Refrigeration – Using electrical or magnetic effect – Thermoelectric; e.g. – peltier effect
Patent
1995-06-09
1997-02-25
Bennett, Henry A.
Refrigeration
Using electrical or magnetic effect
Thermoelectric; e.g., peltier effect
62335, 62175, F25B 2102
Patent
active
056050488
DESCRIPTION:
BRIEF SUMMARY
FIELD OF THE INVENTION
The invention relates to the field of refrigeration engineering, in particular to small-size thermoelectric coolers and can be used in the creation of consumer, medical and special-purpose thermoelectric cooling devices.
PRIOR ART
A method of thermoelectric cooling is known based on the Peltier effect herewith where current is passed through a thermopile, one of its junctions is heated, the other cooled (see E. A. Kolenko "Thermoelectric cooling devices" USSR AS, 1987, pp. 7-11).
In order to obtain a sufficient degree of cooling, the actuating thermopiles are connected in series forming a thermoelectric battery. Realization of this method however causes a sharp reduction of the coefficient of performance of a refrigerating machine which is determined by the ratio of the removed heat flow to the consumed electric power, and the temperature drop between the hot and cold junctions of the thermobattery increases.
A method is also known for cooling an object, which method is based on the use of a thermoelectric battery (see USSR Inventor's Certificate No. 322821, IPC HO1L 35/30, F25B 21/02, 1971). This method consists of removing heat from the object from stage to stage when an adjustable regulated direct current is applied to the terminals of the battery until it reaches a steady-state operation mode.
The cold junctions of the first stage remove the heat flow from the object being cooled, which flows together with the electric power consumed by the that stage is passed to the cold junctions of the second stage. The heat flow removed from the object being cooled is applied to the cold junctions of the third stage in conjunction with the sum electric power consumed by the first and second stages of the battery, etc. Thus, each subsequent battery stage, electrically connected to the preceding thereto stage, should have a greater refrigerating capacity as compared with that preceding stage. Therefore, an increase in the refrigerating capacity of a battery stage is associated with a sharp increase in the amount of scarce semiconductor materials. The electric power consumed by a thermoelectric battery cascade is the sum of the electric power consumed by each of its stages.
Use of this method of cooling in view of its relatively low electric power consumption is advisable when it is necessary to obtain relatively small temperature drops (about 30.degree. C.) between the hot and cold junctions of a thermoelectric battery.
An attempt to increase this temperature drop to more than 50.degree. C. by increasing the number of stages results in a sharp increase in the electric power being consumed. Therefore, the use of thermoelectric batteries with the number of stages more than three is not considered to be practical, and in the majority of cases is difficult to realize from an engineering point of view.
DISCLOSURE OF THE INVENTION
The task of the present invention is to create such a method of cooling an object with a thermoelectric battery cascade which would sharply increase the coefficient of performance of a refrigerating machine and at the same time reduce the consumption of semiconductor thermoelectric materials.
This is achieved in the "Method of cooling an object with a thermoelectric battery cascade" by carrying heat from the object, herewith an adjustable regulated direct current is applied to the terminals of the battery until a steady-state operation mode is reached, the transfer of heat is effected separately from stage to stage with intermediate storing of heat in heat accumulators, the operation of each stage is conducted in nominal refrigerating capacity and thermal switch modes, while the duration of the time intervals of those modes and the current values through the stages are adjusted in the process of establishing the steady-state mode depending on the temperature of the object and of the heat accumulators.
BRIEF DESCRIPTION OF THE DRAWINGS
The invention is hereinafter illustrated by an example of its embodiments and appended drawings in which:
FIG. 1 shows a construct
REFERENCES:
patent: 3100969 (1963-08-01), Elfuing
patent: 3650117 (1972-03-01), Robinson et al.
patent: 4833889 (1989-05-01), Harwell et al.
E. A. Kolenko, "Thermoelectric Refrigerating Devices " R & D Institute for Semiconductors of the U.S.S.R. Academy of Science ( in Russian with English Translation) pp. 7-11.
Berdnikov Valery M.
Kozlov Jury F.
Bennett Henry A.
Doerrler William C.
Tovarischestvo s ogranichennoi otvetstvennostju Libratsia
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