Thermoelectric cooling

Thermoelectric cooling uses the Peltier eect to create

a heat ux between the junction of two dierent types
of materials. A Peltier cooler, heater, or thermoelectric
heat pump is a solid-state active heat pump which transfers heat from one side of the device to the other, with
consumption of electrical energy, depending on the direction of the current. Such an instrument is also called a
Peltier device, Peltier heat pump, solid state refrigerator,
or thermoelectric cooler (TEC). It can be used either for
heating or for cooling,[1] although in practice the main application is cooling. It can also be used as a temperature
Peltier element schematic. Thermoelectric legs are thermally in
controller that either heats or cools.[2]
parallel and electrically in series.

This technology is far less commonly applied to refrigeration than vapor-compression refrigeration is. The primary advantages of a Peltier cooler compared to a vaporcompression refrigerator are its lack of moving parts or
circulating liquid, very long life and invulnerability to potential leaks, and its small size and exible shape. Its
main disadvantage is high cost and poor power eciency.
Many researchers and companies are trying to develop
Peltier coolers that are both cheap and ecient. (See
Thermoelectric materials.)
A Peltier cooler can also be used as a thermoelectric generator. When operated as a cooler, a voltage is applied
across the device, and as a result, a dierence in temperature will build up between the two sides.[3] When operated as a generator, one side of the device is heated to a
temperature greater than the other side, and as a result, a
dierence in voltage will build up between the two sides
(the Seebeck eect). However, a well-designed Peltier
cooler will be a mediocre thermoelectric generator and
vice versa, due to dierent design and packaging requirements.

Free convection thermoelectric cooler (Peltier cooler) with heat

sink surface temperature contours, and rising warmer air and
falling cooler air ow trajectories, predicted using a CFD analysis
package, courtesy of NCI.

2 Construction
1

Operating principle

Two unique semiconductors, one n-type and one p-type,

are used because they need to have dierent electron densities. The semiconductors are placed thermally in parallel to each other and electrically in series and then joined
with a thermally conducting plate on each side. When a
voltage is applied to the free ends of the two semiconductors there is a ow of DC current across the junction
of the semiconductors causing a temperature dierence.
The side with the cooling plate absorbs heat which is then
moved to the other side of the device where the heat sink
is. TECs are typically connected side by side and sandwiched between two ceramic plates. The cooling ability of the total unit is then proportional to the number of

Main article: Peltier eect

Thermoelectric coolers operate by the Peltier eect
(which also goes by the more general name thermoelectric
eect). The device has two sides, and when DC current
ows through the device, it brings heat from one side to
the other, so that one side gets cooler while the other gets
hotter. The hot side is attached to a heat sink so that it
remains at ambient temperature, while the cool side goes
below room temperature. In some applications, multiple
coolers can be cascaded together for lower temperature.
1

TECs in it.
Some benets of using a TEC are:

USES

nature (no moving parts, low maintenance, compact size,

and orientation insensitivity) outweighs pure eciency.

Peltier (thermoelectric) cooler performance is a func No moving parts so maintenance is required less fre- tion of ambient temperature, hot and cold side heat exchanger (heat sink) performance, thermal load, Peltier
quently
module (thermopile) geometry, and Peltier electrical
parameters.[7]
No chlorouorocarbons
Temperature control to within fractions of a degree Requirements for Thermoelectric materials
can be maintained
Narrow band-gap semiconductors because of room
Flexible shape (form factor); in particular, they can
temperature operation
have a very small size
Can be used in environments that are smaller or
more severe than conventional refrigeration

Heavy elements because of their high mobility and

low thermal conductivity

Has a long life, with mean time between failures

(MTBF) exceeding 100,000 hours

Large unit cell, complex structure

Is controllable via changing the input voltage/current

Highly anisotropic or highly symmetric

Complex compositions

Some disadvantages[4] of using a TEC are:

Common thermoelectric materials used as semi Only a limited amount of heat ux is able to be dis- conductors include bismuth telluride, lead telluride,
silicon germanium, and bismuth-antimony alloys. Of
sipated
these bismuth telluride is the most commonly used. New
Relegated to applications with low heat ux
high-performance materials for thermoelectric cooling
are being actively researched.
Not as ecient, in terms of coecient of performance, as vapor-compression systems (see below)

4 Uses
3

Performance

A single-stage TEC will typically produce a maximum

temperature dierence of 70 C between its hot and cold
sides.[5] The more heat moved using a TEC, the less efcient it becomes, because the TEC needs to dissipate
both the heat being moved, as well as the heat it generates itself from its own power consumption. The amount
of heat that can be absorbed is proportional to the current
and time.

