Abstract
In the present work, the optimum design of thermoelectric car seat climate control (CSCC) is studied analytically in an attempt to achieve high system efficiency. Optimal design of a thermoelectric device (element length, cross-section area and number of thermocouples) is carried out using our newly developed optimization method based on the ideal thermoelectric equations and dimensional analysis to improve the performance of the thermoelectric device in terms of the heating/cooling power and the coefficient of performance (COP). Then, a new innovative system design is introduced which also includes the optimum input current for the initial (transient) startup warming and cooling before the car heating ventilation and air conditioner (HVAC) is active in the cabin. The air-to-air heat exchanger's configuration was taken into account to investigate the optimal design of the CSCC.
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Abbreviations
- \(A_{\rm{e}}\) :
-
Cross-sectional area of thermoelement (mm2)
- \(A_{\rm{m}}\) :
-
Cross-sectional area of thermoelectric module (mm2)
- \(A_{\rm{c}}\) :
-
Total heat transfer area at cold heat sink (mm2)
- \(A_{\rm{h}}\) :
-
Total heat transfer area at heat sink (mm2)
- \(A_{{{\rm{s}},{\rm{c}}}}\) :
-
Total base area of cold heat sink (mm2)
- \(A_{{{\rm{s}},{\rm{h}}}}\) :
-
Total base area of hot heat sink (mm2)
- \(b_{\rm{c}}\) :
-
Profile length of cold heat sink (mm2)
- \(b_{\rm{h}}\) :
-
Profile length of hot heat sink (mm2)
- COP:
-
Coefficient of performance
- \(c_{\rm{p}}\) :
-
Specific heat (J/kg K)
- DMU:
-
Driver’s metabolic unit (%)
- \(G_{\rm{e}}\) :
-
Geometric ratio (mm
- \(h_{\rm{c}}\) :
-
Conviction coefficient of cold fluid (W/m2 K)
- \(h_{\rm{h}}\) :
-
Convection coefficient of hot fluid (W/m2 K)
- \(I\) :
-
Current (A)
- \(k\) :
-
Thermal conductance (W/m K)
- \(l_{\rm{e}}\) :
-
Thermoelement length (mm)
- \(n\) :
-
Number of thermocouples
- \(n_{\rm{c}}\) :
-
Number of fins for the cold heat sink
- \(n_{\rm{h}}\) :
-
Number of fins for hot heat sink
- \(N_{\rm{c}}\) :
-
Ratio of enthalpy flows
- \(N_{\rm{M}}\) :
-
Ratio of enthalpy flow at the cold heat sink to the convection conductance
- \(N_{\rm{k}}\) :
-
Dimensionless thermal conductance
- \(N_{\rm{I}}\) :
-
Dimensionless current
- \(N_{\rm{h}}\) :
-
Ratio of thermal convectance
- \(Nu\) :
-
Nusselt number
- \(Q_{\rm{c}}\) :
-
Cooling power (W)
- \(Q_{\rm{h}}\) :
-
Heating power (W)
- \(P_{\rm{in}}\) :
-
Input power (W)
- \({\hbox{PD}}\) :
-
Power density (W/cm2)
- \(R\) :
-
Electrical resistance (Ω)
- \(T_{\rm{c}}\) :
-
Cold junction temperature (K)
- \(T_{\rm{h}}\) :
-
Hot junction temperature (K)
- \(T_{{\infty {\rm{c}},{\rm{in}}}}\) :
-
Cold fluid inlet temperature (K)
- \(T_{{\infty {\rm{h}},{\rm{in}}}}\) :
-
Hot fluid inlet temperature (K)
- \(\Delta T_{\rm{cooling}}\) :
-
Cold side temperature difference (K)
- \(\Delta T_{\rm{heating}}\) :
-
Hot side temperature difference (K)
- \(t_{\rm{c}}\) :
-
Fin thickness of cold heat sink (mm)
- \(t_{\rm{h}}\) :
-
Fin thickness of hot heat sink (mm)
- \(V_{\rm{c}}\) :
-
Cold fluid volume flow rate (cfm)
- \(V_{\rm{h}}\) :
-
Hot fluid volume flow rate (cfm)
- \(Z\) :
-
Figure␣of merit (1/K)
- \(z_{\rm{c}}\) :
-
Fin spacing of cold heat sink (mm)
- \(z_{\rm{h}}\) :
-
Fin spacing of hot heat sink (mm)
- \(\alpha\) :
-
Seebeck coefficient (V/K)
- \(\rho\) :
-
Electric resistivity (Ω cm)
- \(\eta_{\rm{c}}\) :
-
Total fin efficiency of cold heat sink
- \(\eta_{\rm{h}}\) :
-
Total fin efficiency of hot heat sink
- c :
-
Cold
- e :
-
Thermoelement
- h :
-
Hot
- n :
-
n-type element
- P :
-
p-type element
- *:
-
Dimensionless quantity
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Elarusi, A., Attar, A. & Lee, H. Optimal Design of a Thermoelectric Cooling/Heating System for Car Seat Climate Control (CSCC). J. Electron. Mater. 46, 1984–1995 (2017). https://doi.org/10.1007/s11664-016-5043-y
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DOI: https://doi.org/10.1007/s11664-016-5043-y