Date of Award

6-6-2016

Document Type

Thesis - SCU Access Only

Publisher

Santa Clara : Santa Clara University, 2016.

Department

Mechanical Engineering

First Advisor

Hohyun Lee

Abstract

People in developing communities around the world often own cell phones but cannot easily charge them because they do not have electricity in their homes. These users do not have a convenient way to charge their phones and often must travel to towns with electricity and pay a shop owner to charge their phone, or use a friend's electricity. We have created a standalone product that harnesses the wasted energy from open cooking fires to charge a cell phone, which will save these people time and money. Using a thermoelectric module, thermal circuit design, and electronic system, we were able to create this phone charger with a fire as the energy source. Our final product utilizes a rugged case design, which is thermally efficient. The electronic system successfully raises the voltage to a level accepted by a cell phone and splits power between the cell phone and cooling fans. Our prototype cost $278.30 to develop, however we believe that the actual production cost of each unit will be lowered to $75.80. This price point is competitive with competitors and makes Power Flame a realistic phone charging solution for these developing communities.

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