An Experimental Investigation of Thermoelectric Air-Cooling Module
This article experimentally investigates the
thermal performance of thermoelectric air-cooling module
which comprises a thermoelectric cooler (TEC) and an
air-cooling heat sink. The influences of input current and heat
load are determined. And performances under each situation
are quantified by thermal resistance analysis. Since TEC
generates Joule heat, this nature makes construction of thermal
resistance network difficult. To simplify the analysis, this
article emphasizes on the resistance heat load might meet when
passing through the device. Therefore, the thermal resistances
in this paper are to divide temperature differences by heat load.
According to the result, there exists an optimum input current
under every heating power. In this case, the optimum input
current is around 6A or 7A. The performance of the heat sink
would be improved with TEC under certain heating power and
input current, especially at a low heat load. According to the
result, the device can even make the heat source cooler than the
ambient. However, TEC is not always effective at every heat
load and input current. In some situation, the device works
worse than the heat sink without TEC. To determine the
availability of TEC, this study figures out the effective
operating region in which the TEC air-cooling module works
better than the heat sink without TEC. The result shows that
TEC is more effective at a lower heat load. If heat load is too
high, heat sink with TEC will perform worse than without TEC.
The limit of this device is 57W. Besides, TEC is not helpful if
input current is too high or too low. There is an effective range
of input current, and the range becomes narrower when the heat
load grows.
[1] D. Strassberg, "Cooling Hot Microprocessor," EDN, vol. 39, 1994, pp.
40-50.
[2] R.C. Chu, "Thermal management roadmap cooling electronic products
from handheld device to supercomputers," MIT Rohsenow Symposium,
Cambridge, MA, May 2002.
[3] G. S. Nolas, G. A. Slack, J. L. Cohn, and S. B. Schujman, "The Next
Generation of Thermoelectric Materials," in 1995 Proc. of the 17th Int.
Conf. on Thcrmoclcctrics, pp. 294-297.
[4] A. D. Kraus, A. Bar-Cohen, Thermal Analysis and Control of Electronic
Equipment, HEMISPHERE, Washington, 1983, ch. 18.
[5] S. B. Riffat, X. Ma, "Thermoelectrics: a review of present and potential
applications," Appl. Thermal Eng., vol. 23, 2003, pp. 913-935.
[6] W. L. Kolander, H. B. Lyon, "Thermoelectric Cooler Utility for
Electronic Applications," ASME HTD-Vol. 239, National Heat Transfer
Conference, vol. 7, 1996.
[7] J. W. Vandersande, J. P. Fleurial, "Thermal Management of Power
Electronics Using Thermoelectric Coolers," in 1996 Proceedings of the
15th International Conference on Thermoelectrics, pp. 252-255.
[8] J. G. Stockholm, "Current State of Peltier Cooling," in 1997 Proceedings
of the 16th International Conference on Thermoelectrics, pp. 37-46.
[9] D. T. Morelli, "Potential Applications of Advanced Thermoelectrics in
the Automobile Industry," in 1996 Proceedings of the 13th International
Conference on Thermoelectrics, pp. 383-386.
[10] Gilley et al., "Thermoelectric refrigerator with evaporating/condensing
heat exchanger (Patent style)," US Patent 6003319, December 21, 1999.
[11] D. Astrain, J. G. Vián, M. Domínguez, "Increase the COP in the
Thermoelectric Refrigeration by the Optimization of Heat Dissipation,"
Applied Thermal Eng., vol. 23, 2003, pp. 2183-2200.
[12] S. B. Riffat, S. A. Omer, X. Ma, "A Novel Thermoelectric Refrigeration
System employing Heat Pipes and a Phase Material: an Experimental
Investigation," Renewable Energy, vol. 23, 2001, pp. 313-323.
[13] J. Y. Hammoud, N. Abazardia, "Effects of the Liquid Inlet Temperature
on the Thermoelectric Cooler Performance in a Liquid-TEC Thermal
System", in 2002 21st International Conference on Thermoelectrics, pp.
506-510.
[14] M. Chung, N. M. Miskovsky, P. H. Cutler, N. Kumar, V. Patel,
"Theoretical analysis of a field emission enhanced semiconductor
thermoelectric cooler", Solid-State Electronics, vol. 47, 2003,
pp.1745-1751.
[15] A. Chakraborty, B. B. Saha, S. Koyama, K. C. Ng, "Thermodynamic
modelling of a solid state thermoelectric cooling device:
Temperature-entropy analysis", Int. Journal of Heat and Mass Transfer,
vol. 49, 2006, pp.3547-3554.
[16] B. J. Huang, C. J. Chin, C. L. Duang, "A Design Method of
Thermoelectric Coolers," Int. Journal of Refrigeration, vol. 23, 2000, pp.
208-218.
[1] D. Strassberg, "Cooling Hot Microprocessor," EDN, vol. 39, 1994, pp.
40-50.
