4th European Workshop on Thermoelectrics - ETS '98, Madrid (Spain). 17-18 September 1998
Summary:
A 3D non-linear finite element model has been formulated and applied to simulate the electrical and thermal fields of a Peltier cooling pellet. Geometrically, the model considers a single thermoelement pair (type p and n) of the pellet with the proportional part of copper conductors and ceramic covers. Repetition conditions have been used under the assumption that all 127 pellet pairs work in the same conditions. The input parameters of the model are the following. Dimensions of: thermoelements, copper conductors, solders and ceramic cover; material properties of all components: Seebeck coefficients, thermal and electrical conductivities; and operating conditions: hot and cold sink temperatures and electric current through the pellet. Results include spatial distributions of electric potential, temperature, electric current flux and heat flux in thermoelements, copper conductors and ceramic covers. From these outputs, important pellet operating variables are calculated: heat absorbed from the cold sink, heat transferred to the hot sink, voltage, electric power consumed and efficiency. Comparisons of manufacturer data and experimental results with obtained solutions show very good correlation, specially for the heat extracted from the cold sink. On the other hand, the voltage comparison strongly depends on the not well known values of conductivity and thickness of the copper-thermoelement junctions (solders). An analysis of the pellet spatial field distributions is also included, concluding that the thermoelement behavior is nearly one-dimensional, but that of the copper and ceramic is three-dimensional. Thermoelements present non-linear coupled behavior while copper and ceramic behave linearly and uncoupled. Among other conclusions, it is shown that the variation of temperature between the two ends of the thermoelements differs from that of the sinks. Also, due to the very complete analysis, the influence of concentration effects in the behavior of the pellet can also be observed.
Keywords: Finite Element, Non-Linear, Thermoelectric, Analysis, Pellet
Publication date: 1998-09-17.
Citation:
D. Gavela, J. Pérez, Peltier Pellet Analysis with a Coupled, Non-Linear, 3D Finite Element Model, 4th European Workshop on Thermoelectrics - ETS '98, Madrid (Spain). 17-18 September 1998.
