Thermoelectric

cooling

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Thermoelectric cooling uses the Peltier

effect to create a heat flux at the junction
of two different 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 controller that either
heats or cools.

This technology is far less commonly

applied to refrigeration than vapor-
compression refrigeration is. The primary
advantages of a Peltier cooler compared
to a vapor-compression refrigerator are its
lack of moving parts or circulating liquid,
very long life, invulnerability to leaks, small
size, and flexible shape. Its main
disadvantages are high cost for a given
cooling capacity and poor power
efficiency. Many researchers and
companies are trying to develop Peltier
coolers that are cheap and efficient. (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 difference in
temperature will build up between the two
sides. 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 difference in voltage will
build up between the two sides (the
Seebeck effect). However, a well-designed
Peltier cooler will be a mediocre
thermoelectric generator and vice versa,
due to different design and packaging
requirements.

Operating principle

Peltier element schematic. Thermoelectric legs are

thermally in parallel and electrically in series.

Thermoelectric coolers operate by the

Peltier effect (which also goes by the more
general name thermoelectric effect). The
device has two sides, and when a DC
electric current flows 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 special
applications, multiple coolers can be
cascaded together for lower temperature,
but overall efficiency drops significantly.
Construction

Design …

Two unique semiconductors, one n-type

and one p-type, are used because they
need to have different electron densities.
The alternating p & n-type semiconductor
pillars are placed thermally in parallel to
each other and electrically in series and
then joined with a thermally conducting
plate on each side, usually ceramic
removing the need for a separate insulator.
When a voltage is applied to the free ends
of the two semiconductors there is a flow
of DC current across the junction of the
semiconductors causing a temperature
difference. The side with the cooling plate
absorbs heat which is then transported by
the semiconductor to the other side of the
device. The cooling ability of the total unit
is then proportional to the total cross
section of all the pillars, many are
connected electrically in series to reduce
the current needed to practical levels. The
length of the pillars is a balance between
longer pillars which will have a greater
thermal resistance between the sides and
allow a lower temperature to be reached
but produce more resistive heating, and
shorter pillars which will have a greater
electrical efficiency but let more heat leak
from the hot to cold side by thermal
conduction. For large temperature
differences longer pillars are far less
efficient than stacking separate,
progressively larger modules, the modules
get larger as each layer must remove both
the heat moved by the above layer and the
waste heat of the layer.

Materials …
ZT values for various materials and bismuth alloys.[2]

Requirements for thermoelectric

materials:

Narrow band-gap semiconductors

because of room-temperature operation;
High electrical conductivity (to reduce
electrical resistance, source of waste
heat);
Low thermal conductivity (so that heat
doesn't come back from the hot side to
the cool side); this usually translates to
heavy elements
Large unit cell, complex structure;
 Highly anisotropic or highly symmetric;
Complex compositions;

Materials suitable for high efficiency TEC

systems must have a combination of low
thermal conductivity and high electrical
conductivity. The combined goodness of
different material combinations is
commonly compared using a figure of
merit known as ZT, a measure of the
system’s efficiency. The equation for ZT is
given below, where alpha is the Seebeck
coefficient, sigma is the electrical
conductivity and kappa is the thermal
conductivity.[3]
There are few materials that are suitable
for TEC applications since the relationship
between thermal and electrical
conductivity is usually a positive
correlation. Improvements in reduced
thermal transport with increased electrical
conductivity are an active area of material
science research. Common thermoelectric
materials used as semiconductors include
bismuth telluride, lead telluride, silicon
germanium, and bismuth-antimony alloys.
Of these bismuth telluride is the most
commonly used. New high-performance
materials for thermoelectric cooling are
being actively researched.
The working elements must be in an
isolated casing, and the best geometry is a
plane. Usually this will be them being
sandwiched between a pair of ceramic
plaques, sealed (or not).

Identification and characteristics …

Peltier elements all conform to a universal

identification specification
The vast majority of thermoelectric
coolers have an ID printed on the cooled
side.[4]

These universal IDs clearly indicate the

size, number of stages, number of couples,
and current rating in amps, as seen in the
adjacent diagram.[5]

Very common Tec1-12706, square of 40

millimeters size and 3-4 mm high, are
found for a few dollars, and sold as able to
move around 60W or generate a 60°C
temperature difference with a 6 Amp
current. Their electrical resistance will be
of 1-2 ohm magnitude.
Strengths and weaknesses
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There are many factors motivating further

research on TEC including lower carbon
emissions and ease of manufacturing.
However, several challenges have arisen.

