Abstract
This paper evaluates the cooling performance and thermal comfort of a compact thermoelectric (TE) air conditioner. The compact TE air conditioner is composed of three TE modules. The cold and hot sides of the TE modules were fixed to rectangular fin heat sinks and fans. Thermal acceptability assessment was performed to find out whether the cooled air met the American Society of Heating, Refrigerating, and Air-Conditioning Engineers (ASHRAE) Standard-55’s 80% acceptability criteria. A suitable condition occurred at 1 A current flow with a corresponding cooling capacity of 29.2 W, giving an average cooled air temperature of 28°C and 0.9 m/s cooled air velocity. The coefficient of performance was calculated and found to be ∼0.34. Economic analysis indicates that the payback period is 0.75 years when one compact TE air conditioner unit is used instead of a 1-ton conventional air conditioner.
Similar content being viewed by others
References
C.A. Balaras, G. Grossman, H.M. Henning, C.A. Infante Ferrerira, E. Podesser, L. Wang, and E. Wiemken, Renew. Sust. Energy Rev. 11, 299 (2007).
S. Jeong, Int. J. Refrig. 27, 309 (2004).
R. Chein and Y. Chen, Int. J. Refrig. 28, 828 (2005).
R.A. Khire, A. Messac, and S.T. Dessel, Int. J. Heat Mass Trans. 48, 4028 (2005).
X. Xu, S.T. Dessel, and A. Messac, Build. Environ. 42, 1489 (2007).
N.L. Pierres, M. Cosnier, L. Luo, and G. Fraisse, Int. J. Energy Res. 32, 1316 (2008).
C. Lertsatitthanakorn, L. Wiset, and S. Atthajariyakul, J. Electron. Mater. 38, 1472 (2009).
ASHRAE. Thermal Environmental Conditions for Human Occupancy (Atlanta: American Society of Heating, Refrigerating and Air-Conditioning Engineers, ASRHAE standard 55-1992, 1992).
P.O. Fanger, Thermal Comfort Analysis and Application in Environmental Engineering (New York: McGraw-Hill, 1972).
S. Atthajariyakul and C. Lertsatitthanakorn, Energy Convers. Mang. 49, 2499 (2008).
N. Yamtraipat, J. Khedari, and J. Hirunlabh, Sol. Energy 78, 504 (2005).
J. Khedari, N. Yamtraipat, N. Pratintong, and J. Hirunlabh, Energy Build. 32, 245 (2000).
P. Kongkiatumpai, Study of Impact of Indoor Set Point Temperature on Energy Consumption of Air-Conditioner and Green-House Gases Emission (King Mongkut’s University of Technology Thonburi: School of Energy and Materials, 1999).
L.T. Blank and A.J. Tarquin, Engineering Economy (Singapore: McGraw-Hill, 1998).
J. Khedari, A. Sangprajak, and J. Hirunlabh, Renw. Energy 25, 267 (2002).
Acknowledgements
Experimental help of Miss Molrudee Boonyasri and Miss Somkid Thurapa is highly appreciated.
Author information
Authors and Affiliations
Corresponding author
Rights and permissions
About this article
Cite this article
Maneewan, S., Tipsaenprom, W. & Lertsatitthanakorn, C. Thermal Comfort Study of a Compact Thermoelectric Air Conditioner. J. Electron. Mater. 39, 1659–1664 (2010). https://doi.org/10.1007/s11664-010-1239-8
Received:
Accepted:
Published:
Issue Date:
DOI: https://doi.org/10.1007/s11664-010-1239-8