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Contributors include more than 10, highly qualified scientists and 46 Nobel Prize winners. YB Content. You may already have access to this content. Sign In. The application of DC power to the thermoelectric module causes electrons to move through the semiconductor material.
Since the hot end of the material is physically attached to a heat sink, the heat is passed from the material to the heat sink and then, in turn, transferred to the environment.
The first important discovery relating to thermoelectricity occurred in when a German scientist, Thomas Seebeck, found that an electric current would flow continuously in a closed circuit made up of two dissimilar metals provided that the junctions of the metals were maintained at two different temperatures. Seebeck did not actually comprehend the scientific basis for his discovery, however, and falsely assumed that flowing heat produced the same effect as flowing electric current. Twenty years later, William Thomson eventually known as Lord Kelvin issued a comprehensive explanation of the Seebeck and Peltier Effects and described their interrelationship.
At the time, however, these phenomena were still considered to be mere laboratory curiosities and were without practical application.
This Russian interest in thermoelectricity eventually caught the attention of the rest of the world and inspired the development of practical thermoelectric modules. Without going into too much detail, we will examine some of these fundamental thermoelectric effects. The thermocouple conductors are two dissimilar metals denoted as Material x and Material y.
Thermocouple B is used to measure the temperature of interest Th which, in this example, is higher than temperature Tc. With heat applied to thermocouple B, a voltage will appear across terminals Tl and T2. This voltage Vo , known as the Seebeck emf, can be expressed as:. No space is wasted for ice unless of course you want ice, in which case we can help to preserve it 3 or 4 times longer than a plain cooler. Uses mechanical energy. In Jean Peltier noted that when an electrical current is applied across the junction of two dissimilar metals, heat is removed from one of the metals and transferred to the other.
This is the basis of thermoelectric refrigeration. Thermoelectric modules are constructed from a series of tiny metal cubes of dissimilar exotic metals which are physically bonded together and connected electrically.
When electrical current passes through the cube junctions, heat is transferred from one metal to the other. Solid-state thermoelectric modules are capable of transferring large quantities of heat when connected to a heat absorbing device on one side and a heat dissipating device on the other.
The Koolatron's internal aluminium cold plate fins absorb heat from the contents, food and beverages , and the thermoelectric modules transfer it to heat dissipating fins under the control panel. Here, a small fan helps to disperse the heat into the air. The system is totally environmentally friendly and contains no hazardous gases, nor pipes nor coils and no compressor. The only moving part is the small volt fan.
Thermoelectric modules are too expensive for normal domestic and commercial applications which run only on regular household current.
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