Thermoelectric Peltier Cooler Research Articles

High-Speed Peltier Calorimeter for the Calibration of High-Bandwidth Power Measurement Equipment

Accurate power measurements of electronic components operating at high frequencies are vital in determining where power losses occur in a system such as a power converter. Such power measurements must be carried out with equipment that can accurately measure real power at high frequency. We present the design of a high speed calorimeter to address this requirement, capable of reaching a steady state in less than 10 minutes. The system uses Peltier thermoelectric coolers to remove heat generated in a load resistance, and was calibrated against known real power measurements using an artificial neural network. A dead zone controller was used to achieve stable power measurements. The calibration was validated and shown to have an absolute accuracy of +/-8 mW (95% confidence interval) for measurements of real power from 0.1 to 5 W.

Thermal design and analysis of high power star sensors

The requirement for the temperature stability is very high in the star sensors as the high precision needs for the altitude information. Thermal design and analysis thus is important for the high power star sensors and their supporters. CCD, normally with Peltier thermoelectric cooler (PTC), is the most important sensor component in the star sensors, which is also the main heat source in the star sensors suite. The major objective for the thermal design in this paper is to design a radiator to optimize the heat diffusion for CCD and PTC. The structural configuration of star sensors, the heat sources and orbit parameters were firstly introduced in this paper. The influences of the geometrical parameters and coating material characteristics of radiators on the heat diffusion were investigated by heat flux analysis. Carbon–carbon composites were then chosen to improve the thermal conductivity for the sensor supporters by studying the heat transfer path. The design is validated by simulation analysis and experiments on orbit. The satellite data show that the temperatures of three star sensors are from 17.8°C to 19.6°C, while the simulation results are from 18.1°C to 20.1°C. The temperatures of radiator are from 16.1°C to 16.8°C and the corresponding simulation results are from 16.0°C to 16.5°C. The temperature variety of each star sensor is less than 2°C, which satisfies the design objectives.

Near‐room‐temperature photon‐noise‐limited quantum well infrared photodetector

AbstractWith the modern development of infrared laser sources such as broadly tunable quantum cascade lasers and frequency combs, applications of infrared laser spectroscopy are expected to become widespread. Consequently, convenient infrared detectors are needed, having properties such as fast response, high efficiency, and room‐temperature operation. This work investigated conditions to achieve near‐room‐temperature photon‐noise‐limited performance of quantum well infrared photodetectors (QWIPs), in particular the laser power requirement. Both model simulation and experimental verification were carried out. At 300 K, it is shown that the ideal performance can be reached for typical QWIP designs up to a detection wavelength of 10 µm. At 250 K, which is easily reachable with a thermoelectric Peltier cooler, the ideal performance can be reached up to 12 µm. QWIPs are therefore suitable for detection and sensing applications with devices operating up to or near room temperature.

Laser cooling of a semiconductor by 40 kelvin

Optical irradiation accompanied by spontaneous anti-Stokes emission can lead to cooling of matter, in a phenomenon known as laser cooling, or optical refrigeration, which was proposed by Pringsheim in 1929. In gaseous matter, an extremely low temperature can be obtained in diluted atomic gases by Doppler cooling, and laser cooling of ultradense gas has been demonstrated by collisional redistribution of radiation. In solid-state materials, laser cooling is achieved by the annihilation of phonons, which are quanta of lattice vibrations, during anti-Stokes luminescence. Since the first experimental demonstration in glasses doped with rare-earth metals, considerable progress has been made, particularly in ytterbium-doped glasses or crystals: recently a record was set of cooling to about 110 kelvin from the ambient temperature, surpassing the thermoelectric Peltier cooler. It would be interesting to realize laser cooling in semiconductors, in which excitonic resonances dominate, rather than in systems doped with rare-earth metals, where atomic resonances dominate. However, so far no net cooling in semiconductors has been achieved despite much experimental and theoretical work, mainly on group-III-V gallium arsenide quantum wells. Here we report a net cooling by about 40 kelvin in a semiconductor using group-II-VI cadmium sulphide nanoribbons, or nanobelts, starting from 290 kelvin. We use a pump laser with a wavelength of 514 nanometres, and obtain an estimated cooling efficiency of about 1.3 per cent and an estimated cooling power of 180 microwatts. At 100 kelvin, 532-nm pumping leads to a net cooling of about 15 kelvin with a cooling efficiency of about 2.0 per cent. We attribute the net laser cooling in cadmium sulphide nanobelts to strong coupling between excitons and longitudinal optical phonons (LOPs), which allows the resonant annihilation of multiple LOPs in luminescence up-conversion processes, high external quantum efficiency and negligible background absorption. Our findings suggest that, alternatively, group-II-VI semiconductors with strong exciton-LOP coupling could be harnessed to achieve laser cooling and open the way to optical refrigeration based on semiconductors.

