Numerical simulation and experimental investigation of air cooling system using thermoelectric cooling system

Efficient air-conditioning inside the cars is a challenge in automobile industry. Thermoelectric is one of the new methods for air cooling. It has many advantages such as non-moving parts, small size, low weight, fluid less functions, and dealing with direct current source. This research aimed to determine the amount of air chamber cooling using three thermoelectrics. For this purpose, air cooling system was initially developed and then simulated by ANSYS CFX software. The system was tested at three different airflow (0.18, 0.35 and 0.7 m s(-1)) and three different inlet air temperatures (31, 40 and 50 degrees C). The temperatures of the four points were recorded. The results of numerical simulation were compared with the experimental ones. This research demonstrated that thermoelectrics can be a good choice for air cooling. However to improve the performance of this system, it is recommended to change the layout of the heat sinks. Furthermore, the mean difference between the result of the numerical simulation and that of the experimental tests was 8.5% indicating that this simulation can be promising with sufficient confidence.