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D. Samson, T. Otterpohl, M. Kluge, U. Schmid, Th. Becker:
"Aircraft-Specific Thermoelectric Generator Module";
Journal of Electronic Materials, 39 (2010), 9; S. 2092 - 2095.

Autonomous sensor nodes for wireless sensor networks are currently under
discussion for aircraft structural health monitoring. Self-sufficient operation
of a sensor node requires a positive power budget for sensing, processing, and
communication tasks. Energy harvesting for autonomous powering by thermoelectric
devices depends strongly on maintaining the temperature difference
within the aircraft operation envelope. Aircraft pass through huge
outside temperature variations and, in addition, provide heated cabin environments.
To make use of these temperature differences most efficiently,
additional effort for heat conduction and installation is required to maintain
the temperature gradient. However, to keep the complexity of system implementation
as low as possible we report in this paper on an aircraft-specific
thermoelectric generator module which consists of a phase-change material
attached to the thermoelectric generator at one side. If this module is exposed
to the environmental conditions of an aircraft envelope, the phase transition
and heat capacity of the attached material lead to unbalanced temperature
levels on the two sides of the generator. Simulations with realistic aircraft
parameters have been done and first tests of the breadboard in a climate
chamber have shown promising results.

Energy harvesting, thermoelectric generator, phase-change material, structural health monitoring, aircraft operation envelope, wireless sensor network

http://dx.doi.org/10.1007/s11664-009-0997-7