Abstract
This study aims to estimate the performance of thermoelectric module (TEM) heat pump for simultaneous liquid cooling and heating and propose empirical models for predicting the heat exchange effectiveness. The experiments were conducted to investigate and collect the performance data of TEM heat pump where the working fluid was water. A total of 57 sets of experimental data were statistically analyzed to estimate the effects of each independent variable on the heat exchange effectiveness using analysis of variance (ANOVA). To develop the empirical model, the six design parameters were measured: the number of transfer units (NTU) of the heat exchangers (i.e., water blocks), the inlet water temperatures and temperatures of water blocks at the cold and hot sides of the TEM. As a result, two polynomial equations predicting heat exchange effectiveness at the cold and hot sides of the TEM heat pump were derived as a function of the six selected design parameters. Also, the proposed models and theoretical model of conventional condenser and evaporator for heat exchange effectiveness were compared with the additional measurement data to validate the reliability of the proposed models. Consequently, two conclusions have been made: (1) the possibility of using the TEM heat pump for simultaneous cooling and heating was examined with the maximum temperature difference of 30 °C between cold and hot side of TEM, and (2) it is revealed that TEM heat pump has difference with the conventional evaporator and condenser from the comparison results between the proposed models and theoretical model due to the heat conduction and Joule effect in TEM.
Highlights
Thermoelectric modules (TEMs) have been studied as an emerging technology for realizing a non-vapor compression heat pump that is applicable to the air conditioning of buildings [1].Many researchers have focused on thermoelectric module (TEM) owing to its advantages, such as compact size, simple control, no refrigerant, noiseless operation, higher reliability without moving parts, and a longer lifetime than electrical compressors [2,3]
Similar to an air source heat pump, the TEM cools exhaust air at the cold side and releases heat at the hot side that is used to heat the supply air during winter. They indicated that their proposed system consumed 55 to 64% less energy compared with a conventional electric air heater
These two effects occur simultaneously; if one wants to use the TEM as a heat pump, the Peltier effect should be more dominant than the Seebeck effect, which can only occur if the magnitude of input current that is supplied is enough to offset the Seebeck effect; otherwise, the TEM heat pump cannot produce a meaningful difference in the temperature of water at the inlets and outlets on both the hot and cold sides of the TEM
Summary
Thermoelectric modules (TEMs) have been studied as an emerging technology for realizing a non-vapor compression heat pump that is applicable to the air conditioning of buildings [1]. Similar to an air source heat pump, the TEM cools exhaust air at the cold side and releases heat at the hot side that is used to heat the supply air during winter They indicated that their proposed system consumed 55 to 64% less energy compared with a conventional electric air heater. Ramousse and Perier-Muzet [16] proposed a design method for a thermoelectric heat pump considering minimization of entropy generation Their system consists of multi-channel heat exchangers for simultaneous cooling and heating of working fluids. In this study, the empirical models were developed to predict the heat exchange effectiveness of the thermoelectric heat pump at the hot and cold sides. The outlet fluid temperatures at the hot and cold sides can be predicted based on the heat exchange effectiveness, as determined by the proposed models. Two quadratic equations predicting the heat exchange effectiveness of the thermoelectric heat pump at the hot side and cold side were derived as a function of the selected physical and dimensionless parameters
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