W = P It
where P is the Peltier Coecient, I is the current, and t
is the time. The Peltier Coecient is dependent on tem- A USB-powered beverage cooler
perature and the materials the TEC is made of.
Thermoelectric junctions are about 4 times less efcient in refrigeration applications than conventional
means (they oer around 1015% eciency of the
ideal Carnot cycle refrigerator, compared with 4060%
achieved by conventional compression cycle systems (reverse Rankine systems using compression/expansion).[6] )
Due to this lower eciency, thermoelectric cooling is
generally only used in environments where the solid state

Thermoelectric coolers are used for applications that require heat removal ranging from milliwatts to several
thousand watts. They can be made for applications as
small as a beverage cooler or as large as a submarine or
railroad car. TECs have limited life time. Their health
strength can be measured by the change of their AC resistance. When a TEC gets old or worn out, the AC
resistance (ACR) will increase.[8]

4.1

Consumer products

stabilize the wavelength of the device.

Some electronic equipment intended for military use in

Peltier elements are commonly used in consumer prod- the eld is thermoelectrically cooled.
ucts. For example, Peltier elements are used in camping,
portable coolers, cooling electronic components and
small instruments. The cooling eect of Peltier heat
pumps can also be used to extract water from the air in 5 Identication
dehumidiers. A camping/car type electric cooler can
typically reduce the temperature by up to 20 C (36
F) below the ambient temperature. Climate-controlled
# of stages
Typically 1
jackets are beginning to use Peltier elements.[9][10] TherCurrent rating
moelectric coolers are used to replace heat sinks for miTypically 6 to 9 amps
croprocessors. They are also used for wine coolers.

TE

4.2

Science and imaging

Peltier elements are used in scientic devices. They are a

common component in thermal cyclers, used for the synthesis of DNA by polymerase chain reaction (PCR), a
common molecular biological technique which requires
the rapid heating and cooling of the reaction mixture for
denaturation primer annealing and enzymatic synthesis
cycles.

Size

C=standard
S=small

# of couples

(P-N couples) Highly

doped=more conductive

Peltier elements all conform to a universal identication specication

The vast majority of TECs have an ID printed on their

heated side.[7]

These universal IDs clearly indicate the size, number of

With feedback circuitry, peltiers can be used to implestages, number of couples, and current rating in amps, as
ment highly stable temperature controllers that keep deseen in the adjacent diagram.[13]
sired temperature within +/0.01 Celsius. Such stability
may be used in precise laser applications to avoid laser
wavelength drifting as environment temperature changes.
The eect is used in satellites and spacecraft to counter
the eect of direct sunlight on one side of a craft by dissipating the heat over the cold shaded side, whereupon
the heat is dissipated by thermal radiation into space.[11]
Since 1961, some unmanned spacecraft (including the
Curiosity Mars rover) utilize radioisotope thermoelectric generators (RTGs) that convert thermal energy into
electrical energy using the Seebeck eect, lasting several
decades, fueled by the decay of high energy radioactive
materials.
Photon detectors such as CCDs in astronomical
telescopes, spectrometers, or very high-end digital cameras are often cooled down with Peltier elements. This
reduces dark counts due to thermal noise. A dark count
occurs when a pixel registers an electron because of a
thermal uctuation rather than because it has received a
photon. On digital photos taken at low light these occur
as speckles (or pixel noise.)[12]
Thermoelectric coolers can be used to cool computer
components to keep temperatures within design limits,
or to maintain stable functioning when overclocking. A
Peltier cooler with a heat sink or waterblock can cool a
chip to well below ambient temperature.
In ber optic applications, where the wavelength of a
laser or a component is highly dependent on temperature,
Peltier coolers are used along with a thermistor in a feedback loop to maintain a constant temperature and thereby

