JP Journal of Heat and Mass Transfer
Volume 3, Issue 1, Pages 59 - 72
(February 2009)
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PERFORMANCE OF THERMOELECTRIC MODULES APPLIED TO AN EXPERIMENTAL AIR CONDITIONING DEVICE
J. R. Camargo (Brazil), J. M. Silva (Brazil), L. P. Santos (Brazil) and R. E. Silva (Brazil)
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Abstract: Thermoelectric cooling system is based on an effect discovered by Jean Charles Athanase Peltier, in 1834, according to him, when an electric current runs through a junction between two semiconductors materials with different properties, heat is dissipated and absorbed. Thermoelectric modules are made of semiconductors materials sealed between two boards and according to the way of the current flow one board is cold and the other is heated. The most important parameters to evaluate the efficiency of thermoelectric cooling process are the coefficient of performance, the transferred heat rate and the maximum temperature difference possible to obtain between the cold and hot sides of the thermoelectric module. This paper presents the equations that allow evaluating the performance of an air conditioning system based on the thermoelectric effect, the available modules characteristics and also the results of tests realized in an experimental device. In this evaluation, the thermoelectric modules and heat sink available in the market, temperature sensor and a software to obtain, store and compare the data, were used. The prototype allows assisting the superficial temperatures of the thermoelectric modules’ cold and hot sides, the air inlet and outlet temperatures in the heat sink, the hot and cold sides’ airflow, the voltage and the electric current applied in the modules. Using this data the system performance is analyzed and the behavior of the most important parameters is presented. |
Keywords and phrases: thermoelectric module, Peltier effect, air conditioning. |
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