thermal – TechConnect Briefs

Hybrid Photovoltaic/Thermal Solar Plus Storage Cogeneration Systems

Bond A., Anderson M.G., Beachnau B., Icarus RT, Inc., US

Current PV technology is inefficient, converting only about 21% of solar energy into usable power at the ideal temperature of 25 °C. Panels often reach temperatures of 65– 75 °C, significantly reducing production. Still, commercial [...]

Model Study for Thermal Deformation and Creep Behavior of Polymers Considering Moisture Diffusion

An T.G., Lim Y., Kim N., Sogang University, KR

ABS(Acrylonitrile-Butadiene-Styrene) polymer is viscoelastic materials which are subject to permanent deformation when exposed to certain temperatures and humidity levels for long periods of time. In this paper, this phenomenon was defined as a creep phenomenon [...]

Large Scale Energy Storage with Thermal Matrix Energy Storage

Sutherland S., Lynch G., Pietsch T., Kelvin Storage Technologies, Inc, US

The presentation reviews the design and technical innovations for storing energy as heat in a graphite core at temperatures far above the melting point of steel. The high temperatures reached, over 4000F, enable storing vast [...]

Large Scale Energy Storage with Thermal Matrix Energy Storage

Sutherland S., Lynch G., Pietsch T., Kelvin Storage Technologies, Inc, US

The presentation reviews the design and technical innovations for storing energy as heat in a graphite core at temperatures far above the melting point of steel. The high temperatures reached, over 4000F, enable storing vast [...]

Design and Fabrication of a Metallic MEMS Gripper Using Electro-Thermal V-Shape and Modified U-Shape Actuators

Khazaai J.J., Qu H., Shillor M., Smith L., Oakland University, US

This abstract reports on the design, fabrication, and characterization of a distinctive MEMS gripper electro-thermally driven by the new metallic (electroplated nickel) V-shape actuator (VSA) and the modified U-shape actuators (mUSA). The VSA and the [...]

Analysis and Simulation of Curved Bimorph Microactuators

Pal S., Xie H., University of Florida, US

Difference in strains in the two layers of a bimorph causes it to curl, thereby leading to actuation. Thermal, piezoelectric and shape-memory alloy based straight bimorph actuators have been widely reported. However, little attention has [...]

Design and Fabrication of a Low Power Electro-thermal V-shape Actuator With Large Displacement

Khazaai J., Oakland University, US

We propose the design and microfabrication of a V-shape MEMS electro-thermal actuator featuring large displacement generation and low power consumption. Electro-thermal MEMS actuators are suitable for a variety of applications where large forces and long [...]

One-chip MOS Structure for Temperature Flow Sensor

Husak M., Boura A., Jakovenko J., Czech Technical University in Prague, CZ

There is presented a one-chip MOS structure of anemometric sensor system in the paper. The geometric arrangement of temperature sensors allows measurement of temperature gradient. Temperature gradient allows computation of direction of air flow over [...]

Effect of Size on Properties of Nano-Structured Polymers –Transition from Macroscaling to Nanoscaling

Lem K.W., Haw J.R., Lee D.S., Brumlik C., Sund S., Curran S., Smith P., Brauer S., Schmidt D., Konkuk University, KR

The growth in investment on the effect of size in nanoscience and nanotechnology has been astounding. Among the $12.4B spent in 2006 worldwide Nanotechnology research funding (Lux Research, 2007), at least 50%, that is >$6B, [...]

Synthesis of thermal interface material with high thermal conductivity for high efficacy of LED

Han C.J., Han J.-I., Yu S.H., Hong S-J, Kim Y-S, Han C.J., Han J.-I., Korean Electronics Technology Institute, KR

Thermal dissipation problem for LED is critical for high efficacy and reliability. Inorganic filled grease type thermal interface material (TIM) has widespread use for heat management of LED. Conventional TIM materials, however, has relative low [...]