Performance of the novel design thermoelectric cooling system

Thermoelectric coolers (TECs) have been used for cooling electrical elements of high dissipating energy to provide a fixed temperature, with the advantages of being reliable, noiseless, tightly packed, with no moving parts as well as no harmful gases. As high performance of TECs is required, developed emerging thermoelectric (TE) materials can be employed to enhance their performance. Hence, this study provides an experimental investigation to study the effect of different operational parameters on the performance of the TE cooling system including the system coefficient of performance (COP) and the rate of heat transfer. The parameters investigated are the applied input power, inlet working fluid velocity, and the arrangement of utilized TECs modules. The used test rig consists of two attached horizontal ducts, and the interface surface between them contains three TE modules, each of power 48 W. The applied input power and the working fluid flow rate range from 16 to 48 W and from 0.0025 to 0.01 L/min, respectively. Results show that the maximum COP occurs at lower values of applied input power. A noticeable enhancement in the COP is found when all TEC modules are in use. A new correlation of the COP of the TEC system is obtained.