Benefits …

A significant benefit of TEC systems is

that they have no moving parts. This lack
of mechanical wear and reduced instances
of failure due to fatigue and fracture from
mechanical vibration and stress increases
the lifespan of the system and lowers the
maintenance requirements. Current
technologies show the mean time
between failures (MTBF) to exceed
100,000 hours at ambient temperatures.[6]

The fact that TEC systems are current-

controlled leads to another series of
benefits. Because the flow of heat is
directly proportional to the applied DC
current, heat may be added or removed
with accurate control of the direction and
amount of electrical current. In contrast to
methods that use resistive heating or
cooling methods that involve gasses, TEC
allows for an equal degree of control over
the flow of heat (both in and out of a
system under control). Because of this
precise bidirectional heat flow control,
temperatures of controlled systems can
be precise to fractions of a degree, often
reaching precision of milli Kelvin (mK) in
laboratory settings.[7] TEC devices are also
more flexible in shape than their more
traditional counterparts. They can be used
in environments with less space or more
severe conditions than a conventional
refrigerator. The ability to tailor their
geometry allows for the delivery of precise
cooling to very small areas. These factors
make them a common choice in scientific
and engineering applications with
demanding requirements where cost and
absolute energy efficiency are not primary
concerns.

Another benefit of TEC is that it does not

use refrigerants in its operation. Prior to
their phaseout some early refrigerants,
such as chlorofluorocarbons (CFCs),
contributed significantly to ozone
depletion. Many refrigerants used today
also have significant environmental impact
with global warming potential[8] or carry
other safety risks with them.[9]

Disadvantages …
TEC systems have a number of notable
disadvantages. Foremost is their limited
energy efficiency compared to
conventional vapor-compression systems
and the constraints on the total heat flux
(heat flow) that they are able to generate
per unit area. [7] This topic is further
discussed in the performance section
below.

Performance
Peltier (thermoelectric) performance is a
function of ambient temperature, hot and
cold side heat exchanger (heat sink)
performance, thermal load, Peltier module
(thermopile) geometry, and Peltier
electrical parameters.[4]

The amount of heat that can be moved is

proportional to the current and time.

, where P is the Peltier

coefficient, I is the current, and t is the
time.

The Peltier coefficient depends on

temperature and the materials the cooler
is made of. Magnitude of 10 Watt per
Ampere are common. But this is offset by
two phenomena:

According to Ohm's law, a Peltier module

will produce wasted heat itself,
 , where R is the
resistance.
and heat will also move of itself back
from the hot side to the cool side, inside
the module itself, more and more so as
the temperature difference grows.

The result is that the heat effectively

moved drops as the temperature
difference grows, and the module
becomes less efficient. There comes a
temperature difference when the waste
heat and heat moving back overcomes the
moved heat, and the module start to heat
the cool side instead of cooling it further.
A single-stage thermoelectric cooler will
typically produce a maximal temperature
difference of 70 °C between its hot and
cold sides.[10]

Another issue with performance is a direct

consequence of one of their advantages:
being small. This means that

the hot side and the cool side will be

very close to each other (a few
millimeters away), making it easier for
the heat to go back to the cool side, and
harder to insulate the hot and cool side
from each other
a common 40 mm x 40 mm can
generate 60 W or more, that is, 4W/cm²
 or more, requiring powerful radiator to
move the heat way

In refrigeration applications,
thermoelectric junctions have about 1/4
the efficiency compared to conventional
means (they offer around 10–15%
efficiency of the ideal Carnot cycle
refrigerator, compared with 40–60%
achieved by conventional compression-
cycle systems (reverse Rankine systems
using compression/expansion).[11]) Due to
this lower efficiency, thermoelectric
cooling is generally only used in
environments where the solid-state nature
(no moving parts), low maintenance,
compact size, and orientation insensitivity
outweighs pure efficiency.

While lower than conventional means,

efficiency can be good enough provided

temperature difference is kept as small

as possible, and,
the current is kept low, because the ratio
of moved heat over waste heat (for
same temperature on the hot and cool

side) will be .

However, since the low current also means

low amount of moved heat, for all practical
purpose coefficient of performance will be
low.

Uses

A USB-powered beverage cooler

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.
TEC elements have limited life time. Their
health strength can be measured by the
change of their AC resistance (ACR). As a
cooler element wears out, the ACR will
increase.