Solid-State Thermal Management for Lithium-Ion EV Batteries

Battery thermal management system (BTMS) is essential for electric-vehicle (EV) and hybrid-vehicle (HV) battery packs to operate effectively in all climates. Lithium-ion (Li-ion) batteries offer many advantages to the EV such as high power and high specific energy. However, temperature affects their performance, safety, and productive life. This paper is about the design and evaluation of a BTMS based on the Peltier effect heat pumps. The discharge efficiency of a 60-Ah prismatic Li-ion pouch cell was measured under different rates and different ambient temperature values. The obtained results were used to design a solid-state BTMS based on Peltier thermoelectric coolers (TECs). The proposed BTMS is then modeled and evaluated at constant current discharge in the laboratory. In addition, The BTMS was installed in an EV that was driven in the US06 cycle. The thermal response and the energy consumption of the proposed BTMS were satisfactory.

Improved thermoelectric cooling based on the Thomson effect

Traditional thermoelectric Peltier coolers exhibit a cooling limit which is primarily determined by the figure of merit, $\mathit{zT}$. Rather than a fundamental thermodynamic limit, this bound can be traced to the difficulty of maintaining thermoelectric compatibility. Self-compatibility locally maximizes the cooler's coefficient of performance for a given $zT$ and can be achieved by adjusting the relative ratio of the thermoelectric transport properties that make up $zT$. In this study, we investigate the theoretical performance of thermoelectric coolers that maintain self-compatibility across the device. We find that such a device behaves very differently from a Peltier cooler, and we term self-compatible coolers ``Thomson coolers'' when the Fourier heat divergence is dominated by the Thomson, as opposed to the Joule, term. A Thomson cooler requires an exponentially rising Seebeck coefficient with increasing temperature, while traditional Peltier coolers, such as those used commercially, have comparatively minimal change in Seebeck coefficient with temperature. When reasonable material property bounds are placed on the thermoelectric leg, the Thomson cooler is predicted to achieve approximately twice the maximum temperature drop of a traditional Peltier cooler with equivalent figure of merit ($zT$). We anticipate that the development of Thomson coolers will ultimately lead to solid-state cooling to cryogenic temperatures.

Prediction of the brain temperature from other body temperatures in hypothermia induced rats by using artificial neural networks

In this study, a microcontroller based temperature controlled hypothermia induction system is realized. The novelty of the experimental system is in using a thermoelectric Peltier cooler to bring the body temperature to hypothermic levels. The right and left ear, rectum, and brain temperatures of a rat are measured with this system. Then, an artificial neural network (ANN) is trained using temperature data to predict brain temperature from other body temperatures. It is shown that the system has the capability to predict the brain temperature with low error from rectum temperature measurements. The results from this empirical prototype also show that it is possible to use the system on humans to induce local hypothermia safely, where an interior temperature probe in the scalp is eliminated.

The characterization of a cascade thermoelectric cooler in a cryosurgery device

An experimental investigation using a Peltier thermoelectric cooler (TEC) to cool down a cryoprobe for cryosurgery was performed. Two prototypes of cryosurgery devices consisting of 5- and 6-stage TEC modules were analyzed using a variety of electrical voltages, circulating thermostatic bath (CTB) temperatures, and heat exchanger configurations to obtain an optimum cold side temperature and temperature differences between sides of the modules. To increase the heat exchanges at the hot side, a heat pipe system with a water block was used. Using an electric voltage of 12 V and a CTB temperature of 273.55 K, a cryogenic temperature of 177.09 K and a temperature difference of 99.87 K were achieved. These results indicate that the TEC module can be an effective cooling source for cryosurgery. The prototype has shown potential for clinical trials.

