum-silicon alloy is effective for silver and aluminum.

When mounting the radiation fins 1 on the outside of the thermoelectric conversion module 22 (1.5 mm thick, 50 mm long in the axial direction of the pipe, 95 mm long in the outer peripheral direction), Since there is a gap of about 11 mm between both ends of the thermoelectric power generation module 22 between the base plate 11 and the heat source pipe 21, a silicone sheet (flexible sheet 23) with a thickness of 1.5 mm is inserted. . A silicone rubber spacer (flexible spacer 24) having a thickness of about 2 mm is interposed between the rigid flanges 14 and 15, and the rigid flanges 14 and 15 are tightened.

According to Embodiment 1 of the heat radiation fins 1 and the mounting method thereof described above, the configuration is simple, the cost is low, the thermoelectric power generation module 22 can be mounted with equal pressure, and heat dissipation is achieved with low interfacial thermal resistance. An excellent heat dissipation means can be realized.

(Embodiment 2)
FIG. 3 is a perspective view schematically showing the structure of the radiation fins 201 according to Embodiment 2 of the present invention. 4 is a cross-sectional view perpendicular to the cylinder axis direction of the heat source pipe 221 when the heat radiation fins 201 of FIG.

According to the second embodiment, since the top portion 31 of the bent fin 212 on the side opposite to the base plate 211 is open, the bent fin 212 spreads when mounted on the outer surface of the thermoelectric generation module 222 on the heat source pipe 221, thereby dissipating heat. Since the effective surface area involved is increased, the heat dissipation capability is improved.

Although the present invention has been described in terms of preferred embodiments, such description is not intended to be limiting, and various modifications are of course possible.

Reference Signs List 1, 201 radiating fin 11, 211 base plate 12, 212 bending fin 13 adhesive sheet 14, 15 rigid flange 16 screw hole
21, 221 heat source pipe 22, 222 thermoelectric generation module 23 flexible sheet 24 flexible spacer 25 screw 26, 27 heat dissipation sheet 31 bent fin top 100 exhaust heat pipe 110 thermoelectric conversion module 120 flexible thermal conductive substrate 130 heat dissipation fin

Claims (7)

A thermoelectric power generation system in which a thermoelectric power generation module is attached to the outer surface of a circular tubular heat source pipe,
A radiation fin is wound around the outer surface of the thermoelectric power generation module,
The heat radiation fins are
an easily bendable base plate located on the side of the thermoelectric power generation module;
bending fins provided on the base plate and bonded to the base plate with a flexible adhesive or adhesive sheet ;
Rigid flanges provided at both ends of the base plate and having a mechanism for tightening and fixing the base plate while the base plate is wound around the thermoelectric power generation module;
with
In a state where the heat radiation fins are wound around the outer surface of the thermoelectric power generation module, the base plate and the heat source pipe are arranged so as not to create a gap between the base plate and the heat source pipe at the joining portions of the rigid flanges at both ends. A thermoelectric power generation system characterized by having a flexible sheet inserted between them . 2. The thermoelectric power generation system according to claim 1, wherein said rigid flange has at least three screw holes arranged two-dimensionally as a fixing function. The dimension between the rigid flanges of the base plate in the circumferential direction of the heat source pipe or the thermoelectric power module when the base plate is wound around the thermoelectric power module is
3. The thermoelectric power generation system according to claim 1, wherein it is smaller than (the outer diameter of the heat source pipe+twice the thickness of the thermoelectric power generation module)×circumferential constant. The thermoelectric power generation system according to any one of claims 1 to 3 , wherein the bent fin has an opening at the top on the side opposite to the base plate. 5. The thermoelectric power generation system according to claim 1 , wherein at least the surface of said radiation fins is subjected to surface finishing for blackbody radiation sensitization. A method for manufacturing a thermoelectric power generation system according to any one of claims 1 to 5 ,
The heat radiation fins are
an easily bendable base plate located on the side of the thermoelectric power generation module;
bending fins provided on the base plate and bonded to the base plate with a flexible adhesive or adhesive sheet;
Rigid flanges provided at both ends of the base plate and having a mechanism for tightening and fixing the base plate while the base plate is wound around the thermoelectric power generation module;
with
a step of winding the heat radiating fins around the outer surface of the thermoelectric generation module attached to the outer surface of the heat source pipe;
In a state where the heat radiation fins are wound around the outer surface of the thermoelectric power generation module, the base plate and the heat source pipe are arranged so that there is no gap between the base plate and the heat source pipe at the joining portions of the rigid flanges at both ends. inserting a flexible sheet between
A method for manufacturing a thermoelectric power generation system , comprising: after inserting the flexible sheet, aligning and tightening the rigid flanges at both ends to fix them. With the heat radiation fins wrapped around the outer surface of the thermoelectric power generation module, a flexible spacer is inserted according to the gap between the rigid flanges at the joining portions of the rigid flanges on both ends of the thermoelectric power generation module or the like. 7. The method of manufacturing a thermoelectric power generation system according to claim 6 , further comprising the steps of:

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