LG : Innotek Launches Thermoelectric Module for Home appliance and Automotive

LG Innotek today announced it has successfully carried out mass production of a 'thermoelectric module', a cutting-edge component that provides both cooling and heating functions with just this one component.

Since it is small and light, it can improve the design and convenience of products such as home appliances and automobiles that need both cooling and heating functions.

A thermoelectric module is an electronic cooling / heating component that controls tempera-ture by supplying electricity to a semiconductor element. It uses the 'Peltier effect', when electricity flows to metals of different properties, one side is heated and the other side is cooled.

The module is a half-finished product in which a heat sink and cooling fan are mounted on a thin thermoelectric device of 4 mm thickness. The module's temperature control range ex-tends from - 50℃(-58℉) to 80℃(176℉) without refrigerant compressor or hot wire.

LG Innotek's thermoelectric module makes it possible to produce smaller and lighter home appliances such as a wine cellar and water purifier. When the module is used in a water pu-rifier, its size can be reduced to half of a compressor-type purifier.

In addition, the thermoelectric module enhances the automobile driver's convenience and the stability of drive. When applied to car seats, headlight dehumidifiers, battery cooling devices, etc., it can precisely and quickly adjust temperature by 0.1℃ unit using the electronic control method.

Thermoelectric modules are environmentally friendly because they do not use freon gas that destroys the ozone layer. In addition, there is no heat coil in the module, making it safe from electromagnetic waves. A hot/cold water mat that uses this thermoelectric module acquired the EMF (ElectroMagnetic Field Mark) is selling in Northeast Asia.

LG Innotek has developed a thermoelectric device, which makes the improvement of ther-moelectric module performance. The ultra-fine Nano technology that can divide a hair into ten thousand pieces lengthwise has been applied to the development.

With the development of a high-efficiency thermoelectric device, the heating and cooling rate increased by 20% and power consumption decreased by 25%.

LG Innotek can stably provide home appliance manufacturers and automobile manufacturers with thermoelectric modules optimized for the use. This is possible because the company has secured the R&D, production, and quality control systems from materials to modules.

The company has begun mass production of small thermoelectric modules for heating and cooling, and plans to expand its applications to high-end refrigerators and automobiles in the future. According to a market researcher TMR (Transparency Market Research), the global thermoelectric module market is expected to grow from 441.7million USD in 2016 to 642.3 million USD in 2020.

LG Innotek said, 'The thermoelectric module not only has economic values such as improv-ing the competitiveness of finished products and creating added values, but also has high social values such as environmental friendliness and safety.'

[Photo caption: LG Innotek's thermoelectric module and device]