Peltier module and its refrigeration

9.1] Peltier effect :

The
thermoelectric effect is the
direct conversion of
temperature differences to
electric voltage and vice
versa. The term
"thermoelectric effect"
encompasses three
separately identified
effects: the Seebeck effect,
Peltier effect, and Thomson
effect. Peltier effect, the
cooling of one junction and
the heating of the other when electric current is maintained in a circuit of material consisting of two
dissimilar conductors; the effect is even stronger in circuits containing dissimilar semiconductors. The
Peltier effect can be considered as the back-action counterpart to the Seebeck effect (analogous to the
back-EMF in magnetic induction): if a simple thermoelectric circuit is closed, then the Seebeck effect will
drive a current, which in turn (by the Peltier effect) will always transfer heat from the hot to the cold
junction. The Seebeck effect is the build up of an electric potential across a temperature gradient. A
thermocouple measures the difference in potential across a hot and cold end for two dissimilar
materials. This potential difference is proportional to the temperature difference between the hot and
cold ends.In a circuit consisting of a battery joined by two pieces of copper wire to a length of bismuth
wire, a temperature rise occurs at the junction where the current passes from copper to bismuth, and a
temperature drop occurs at the junction where the current passes from bismuth to copper. This effect
was discovered in 1834 by the French physicist.

The Peltier effect is a temperature difference created by applying a voltage between

two electrodes connected to a sample of semiconductor material. This phenomenon can be useful when
it is necessary to transfer heat from one medium to another on a small scale. The Peltier effect is one of
three types of thermoelectric effect; the other two are the Seebeck effect and the Thomson effect.In a
Peltier-effect device, the electrodes are typically made of a metal with excellent electrical conductivity.
The semiconductor material between the electrodes creates two junctions between dissimilar materials,
which, in turn, creates a pair of thermocouplevoltage is applied to the electrodes to force electrical
current through the semiconductor, thermal energy flows in the direction of the charge carriers. Peltier
effect is used for thermoelectric coupling in electrical components and computers where conventional
cooling methods are impractical. A Peltier cooler, heater, or thermoelectric heat pump is a solid-state
active heat pump which transfers heat from one side of the device to the other, with consumption of
electrical energy, depending on the direction of the current. Such an instrument is also called a Peltier
device, Peltier heat pump, solid state refrigerator, or thermoelectric cooler (TEC). It can be used either
for heating or for cooling,[1] although in practice the main application is cooling. It can also be used as a
temperature controller that either heats or cools. But this peltier effect can also be used for cooling or
heating of the water. The one side of peltier module showing the peltier effect is used for heating and
other sode for cooling of water.

9.2] Construction of Peltier module :

Peltier element schematic. Thermoelectric legs are thermally in parallel and electrically in series.

A typical thermoelectric cooler (TEC) consists of thermocouples connected electrically

in series and sandwiched between two Alumina ceramic plates. The number of thermocouples may vary
greatly - from several elements to hundred of units. This allows to construct a TEC of a desirable cooling
capacity ranging from fractions of Watts to hundreds of Watts.Two unique semiconductors, one n-type
and one p-type, are used because they need to have different electron densities. The alternating p & n-
type semiconductor pillars are placed thermally in parallel to each other and electrically in series and
then joined with a thermally conducting plate on each side, usually ceramic removing the need for a
separate insulator. When a voltage is applied to the free ends of the two semiconductors there is a flow
of DC current across the junction of the semiconductors causing a temperature difference. The side with
the cooling plate absorbs heat which is then transported by the semiconductor to the other side of the
device. The cooling ability of the total unit is then proportional to the total cross section of all the pillars,
many are connected electrically in series to reduce the current needed to practical levels. The length of
the pillars is a balance between longer pillars which will have a greater thermal resistance between the
sides and allow a lower temperature to be reached but produce more resistive heating, and shorter
pillars which will have a greater electrical efficiency but let more heat leak from the hot to cold side by
thermal conduction. For large temperature differences longer pillars are far less efficient than stacking
separate, progressively larger modules, the modules get larger as each layer must remove both the heat
moved by the above layer and the waste heat of the layer.

