Thermoelectric Cooler Lab Report

Chapter -1: OBJECTIVE

the more general When designing a small temperature control system, the best choice for

a refrigerator/heater element is often a thermoelectric cooler (TEC). The operation of

these devices is based on the Peltier effect, which was discovered in 1834 by Jean Peltier.

When an electrical current is passed through the junction of two dissimilar metals (Figure

1), heat is also transferred across the junction. To pump heat, a thermoelectric cooler can

require a significant amount of power, with typical drive voltages ranging from 2V to

12V and typical drive currents ranging from a fraction of an ampere to tens of amperes.

Because of the amounts of power needed to drive a TEC, power-interface circuitry is

necessary.

By applying DC power supply to a TEC, heat will be transferred from one side of

the conductor to the other. It creates a cold and a hot side. They are widely used in

industrial areas, for example, computer CPU, Servers, portable refrigerator, medical

instruments, and so on. voltage, it is also desirable in a precision temperature control to

take advantage of this heat/cool capability.

Thermoelectric coolers operate by the Peltier effect (which also goes by

name thermoelectric effect). The device has two sides, and when DC 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 some applications, multiple coolers can be cascaded together for lower

temperature.

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Chapter-1.1: INTRODUCTION

Thermoelectric cooling uses the Peltier effect to create a heat flux between the junction of

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, 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. Many researchers and companies are trying to develop

Peltier coolers that are both cheap and efficient. (See Thermoelectric materials.)

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Chapter -2: MOTIVATION

This project employs to control the temperature of a particular area in which it is

employed. Despite of its small size it is a very efficient device and maintains a

temperature constant up to 0.1 degree Celsius. Microcontroller plays a very important

role in maintaining the temperature in this project. The TEC can be employed in many

sensitive places very temperature control is very important and any change