Use of silicon drift detectors for the detection of medium-light elements in PIXE

In order to fully exploit in PIXE the superior performance of silicon drift detectors especially for the detection of low- and medium-energy X-rays, avoiding in particular the negative effects of backscattered particles, we developed a custom spectrometer based on a 10mm2 chip with a thermoelectric Peltier cooler and home-designed front-end electronics, coupled to a weakly focusing polycapillary lens.This paper briefly describes the detector+lens assembly and reports the results of first tests carried out at an external beam line of the LABEC laboratory in Florence. Excellent energy resolution is achieved under real operating conditions in a PIXE run (measured FWHM at 1keV is 81eV with a count-rate of 480cps) and also the lineshapes are very good (FW1/10M over FWHM ratio is 2.1). As a whole, our preliminary tests gave encouraging results and also helped to point out some aspects which it is worthwhile to investigate further (e.g. how X-ray peak intensity ratios may be affected by inaccurate lens alignment), in order to profit fully from such a good performance of the spectrometer.

Temperature dependences of carbon assimilation processes in four dominant species from mountain grassland ecosystem

Temperature responses of carbon assimilation processes were studied in four dominant species from mountain grassland ecosystem, i.e. Holcus mollis (L.), Hypericum maculatum (Cr.), Festuca rubra (L.), and Nardus stricta (L.), using the gas exchange technique. Leaf temperature (T L) of all species was adjusted within the range 13–30 °C using the Peltier thermoelectric cooler. The temperature responses of metabolic processes were subsequently modelled using the Arrhenius exponential function involving the temperature coefficient Q 10. The expected increase of global temperature led to a significant increase of dark respiration rate (R D; Q 10 = 2.0±0.5), maximum carboxylation rate (V Cmax; Q 10 = 2.2±0.6), and maximum electron transport rate (J max; Q 10 = 1.6±0.4) in dominant species of mountain grassland ecosystems. Contrariwise, the ratio between J max and V Cmax linearly decreased with T L [y = −0.884 T L + 5.24; r 2 = 0.78]. Hence temperature did not control the ratio between intercellular and ambient CO2 concentration, apparent quantum efficiency, and photon-saturated CO2 assimilation rate (P max). P max primarily correlated with maximum stomatal conductance irrespective of T L. Water use efficiency tended to decrease with T L [y = −0.21 T L + 8.1; r 2 = 0.87].

The Behavior of the Snow White Chilled-Mirror Hygrometer in Extremely Dry Conditions

The Snow White hygrometer, made by Meteolabor AG, Switzerland, is a new chilled-mirror instrument using a thermoelectric Peltier cooler to measure atmospheric water vapor. Its performance under dry conditions is evaluated in simultaneous measurements using the NOAA/CMDL frost-point hygrometer at Boulder, Colorado; San Cristóbal, Galápagos Islands, Ecuador; Watukosek, Indonesia; and Mauna Loa Observatory, Hawaii. The Snow White exhibits a lower detection limit of about 3%–6% relative humidity, depending on the sensor configuration. This detection limit is determined by the temperature depression attainable by the thermoelectric cooler. In some cases, loss of frost-point control within layers with relative humidity below this detection limit caused inaccurate measurements above these dry layers, where the relative humidity was within the detection range of the instrument. The sensor does not operate in the stratosphere because of the large frost-point depression and the large potential for outgassing of water from the instrument box and the sensor housing. The instrument has some capabilities in the tropical tropopause region; however, the results are somewhat mixed.

Design and development of a new cryosurgical instrument utilizing the Peltier thermoelectric effect

Warts and some other dermatological conditions may be treated by the application of intense cold. This freezing has to be so severe as to form ice crystals which will rupture the cell membranes. The initial part of this project was to investigate the feasibility of using Peltier thermoelectric coolers (TECs) to cool down a suitable hand-held treatment tip to a temperature of approximately -50°C. The results of these initial experiments showed how this could be accomplished and a prototype cryosurgical instrument, suitable for clinical trials, was designed and constructed. This new design is freestanding, self-contained and is operated from a standard 230 V mains supply. Unlike existing systems it does not use any disposable gases or liquids. A cryoprobe of this new design would allow reliable cryosurgery to be performed in a GP's treatment room where supplies of liquid nitrogen, nitrous oxide or carbon dixoide are not readily available. The design also has a built-in thermometer to measure the treatment tip temperature thus ensuring consistency in treatment. Clinical trials are being conducted at a number of GP practices to evaluate this new design.