Investigations on Coupling Between Performance and External Operational Conditons for a Simiconductor Refrigeration System

Abstract Semiconductor refrigeration utilizes Peltier effects to achieve cooling, and does not use any refrigerants. Due to its simple and compact structure, semiconductor refrigeration has become one of the most promising cooling technologies. However, as a semiconductor refrigeration system, the interactions among the main external factors that affect its performance are complicated. Based on experimental results and thermodynamic models, deeper insights are presented into semiconductor refrigeration in this study. Broader coupling between performance and main external parameters are analyzed, including the driving voltage of fans at both the hot and cold sides, and the working voltage of the semiconductor refrigeration chip. Optimal external parameters corresponding to a maximum COP and a maximum cooling capacity are obtained. For example, under the optimal working voltage of a semiconductor refrigeration chip with a fan driving voltage of 4 V at the hot side and 6 V at the cold side, Qc,max was increased by 60%, and was 326% higher than chips under 2 V and 10 V working voltages. Under the optimal fan driving voltage at the hot side with a 6 V fan driving voltage at the cold side and a 3 V working voltage of the chip, the maximum value of COP was respectively 140.3% and 104.3% larger than those with 0 V and 12 V fan driving voltages at the hot side. It is also found that the driving voltage of fans at the hot side has a greater influence on the optimal working voltage of a semiconductor refrigeration chip. This investigation could be applied in the optimization of the design and operational control of semiconductor refrigeration systems.