[2] R.C. Chu, "Thermal management roadmap cooling electronic products
from handheld device to supercomputers," MIT Rohsenow Symposium,
Cambridge, MA, May 2002.
[3] G. S. Nolas, G. A. Slack, J. L. Cohn, and S. B. Schujman, "The Next
Generation of Thermoelectric Materials," in 1995 Proc. of the 17th Int.
Conf. on Thcrmoclcctrics, pp. 294-297.
[4] A. D. Kraus, A. Bar-Cohen, Thermal Analysis and Control of Electronic
Equipment, HEMISPHERE, Washington, 1983, ch. 18.
[5] S. B. Riffat, X. Ma, "Thermoelectrics: a review of present and potential
applications," Appl. Thermal Eng., vol. 23, 2003, pp. 913-935.
[6] W. L. Kolander, H. B. Lyon, "Thermoelectric Cooler Utility for
Electronic Applications," ASME HTD-Vol. 239, National Heat Transfer
Conference, vol. 7, 1996.
[7] J. W. Vandersande, J. P. Fleurial, "Thermal Management of Power
Electronics Using Thermoelectric Coolers," in 1996 Proceedings of the
15th International Conference on Thermoelectrics, pp. 252-255.
[8] J. G. Stockholm, "Current State of Peltier Cooling," in 1997 Proceedings
of the 16th International Conference on Thermoelectrics, pp. 37-46.
[9] D. T. Morelli, "Potential Applications of Advanced Thermoelectrics in
the Automobile Industry," in 1996 Proceedings of the 13th International
Conference on Thermoelectrics, pp. 383-386.
[10] Gilley et al., "Thermoelectric refrigerator with evaporating/condensing
heat exchanger (Patent style)," US Patent 6003319, December 21, 1999.
[11] D. Astrain, J. G. Vián, M. Domínguez, "Increase the COP in the
Thermoelectric Refrigeration by the Optimization of Heat Dissipation,"
Applied Thermal Eng., vol. 23, 2003, pp. 2183-2200.
[12] S. B. Riffat, S. A. Omer, X. Ma, "A Novel Thermoelectric Refrigeration
System employing Heat Pipes and a Phase Material: an Experimental
Investigation," Renewable Energy, vol. 23, 2001, pp. 313-323.
[13] J. Y. Hammoud, N. Abazardia, "Effects of the Liquid Inlet Temperature
on the Thermoelectric Cooler Performance in a Liquid-TEC Thermal
System", in 2002 21st International Conference on Thermoelectrics, pp.
506-510.
[14] M. Chung, N. M. Miskovsky, P. H. Cutler, N. Kumar, V. Patel,
"Theoretical analysis of a field emission enhanced semiconductor
thermoelectric cooler", Solid-State Electronics, vol. 47, 2003,
pp.1745-1751.
[15] A. Chakraborty, B. B. Saha, S. Koyama, K. C. Ng, "Thermodynamic
modelling of a solid state thermoelectric cooling device:
Temperature-entropy analysis", Int. Journal of Heat and Mass Transfer,
vol. 49, 2006, pp.3547-3554.
[16] B. J. Huang, C. J. Chin, C. L. Duang, "A Design Method of
Thermoelectric Coolers," Int. Journal of Refrigeration, vol. 23, 2000, pp.
208-218.
@article{"International Journal of Mechanical, Industrial and Aerospace Sciences:56422", author = "Yu-Wei Chang and Chiao-Hung Cheng and Wen-Fang Wu and Sih-Li Chen", title = "An Experimental Investigation of Thermoelectric Air-Cooling Module", abstract = "This article experimentally investigates the
thermal performance of thermoelectric air-cooling module
which comprises a thermoelectric cooler (TEC) and an
air-cooling heat sink. The influences of input current and heat
load are determined. And performances under each situation
are quantified by thermal resistance analysis. Since TEC
generates Joule heat, this nature makes construction of thermal
resistance network difficult. To simplify the analysis, this
article emphasizes on the resistance heat load might meet when
passing through the device. Therefore, the thermal resistances
in this paper are to divide temperature differences by heat load.
According to the result, there exists an optimum input current
under every heating power. In this case, the optimum input
current is around 6A or 7A. The performance of the heat sink
would be improved with TEC under certain heating power and
input current, especially at a low heat load. According to the
result, the device can even make the heat source cooler than the
ambient. However, TEC is not always effective at every heat
load and input current. In some situation, the device works
worse than the heat sink without TEC. To determine the
availability of TEC, this study figures out the effective
operating region in which the TEC air-cooling module works
better than the heat sink without TEC. The result shows that
TEC is more effective at a lower heat load. If heat load is too
high, heat sink with TEC will perform worse than without TEC.
The limit of this device is 57W. Besides, TEC is not helpful if
input current is too high or too low. There is an effective range
of input current, and the range becomes narrower when the heat
load grows.", keywords = "Thermoelectric cooler, TEC, electronic cooling, heat
sink.", volume = "1", number = "9", pages = "493-6", }