G
Guy Macon
- Jan 1, 1970
- 0
Content-Transfer-Encoding: 8Bit
Supercooling of Peltier cooler using a current pulse
J. Appl. Phys.
August 1, 2002
Volume 92, Issue 3, pp. 1564-1569
(C) 2002 American Institute of Physics.
http://link.aip.org/link/?JAPIAU/92/1564/1
G. Jeffrey Snyder,
Jean-Pierre Fleurial,
Thierry Caillat
Jet Propulsion Laboratory,
California Institute of Technology,
Pasadena, California 91109
Ronggui Yang,
Gang Chen
Department of Mechanical Engineering,
Massachusetts Institute of Technology,
Cambridge, Massachusetts 02139
The operation of a Peltier cooler can be temporarily enhanced by utilizing
the transient response of a current pulse. The performance of such a device,
using (Bi,Sb)2Te3-based thermoelectric elements, was examined from –70 to 55
degrees C. We establish both theoretically and experimentally the essential
parameters that describe the pulse cooling effect, such as the minimum
temperature achieved, maximum temperature overshoot, time to reach minimum
temperature, time while cooled, and time between pulses. Using simple
theoretical and semiempirical relationships the dependence of these
parameters on the current pulse amplitude, temperature, thermoelectric
element length, thermoelectric figure of merit and thermal diffusivity
is established. At large pulse amplitudes the amount of pulse supercooling
is proportional to the maximum steady-state difference in temperature.
This proportionality factor is about half that expected theoretically.
This suggests that the thermoelectric figure of merit is the key materials
parameter for pulse cooling. For this cooler, the practical optimum pulse
amplitude was found to be about three times the optimum steady-state
current. A pulse cooler was integrated into a small commercial
thermoelectric three-stage cooler and it provided several degrees of
additional cooling for a period long enough to operate a laser sensor.
The improvement due to pulse cooling is about the equivalent of two
additional stages in a multistage thermoelectric cooler.
Supercooling of Peltier cooler using a current pulse
J. Appl. Phys.
August 1, 2002
Volume 92, Issue 3, pp. 1564-1569
(C) 2002 American Institute of Physics.
http://link.aip.org/link/?JAPIAU/92/1564/1
G. Jeffrey Snyder,
Jean-Pierre Fleurial,
Thierry Caillat
Jet Propulsion Laboratory,
California Institute of Technology,
Pasadena, California 91109
Ronggui Yang,
Gang Chen
Department of Mechanical Engineering,
Massachusetts Institute of Technology,
Cambridge, Massachusetts 02139
The operation of a Peltier cooler can be temporarily enhanced by utilizing
the transient response of a current pulse. The performance of such a device,
using (Bi,Sb)2Te3-based thermoelectric elements, was examined from –70 to 55
degrees C. We establish both theoretically and experimentally the essential
parameters that describe the pulse cooling effect, such as the minimum
temperature achieved, maximum temperature overshoot, time to reach minimum
temperature, time while cooled, and time between pulses. Using simple
theoretical and semiempirical relationships the dependence of these
parameters on the current pulse amplitude, temperature, thermoelectric
element length, thermoelectric figure of merit and thermal diffusivity
is established. At large pulse amplitudes the amount of pulse supercooling
is proportional to the maximum steady-state difference in temperature.
This proportionality factor is about half that expected theoretically.
This suggests that the thermoelectric figure of merit is the key materials
parameter for pulse cooling. For this cooler, the practical optimum pulse
amplitude was found to be about three times the optimum steady-state
current. A pulse cooler was integrated into a small commercial
thermoelectric three-stage cooler and it provided several degrees of
additional cooling for a period long enough to operate a laser sensor.
The improvement due to pulse cooling is about the equivalent of two
additional stages in a multistage thermoelectric cooler.