MARTIN CLEARY BEng
PhD Research Postgraduate (2005-2008)

e: martin.cleary@ul.ie

t: +353-61-202471

Martin Cleary graduated in Mechanical Engineering from the University of Limerick in 2005. Martin has received industrial experience in Boston Scientific where he worked in the Advanced Process Technology and Design R & D group where he was involved in the development of new processing techniques. Martin was awarded an IRCSET postgraduate scholarship in 2005 and commenced his project entitled ‘Optoelectronics Heat Sink Configurations for Optimal Thermoelectric Module Performance’ in October 2005. His current areas of interest are heat transfer and electronic temperature control.

PhD Project Title: Optoelectronics Heat Sink Configurations for Optimal Thermoelectric Module Performance

Thermoelectric Modules (TEMs) are frequently used in applications where precision temperature control is required over a wide range of ambient temperatures. Typically the TEM is mounted to the component whose temperature is to be controlled and a heat sink transfers the heat to or from ambient. Components whose temperatures are controlled using TEMS include infrared cameras and reconfigurable optical add/drop multiplexers (ROADMS). One of the primary problems with TEMS is that that they are inherently inefficient with a COP of less than 1. When they are required to operate over a large ambient temperature range, typically -5 C to 65 C, the power requirements at high and low temperatures are prohibitive. This study proposes a solution to this problem by using a variable conductance heat pipe (VCHP). The VCHP acts like a variable thermal resistance between the TEM and the ambient. At high ambient temperatures the VCHP provides a low thermal resistance allowing the heat from the device to be dissipated easily while at low ambient temperatures it provides a high thermal resistance reducing the heat loss to the ambient, thus, reducing the power consumption of the TEM. The aim of this project is to determine the optimum TEM and VCHP configuration to provide precision temperature control with reduced power consumption.

This project is conducted in collaboration with Bell Labs New Jersey and is a part of the Centre for Telecommunications Value-Chain Research (CTVR).