 Requirements for thermoelectric materials :

1) Narrow band-gap semiconductors because of room-temperature operation;

2) High electrical conductivity (to reduce electrical resistance, source of waste heat);

3)Low thermal conductivity (so that heat doesn't come back from the hot side to the cool side);
this usually translates to heavy elements

4)Large unit cell, complex structure;

5)Highly anisotropic or highly symmetric;

6)Complex compositions;

Materials suitable for high efficiency TEC systems must have a combination of low thermal
conductivity and high electrical conductivity. The combined goodness of different material combinations
is commonly compared using a figure of merit known as ZT, a measure of the system’s efficiency. There
are few materials that are suitable for TEC applications since the relationship between thermal and
electrical conductivity is usually a positive correlation. Improvements in reduced thermal transport with
increased electrical conductivity are an active area of material science research. Common thermoelectric
materials used as semiconductors include bismuth telluride, lead telluride, silicon germanium, and
bismuth-antimony alloys. Of these bismuth telluride is the most commonly used. New high-performance
materials for thermoelectric cooling are being actively researched.The working elements must be in an
isolated casing, and the best geometry is a plane. Usually this will be them being sandwiched between a
pair of ceramic plaques, sealed (or not).

 Identification and characteristics :

Peltier elements all conform to a universal identification specification

The vast majority of thermoelectric coolers have an ID printed on the cooled side.These
universal IDs clearly indicate the size, number of stages, number of couples, and current rating in amps,
as seen in the adjacent diagram.Very common Tec1-12706, square of 40 millimeters size and 3-4 mm
high, are found for a few dollars, and sold as able to move around 60W or generate a 60°C temperature
difference with a 6 Amp current. Their electrical resistance will be of 1-2 ohm magnitude

9.3] Working of peltier module :

When DC supply moves across Peltier cooler, it causes temperature
differential between TEC sides. As a result, one thermoelectric cooler face, which is called cold, will be
cooled while its opposite face, which is called hot, simultaneously is heated. If the heat generated on the
TEC hot side is effectively dissipated into heat sinks and further into the surrounding environment, then
the temperature on the thermoelectric cooler cold side will be much lower than that of the ambient by
dozens of degrees. The thermoelectric coolers cooling capacity is proportional to the current passing
through it. TEC's cold side will consequently be heated and its hot side will be cooled once the TEC's
polarity has been reversed. Peltier (thermoelectric) performance is a function of ambient temperature,
hot and cold side heat exchanger (heat sink) performance, thermal load, Peltier module (thermopile)
geometry, and Peltier electrical parameters.The amount of heat that can be moved is proportional to
the current and time.

Q= P×I×T

where P is the Peltier coefficient, I is the current, and t is the time.

The Peltier coefficient depends on temperature and the materials the cooler is made
of. Magnitude of 10 Watt per Ampere are common. But this is offset by two phenomena:

 According to Ohm's law, a Peltier module will produce wasted heat itself,
Qwaste= R×I^2×T, where R is the resistance.
 Heat will also move of itself back from the hot side to the cool side, inside the module itself,
more and more so as the temperature difference grows.

The result is that the heat effectively moved drops as the temperature difference grows,
and the module becomes less efficient. There comes a temperature difference when the waste heat and
heat moving back overcomes the moved heat, and the module start to heat the cool side instead of
cooling it further. A single-stage thermoelectric cooler will typically produce a maximal temperature
difference of 70 °C between its hot and cold sides.

Another issue with performance is a direct consequence of one of their advantages: being small. This
means that

 the hot side and the cool side will be very close to each other (a few millimeters away), making it
easier for the heat to go back to the cool side, and harder to insulate the hot and cool side from
each other
 A common 40 mm x 40 mm can generate 60 W or more, that is, 4W/cm² or more, requiring
powerful radiator to move the heat way

In refrigeration applications, thermoelectric junctions have about 1/4 the efficiency

compared to conventional means. Due to this lower efficiency, thermoelectric cooling is generally only
used in environments where the solid-state nature (no moving parts), low maintenance, compact size,
and orientation insensitivity outweighs pure efficiency.

