Refrigeration – Using electrical or magnetic effect – Thermoelectric; e.g. – peltier effect
Reexamination Certificate
2002-02-19
2003-01-07
Tapolcai, William E. (Department: 3744)
Refrigeration
Using electrical or magnetic effect
Thermoelectric; e.g., peltier effect
C062S239000
Reexamination Certificate
active
06502405
ABSTRACT:
BACKGROUND
1. Field of the Invention
The present invention relates to vehicle fluid thermal energy exchanger systems and associated methods of use and manufacture. More particularly, the invention is related to vehicle liquid thermal energy exchanger systems, utilizing commercially available thermoelectric heat transfer devices that have the capability to concurrently provide heating and cooling on opposing sides of the device.
2. Description of the Related Art
The heating and/or cooling of liquid in transit or at a point of accumulation has been effectuated in a multitude of fashions dating back as far as the origin of the very reasons for such heat transfer. Older pieces of art typically center around heat transfer from or to a fluid by the circulation of currents from one region to another, or by the emission and propagation of energy in the form of rays or waves.
More specifically, in the area of internal combustion engines, it is well known in the art that cooling the engine below the temperature at which thermal breakdown of materials occurs is necessary. Various methods have been developed to cool the engine from forced air convection to the more common form of convection where a liquid is pumped around or through the engine to draw thermal energy off the engine as a result of combustion. However, little attention has been paid to the cooling of combustion fuels before these fuels enter the combustion chamber. U.S. Pat. No. 5,887,555 issued to Schmitz, discloses a fuel cooling device for marine application. The invention discloses a housing in which the fuel pump is contained in and utilizes water as the cooling agent. The water circulating in the housing is operative to cool the fuel pump and fuel therein.
Alternatively, fuels such as diesel, are optimally heated before entry into the combustion chamber. This heating ensures less activation energy is required for the fuel to combust. Additionally, fuels such as diesel will become gelatinous at lower temperatures, thereby hindering the transfer from the fuel tank to the combustion chamber. Traditionally, the solution to the aforementioned problem has been to utilize fuel additives which retard the increase in viscosity as the temperature decreases.
Cooling lubricants is also well known within the prior art. Various methods have been developed which utilize fluid currents (air and coolant fluid) to draw thermal energy away from a lubricant. These methods include the use of devices known as heat sinks, which typically are designed for absorbing or dissipating thermal energy by having a large surface area to volume ratio. Some heat sinks employ electromechanical devices that produce fluid currents thereby increasing the potential for thermal energy transfer by decreasing the boundary layer between the heat sink and fluid.
The most common version of a thermal energy transfer device is a vehicle radiator. The radiator contains fluid within channels providing thermal communication between the engine and the fluid, such that the radiator fluid carries away thermal energy from the engine. The radiator fluid is thereafter cooled by passing through conduits having a high degree of surface area which enable fluids passing over the conduits to carry away a portion of the thermal energy of the radiator fluid. Alternatively, engine block heaters have been developed which heat radiator fluid. The most common versions of these devices are powered by AC current and utilize electrical resistance to current flow to produce thermal energy which is transferred to the radiator fluid. One version, utilizes a thermal energy measuring device which controls power to a heating element and a pump which circulates the radiator fluid, while another device strictly utilizes a heater which takes advantage of thermal gradients within the radiator fluid itself to provide thermal energy to the fluid.
SUMMARY OF THE INVENTION
The present invention relates to vehicle fluid thermal energy exchanger systems and associated methods of use and manufacture. More particularly, the invention is related to vehicle liquid thermal energy exchanger systems. The invention may utilize one or more thermoelectric devices manufactured from two ceramic wafers and a series of “P & N” doped semiconductor blocks sandwiched therebetween. The ceramic wafered thermoelectric devices provide concurrent thermal energy absorption and dissipation on the opposing wafers. The thermoelectric devices take advantage of the Peltier effect; a phenomenon which occurs whenever electrical current flows through two dissimilar conductors. Depending upon the flow of the current, the junction of the two conductors will either absorb or dissipate thermal energy. The thermal energy is moved by the charge carriers in the direction of current flow throughout the circuit.
The invention utilizes this movement of thermal energy within the thermoelectric device to create thermal gradients between the target and a corresponding wafer surface. If the target is a fluid, such as water to be cooled, the temperature of the water and the temperature of the cooler surface of the wafer are the points of reference for determining the thermal energy gradient. So long as the mean temperature of the cooler surface is less than that of the target, thermal energy will be drawn from the target and absorbed by the cooler surface, thereby cooling the target. In some applications in which the target is a fluid, it may not be desired that the thermoelectric device come into direct contact with the target; only thermal communication is necessary for thermal energy transfer. As such, the fluid targets may be contained in a reservoir or a conduit. In these examples, the thermoelectric device will not necessarily be in direct contact with the fluid, but may be positioned such that thermal energy may be exchanged between the target and at least one surface of the thermoelectric device.
In particular, the thermoelectric devices may be positioned in such a manner so as to cool or heat vehicle fluids. In an illustrative example, vehicle fuel coming from a fuel source may be cooled by the present invention before being combusted. Alternatively, the fuel may pass within thermal communication of the warmer surface and thereby be heated before being combusted. In these examples, thermal communication allows for the exchange of thermal energy between the target and at least one surface of the thermoelectric device. In an exemplary embodiment, the cooler surface is in thermal communication with a heat transfer material, which is subsequently in thermal communication with the target vehicle fluid. The process of thermal energy transfer from a contained target to the warmer surface in a cooling operation includes: thermal energy leaving the target fluid and being absorbed by the heat transfer material; thermal energy leaving the heat transfer material and being absorbed by the cooler surface of the thermoelectric device; and, thermal energy being moved or pumped, from the cooler surface along with thermal energy produced from the resistance to current flow, to the warmer surface of the thermoelectric device.
Advantageously, the ceramic wafered thermoelectric devices operate on relatively low power and voltages and are relatively durable. Because the ceramic wafered thermoelectric devices dissipate heat on the side (warming side) of the device opposite that of the cooling side (absorbing heat), the above describedexemplary embodiment of the invention may utilize a heat sink to improve dissipation of such excess thermal energy from the warming side.
It is a first aspect of the present invention to provide a vehicle system for transferring thermal energy in relation to a vehicle fluid comprising: at least one thermoelectric device, having at least two surfaces, concurrently dissipating thermal energy on a first surface and absorbing thermal energy on a second surface, mounted in proximity to a contained vehicle fluid, and providing thermal communication between the contained vehicle fluid and at least one of the first and second surfaces of th
Taft Stettinius & Hollister LLP
Tapolcai William E.
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