Abstract
This paper aims to find a more general analysis method for the refrigeration performance, and to design a high efficiency modular cooling structure of water-cooled plate. A new analysis method, namely current and refrigeration rate density analysis, is proposed. The general refrigeration performance calculation equations are obtained. A finite-time thermodynamic model of the thermoelectric device is established considering Thomson effect. The basic structure of water-cooled thermoelectric air-conditioner is designed and the specific calculation method is given. The influences of input current density, filling factor and heat transfer conditions on refrigeration performance of the thermoelectric air-conditioner are analyzed, which is compared with refrigeration performance of air-cooled thermoelectric air-conditioner. The results show that the maximum refrigeration rate density of the water-cooled thermoelectric air-conditioner is 8.65 kW/m2, and the maximum coefficient of performance (COP) is 2.27 in the case of the cooling temperature difference ΔT=5 K. Compared with ΔT=5 K, the maximum refrigeration rate density and the maximum COP of ΔT=15 K decreases by 27.98% and 76.65%, respectively. At the filling factor θ=0.43, the refrigeration rate density and COP are 2.57 kW/m2 and 1.24, respectively. The experimental device of thermoelectric air-conditioner is established to verify the model. The experimental results show that the maximum value of input current and COP is 4 A and 0.95 with the efficient water-cooling method, respectively. The experimental data coincides with the theoretical calculation, which shows the validity of the analysis method and cooling method.
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Abbreviations
- A :
-
Area/mm2
- COP:
-
Coefficient of performance
- c p :
-
Specific heat at constant pressure/J·kg−1·K−1
- d :
-
Diameter of pipeline/mm
- H :
-
Fin height/mm
- h :
-
Heat transfer coefficient/W·m−2·K−1
- I :
-
Input current/A
- j :
-
Input current density/A·mm−2
- L :
-
Length of thermoelectric leg/mm
- m :
-
Number of thermoelectric modules
- N :
-
Number of total thermoelectric elements
- Nu :
-
Nusselt number
- pr :
-
Prandtl number
- p :
-
Cross-section perimeter/m
- Q :
-
Heat flow rate/W
- q h :
-
Heat flow rate density of hot junction/W·m−2
- q c :
-
Heat flow rate density of cold junction/W·m−2
- q 1 :
-
Heat flow rate density of hot side/W·m−2
- q 2 :
-
Heat flow rate density of cold side/W·m−2
- Re :
-
Reynolds number
- R :
-
Total thermal resistance/K·W−1
- r :
-
Unit area thermal resistance/mm2·K·W−1
- T :
-
Absolute temperature/K
- u :
-
Velocity/m·s−1
- v :
-
Kinematic viscosity/m2·s−1
- α :
-
Seebeck coefficient/V·K−1
- β :
-
Finning coefficients
- δ :
-
Thickness/mm
- η f :
-
Fin efficiency
- θ :
-
Filling factor
- λ :
-
Thermal conductivity/W·m−1·K−1
- μ :
-
Thomson coefficient/V·K−1
- ρ :
-
Electrical resistivity/Ω·m
- Δ:
-
Difference
- c:
-
Cold junction
- cp:
-
Ceramic substrate
- cv:
-
Convection heat transfer
- ex:
-
Substrate of junction
- f:
-
Flow
- fin:
-
Fin
- g:
-
Air gap
- h:
-
Hot junction
- one:
-
A thermoelectric module
- max:
-
Maximum
- mod:
-
Module
- s:
-
Thermal silicone grease
- 1:
-
Hot side
- 2:
-
Cold side
- FTT:
-
Finite-time thermodynamics
- PCM:
-
Phase change material
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Acknowledgments
This paper is supported by The National Natural Science Foundation of P. R. China (Project No. 11974429 and Project No. 51576207) and the Natural Science Foundation of Naval University of Engineering (20161505).
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Jiang, F., Meng, F., Chen, L. et al. Thermodynamic Analysis and Experimental Research of Water-Cooled Small Space Thermoelectric Air-Conditioner. J. Therm. Sci. 31, 390–406 (2022). https://doi.org/10.1007/s11630-022-1575-z
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DOI: https://doi.org/10.1007/s11630-022-1575-z