While lower than conventional means, efficiency can be good enough provided if :

 temperature difference is kept as small as possible

  the current is kept low, because the ratio of moved heat over waste heat (for same temperature
on the hot and cool side) will be

9.4] Advantages
1) No chlorofluorocarbons or refrigerant emissions
2) Low maintenance
3) Long lifetime
4) Controllable
5) Compatible with extreme environments or remote locations
6) Capable of cooling far below ambient temperatures
7) Performance independent of orientation
8) A significant benefit of TEC systems is that they have no moving parts. This lack of mechanical
wear and reduced instances of failure due to fatigue and fracture from mechanical vibration and
stress increases the lifespan of the system and lowers the maintenance requirements. Current
technologies show the mean time between failures (MTBF) to exceed 100,000 hours at ambient
temperatures.
9) The fact that TEC systems are current-controlled leads to another series of benefits. Because the
flow of heat is directly proportional to the applied DC current, heat may be added or removed
with accurate control of the direction and amount of electrical current. In contrast to methods
that use resistive heating or cooling methods that involve gasses, TEC allows for an equal degree
of control over the flow of heat (both in and out of a system under control). Because of this
precise bidirectional heat flow control, temperatures of controlled systems can be precise to
fractions of a degree, often reaching precision of milli Kelvin (mK) in laboratory settings.TEC
devices are also more flexible in shape than their more traditional counterparts. They can be
used in environments with less space or more severe conditions than a conventional
refrigerator. The ability to tailor their geometry allows for the delivery of precise cooling to very
small areas. These factors make them a common choice in scientific and engineering
applications with demanding requirements where cost and absolute energy efficiency are not
primary concerns.
10) Another benefit of TEC is that it does not use refrigerants in its operation. Prior to their
phaseout some early refrigerants, such as chlorofluorocarbons (CFCs), contributed significantly
to ozone depletion. Many refrigerants used today also have significant environmental impact
with global warming potential[8] or carry other safety risks with them

9.5] Applications :
1) Domestic cooling
 Peltier elements are commonly used in consumer products. For example, they are
used in camping, portable coolers, cooling electronic components and small instruments. They
can also be used to extract water from the air in dehumidifiers. A camping/car type electric
cooler can typically reduce the temperature by up to 20 °C (36 °F) below the ambient
temperature. Climate-controlled jackets are beginning to use Peltier elements. Thermoelectric
coolers are used to augment heat sinks for microprocessors.

2) Industrial cooling
Thermoelectric coolers are used in many fields of industrial manufacturing and
require a thorough performance analysis as they face the test of running thousands of cycles
before these industrial products are launched to the market. Some of the applications include
laser equipment, thermoelectric air conditioners or coolers, industrial electronics and
telecommunications,automotive, mini refrigerators or incubators, military cabinets, IT
enclosures, and more.
3) Thermal Cyclers for Synthesis of DNA :
Peltier elements are used in scientific devices. They are a common component in
thermal cyclers, used for the synthesis of DNA by polymerase chain reaction (PCR), a common
molecular biological technique, which requires the rapid heating and cooling of the reaction
mixture for denaturation primer annealing and enzymatic synthesis cycles.
4) Feedback circuitry
With feedback circuitry, Peltier elements can be used to implement highly stable
temperature controllers that keep desired temperature within ±0.01 °C. Such stability may be
used in precise laser applications to avoid laser wavelength drifting as environment temperature
changes.

5) Satellites and spacecraft

The effect is used in satellites and spacecraft to reduce temperature
differences caused by direct sunlight on one side of a craft by dissipating the heat over the cold
shaded side, where it is dissipated as thermal radiation to space.Since 1961, some unmanned
spacecraft (including the Curiosity Mars rover) utilize radioisotope thermoelectric generators
(RTGs) that convert thermal energy into electrical energy using the Seebeck effect. The devices
can last several decades, as they are fueled by the decay of high-energy radioactive materials.
6) Cloud chambers
Peltier elements are also used to make cloud chambers to visualize ionizing
radiation. Just by passing an electric current, they can cool vapors below -26° C without dry ice
or moving parts, making cloud chambers easy to make and use.
7) Photon detectors to reduce thermal noise
 Photon detectors such as CCDs in astronomical telescopes, spectrometers, or very
high-end digital cameras are often cooled by Peltier elements. This reduces dark counts due to
thermal noise. A dark count occurs when a pixel registers an electron caused by thermal
fluctuation rather than a photon. On digital photos taken at low light these occur as speckles.
8) Computers
Thermoelectric coolers can be used to cool computer components to keep
temperatures within design limits or to maintain stable functioning when overclocking. A Peltier
cooler with a heat sink or waterblock can cool a chip to well below ambient temperature.
9) Fiber-optic
In fiber-optic applications, where the wavelength of a laser or a component is highly
dependent on temperature, Peltier coolers are used along with a thermistor in a feedback loop
to maintain a constant temperature and thereby stabilize the wavelength of the device.