Maximizing cooling/heating performance of thermoelectric modules across variable thermal loads via optimal control based on COP curves.

The thermoelectric module has high potential as a compact electrothermal actuator in the generation of cooling/heating effects without any moving part. However, one difficulty of the design is that the fundamental principles of optimal cooling/heating performance of thermoelectric modules are not yet fully understood and implemented. The purpose of this paper is to propose a mathematical optimization to gain insight and implement the most effective usages.

Experimental investigation and optimal combustion control of untreated landfill gas via fuzzy logic rule knowledge based approach.

Optimal combustion control of untreated landfill gas is proposed for an effective usage and a low-cost solution in waste to energy technologies. Variations of methane concentration in untreated landfill gas over time cause undesired performance of combustors in thermal efficiency and gas emission. In this work, the experimental investigation on variables of combustion process is systematically presented to determine an inherent performance index of a combustor, reflecting actual thermal efficiency and gas emission for optimal control.

Empirical modeling of dynamic behaviors of pneumatic artificial muscle actuators.

Pneumatic Artificial Muscle (PAM) actuators yield muscle-like mechanical actuation with high force to weight ratio, soft and flexible structure, and adaptable compliance for rehabilitation and prosthetic appliances to the disabled as well as humanoid robots or machines. The present study is to develop empirical models of the PAM actuators, that is, a PAM coupled with pneumatic control valves, in order to describe their dynamic behaviors for practical control design and usage. Empirical modeling is an efficient approach to computer-based modeling with observations of real behaviors.

Applications of thermoelectric modules on heat flow detection.

This paper presents quantitative analysis and practical scenarios of implementation of the thermoelectric module for heat flow detection. Mathematical models of the thermoelectric effects are derived to describe the heat flow from/to the detected media. It is observed that the amount of the heat flow through the thermoelectric module proportionally induces the conduction heat owing to the temperature difference between the hot side and the cold side of the thermoelectric module.