6 See also

Thermotunnel cooling
Thermoacoustics

7 References
[1] Taylor, R.A., Solbrekken, G., Comprehensive system-level
optimization of thermoelectric devices for electronic cooling applications, Components and Packaging Technologies, IEEE Transactions on (Volume:31 , Issue: 1 )
[2] Thermoelectric Coolers Basics. TEC Microsystems. Retrieved 16 March 2013.
[3] Frequently asked questions about our product. Tellurex.
Retrieved 16 March 2013.
[4] http://www.engr.sjsu.edu/ndejong/ME_146.htm - PowerPoint under the Thermoelectric Coolers link
[5] The Heatsink Guide. Retrieved 3 May 2013.
[6] Brown, D.R.; N. Fernandez, J.A. Dirks, T.B. Stout
(March 2010). The Prospects of Alternatives to Vapor Compression Technology for Space Cooling and Food
Refrigeration Applications. Pacic Northwest National
Laboratory (PNL). U.S. Department of Energy. Retrieved
16 March 2013.

[7] PCB Heaven - Peltier Elements Explained.

Heaven. PCB Heaven. Retrieved 1 May 2013.

PCB

[8] "- Usage Guide of Tec-Modules..

[9] Hsu, Jeremy (2011-06-14). Cold? Put this jacket on.
Hot? Put this jacket on Climate-controlled coat goes from
zero to 100 degrees C 'in the ip of a button'". NBC News.
NBC. Retrieved 16 March 2013.
[10] Ferro, Shaunacy (2013-03-15). How Winter Woes Inspired A Nanotech Fix For Everything From Cold Necks
To Knee Pain. Popular Mechanics. Bonnier Corp. Retrieved 16 March 2013.
[11] Kotlyarov, Evgeny; Peter de Crom; Raoul Voeten (2006).
Some Aspects of Peltier-Cooler Optimization Applied
for the Glove Box Air Temperature Control.. SAE International: 1.
[12] Low Temperature Cooled Multi-Channel CCD Detector
System. ScienceTech. Retrieved 14 October 2013.
[13] Versteeg, Owen. Peltier Element Identication. Retrieved 14 October 2013.

Thermoelectric Coolers FAQ in pictures - simple and

clear answers for the most common questions

External links
Thermoelectrics at DMOZ

EXTERNAL LINKS

Text and image sources, contributors, and licenses

9.1

Text

Thermoelectric cooling Source: http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Thermoelectric%20cooling?oldid=653198465 Contributors: Rjstott,

Rmhermen, Ahoerstemeier, Docu, Samw, Dfeuer, Robbot, Sanders muc, Sterlingda, Buster2058, BenFrantzDale, Tom k&e, Gadum, Beland, NathanHurst, Discospinster, Nigelj, Kjkolb, Atlant, BRW, Stephan Leeds, SteveLetwin, Robbit, Feezo, Uncle G, Pol098, Bluemoose,
Nanite, Seidenstud, Allen Moore, Karelj, Spincycle, Tone, Jasonwert, David R. Ingham, Klazuka, Dhollm, Fleet Pete, Elkman, Kkmurray,
2over0, Morcheeba, Shawnc, Sbyrnes321, SmackBot, Telestylo, Thorseth, KVDP, Mdd4696, Gilliam, Michbich, Thumperward, Foogod,
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Khjbxgx, Cibico9, Kobrapromotions, OwenVersteeg, Wellentech1981, Neacor1, Heatlord, Fluous, Prokaryotes, Ratdz70095, Monkbot,
Eladhaber, Fang.liu761 and Anonymous: 96

9.2

Images

File:CFD_Free_Convection_Peltier_Cooler.gif Source:
http://upload.wikimedia.org/wikipedia/en/1/10/CFD_Free_Convection_
Peltier_Cooler.gif License: CC-BY-SA-3.0 Contributors:
I created this model and CFD analysis for Wikipedia
Previously published: http://www.novelconceptsinc.com Original artist:
Heatlord
File:Peltier_IDs_explained.svg Source: http://upload.wikimedia.org/wikipedia/commons/4/47/Peltier_IDs_explained.svg License: CC
BY 3.0 Contributors: Own work Original artist: Owen Versteeg
File:Peltierelement.png Source: http://upload.wikimedia.org/wikipedia/commons/a/a2/Peltierelement.png License: CC BY 3.0 Contributors: own creation Original artist: michbich
File:USB_Beverage_Cooler.jpg Source: http://upload.wikimedia.org/wikipedia/commons/9/9e/USB_Beverage_Cooler.jpg License:
CC BY-SA 3.0 Contributors: Own work Original artist: Hustvedt

9.3

Content license

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