Consumer products …

Peltier elements are commonly used in

consumer products. For example, they are
used in camping, portable coolers, cooling
electronic components and small
instruments. They can also be used to
extract water from the air in dehumidifiers.
A camping/car type electric cooler can
typically reduce the temperature by up to
20 °C (36 °F) below the ambient
temperature. Climate-controlled jackets
are beginning to use Peltier
elements.[12][13] Thermoelectric coolers
are used to augment heat sinks for
microprocessors.

Industrial …

Thermoelectric coolers are used in many

fields of industrial manufacturing and
require a thorough performance analysis
as they face the test of running thousands
of cycles before these industrial products
are launched to the market. Some of the
applications include laser equipment,
thermoelectric air conditioners or coolers,
industrial electronics and
telecommunications,[14] automotive, mini
refrigerators or incubators, military
cabinets, IT enclosures, and more.

Science and imaging …

Peltier elements are used in scientific

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.

With feedback circuitry, Peltier elements

can be used to implement highly stable
temperature controllers that keep desired
temperature within ±0.01 °C. Such stability
may be used in precise laser applications
to avoid laser wavelength drifting as
environment temperature changes.

The effect is used in satellites and

spacecraft to reduce temperature
differences caused by direct sunlight on
one side of a craft by dissipating the heat
over the cold shaded side, where it is
dissipated as thermal radiation to
space.[15] 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 effect. The devices can last
several decades, as they are fueled by the
decay of high-energy radioactive materials.

Peltier elements are also used to make

cloud chambers to visualize ionizing
radiation. Just by passing an electric
current, they can cool vapors below -26° C
without dry ice or moving parts, making
cloud chambers easy to make and use.
Photon detectors such as CCDs in
astronomical telescopes, spectrometers,
or very high-end digital cameras are often
cooled by Peltier elements. This reduces
dark counts due to thermal noise. A dark
count occurs when a pixel registers an
electron caused by thermal fluctuation
rather than a photon. On digital photos
taken at low light these occur as speckles
(or "pixel noise").

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.[16]

In fiber-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 stabilize the
wavelength of the device.

Some electronic equipment intended for

military use in the field is
thermoelectrically cooled.

See also
 Thermoacoustics
Thermotunnel cooling

References
1. Taylor, R.A.; Solbrekken, G.L. (2008).
"Comprehensive system-level
optimization of thermoelectric devices
for electronic cooling applications".
IEEE Transactions on Components
and Packaging Technologies. 31: 23–
31. doi:10.1109/TCAPT.2007.906333 .
2. DiSalvo, Francis (July 1999).
"Thermoelectric Cooling and Power
Generation" . Science. 285.
3. Poudel, Bed (May 2008). "High-
Thermoelectric Performance of
Nanostructured Bismuth Antimony
Telluride Bulk Alloys" . Science. 320.
4. "PCB Heaven – Peltier Elements
Explained" . PCB Heaven. PCB
Heaven. Retrieved 1 May 2013.
5. Versteeg, Owen. "Peltier Element
Identification" . Retrieved 14 October
2013.
6. Ghoshal, Uttam (2001-07-31). "Highly
reliable thermoelectric cooling
apparatus and method" .
patents.google.com. Retrieved
2019-03-12.
7. Zhao, Dongliang (May 2014). "A review
of thermoelectric cooling: Materials,
modeling and applications". Applied
Thermal Engineering. 66 (1–2): 15–
24.
doi:10.1016/j.applthermaleng.2014.0
1.074 .
8. University of California (April 18,
2017). "Chlorofluorocarbons and
Ozone Depletion" . American
Chemical Society. Retrieved
2019-03-11.
9. "Module 99: Propane as a refrigerant
for use in chillers for air conditioning
applications" . CIBSE Journal.
 September 2016. Retrieved
2020-01-22.
10. "The Heatsink Guide" . Retrieved
3 May 2013.
11. 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" (PDF). Pacific
Northwest National Laboratory (PNL).
U.S. Department of Energy. Retrieved
16 March 2013.
12. 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 flip of a
button' " . NBC News. NBC. Retrieved
16 March 2013.
13. 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.
14. Using Peltier modules for thermal
management of electronic systems .
Electronics Weekly, 4 October 2017
15. Kotlyarov, Evgeny; Peter de Crom;
Raoul Voeten (2006). "Some Aspects
 of Peltier-Cooler Optimization Applied
for the Glove Box Air Temperature
Control". SAE International. SAE
Technical Paper Series. 1: 1.
doi:10.4271/2006-01-2043 .
16. Fylladitakis, E. (September 26, 2016)
The Phononic HEX 2.0 TEC CPU
Cooler Review . Anandtech.com.
Retrieved on 2018-10-31.

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