Thermoelectric Power Generated from Computer Waste Heat

Abstract

Computer components generate heat as the computer process information. This leads to a subsequent rise in their operating temperatures while the failure rate of computer components increases almost exponentially with the operating temperatures. The heat generation leads to wastage of energy yet there exist energy crisis in the world. This study has evaluated the thermoelectric voltage that can be generated from the waste heat of Dell desktop computer under varying processor workloads. Type J thermocouples were used to tap and convert the waste heat in the desktop computers to thermoelectric voltage. 2286/5 data logger was used to make the temperature and the corresponding generated thermoelectric voltage measurements of the thermocouples. Usable amounts of thermoelectric voltage can be generated from the waste heat of the desktop computers using thermocouples.

Keywords; Thermoelectric effect, Thermoelectric voltage, Computer waste heat