Performance optimization for two-stage thermoelectric refrigerator system driven by two-stage thermoelectric generator

A new configuration of combined thermoelectric device, two-stage thermoelectric refrigerator driven by two-stage thermoelectric generator, is proposed in this paper. The thermodynamic model of the combined device is built by using non-equilibrium thermodynamic theory. The analytical formulae for the stable working electrical current, the cooling load versus the working electrical current, and the coefficient of performance (COP) versus the working electrical current of the combined device are derived. For the fixed total number of thermoelectric elements of the combined device, the allocations of the thermoelectric element pairs among the two thermoelectric generators and the two thermoelectric refrigerators are optimized for maximum cooling load and COP, respectively. The influences of the heat source temperature of the two-stage thermoelectric generator and the heat source (cooling space) temperature of the two-stage thermoelectric refrigerator on the optimal performance of the combined thermoelectric device are analyzed by detailed numerical examples.     

热电制冷机换热面积最优分配

考虑实际多热电堆制冷机，在总传热面积一定的条件下，研究最优制冷率、制冷系数时传热面积的最优分配，并分析了各种参数时最优性能的影响，所得结果对实际热电制冷机性能分析与优化有一定的指导作用。     

Performance analysis of multi-stage thermoelectric coolers

Multi-stage thermoelectric coolers offer larger temperature differences between heat source and heat sink than single-stage thermoelectric coolers. In this paper, a pyramid-type multi-stage cooler is analyzed, focusing on the importance of maximum attainable target heat flux and overall coefficient of performance, COP. Having considered the COP and the thermal resistance of a heat sink as key parameters in the design of a multi-stage thermoelectric cooler, analytical formulas for COP and heat sink thermal resistance versus working electrical current are derived. For a fixed cooling target heat flux, the ratio of the heat sink thermal resistance to the respective single-stage value and the attainable COP in a cascaded cooler are determined as a function of the number of stages. Numerical simulations clearly indicate that the thermal resistance of the hot side heat sink is the controlling factor in determining the overall performance of a multi-stage thermoelectric cooler.     

热电热泵换热面积最优分配

考虑实际多热电堆热泵,在总传热面积一定的条件下,研究最优供热率、供热系数时传热面积的最优分配,并分析了各种参数对最优性能的影响,所得结果对实际热电热泵性能分析与优化有一定的指导作用.     

水冷式半导体冰箱制冷性能的研究

研究了水冷式散热方法对半导体冰箱制冷性能的提高.以常用的半导体小冰箱为实例,分别测试了在风冷、循环水和恒温水条件下小冰箱的制冷性能.结果表明,水冷制冷效果明显优于传统风冷式,且其制冷性能与冷却水的温度有关.水温越低,半导体制冷器的制冷效率越高,制冷温度越低.当冷却水温度为171 ℃时,水冷半导体小冰箱很快达到冷冻.建立了水冷式半导体冰箱的制冷模型,计算分析了在不同恒定冷却水温度下半导体制冷器冷端温度随时间的变化关系,并将理论结果与实验测量结果进行了拟合分析,发现理论模型与实验测量结果一致.研究结果为水冷式半导体冰箱制冷性能的提高提供了实验和理论依据.     

便携式热电制冷器制冷性能优化的试验分析

设计、组装一台便携式热电制冷器并对其性能进行试验研究,结果显示,200 mL的水在33 min内降温17.0℃,折合制冷量7.3 W,制冷器容器的高度方向上存在较大温差,且水温降低后密度增大而下沉,使水的自然对流换热过程受到抑制,这2个因素的综合作用使制冷片冷热端温差增大,制冷量减小,工况恶化。为优化该制冷器的制冷性能,在制冷片冷端增设重力式热管(充注R134a)并进行试验研究,结果表明,1 L的水在75 min内温度降低12℃,折合制冷量9.3 W,比优化前增大了27.4%。表明重力式热管的加入能够改善制冷器内水的对流换热情况,增大换热面积,减小竖直方向上的传热温差。     

Influence of stack geometry on the performance of thermoacoustic refrigerator

The work reported in this paper is focused on the performance of a thermoacoustic refrigerator under various operating conditions. The experiments were conducted with various stack geometries fabricated with epoxy glass and Mylar material. Four stacks with different pore sizes are used to evaluate the performance of the refrigerator. Stack 1 has parallel plates of Mylar material 0.12 mm thick spaced 0.36 mm apart. Stacks 2, 3 and 4 are made of epoxy glass with pores of circular cross-section having 1, 2 and 3 mm diameter, respectively. The entire resonator system was constructed from aluminium material coated with polyurethane material from inside to reduce conduction heat losses. Helium gas was used as a working fluid. The experiments were conducted with different drive ratios ranging from 1.6% to 2% with varying cooling load from 2 to 10 W. For the experiments, operating frequencies from 200 to 600 Hz with mean pressure varying from 2 to 10 bar in steps of 2 bar each were considered. The temperatures of the hot end and cold end of the heat exchangers were recorded using RTDs and a data acquisition system under various operating conditions. The coefficient of performance (COP) and relative COP (COPR) are evaluated. Results show that COP of the refrigerator rises with increase of cooling load and decreases at higher drive ratio. It was also observed that the temperature difference between the hot end and cold end of the stack is higher at 2 W cooling load for 400 Hz operating frequency. The temperature difference between the hot end and cold end of the stack was observed to be 19.4, 17.2, 14 and 12.4°C for stacks 1, 2, 3 and 4, respectively, for 10 bar mean pressure and 2 W cooling load. The temperature difference and COP of the parallel plate stack are better compared with other stack geometries.     

传热不可逆回热式布雷顿制冷机分析

用有限时间热力学方法分析实际隐态制冷装置性能，导出了恒温和变温热源条件下实际闭式回热式布雷顿制冷循环制冷率与压力比和制冷系数与压力比之间的解析关系。考虑了不可逆性包括高，低温侧换热器和回热器的不可逆传热损失，压缩机和膨胀机中的非等熵压缩和膨胀损失，以及管路系统中的压力损失，通过优化两个换热器和回热器之间的热导率分配或传热面积分配可得循环最优性能，由数值算例给出了各项损失对循环制冷率和制冷系数的影响。     

不可逆空气制冷循环的制冷率和制冷系数优化

用有限时间热力学方法分析恒温热源不可逆空气制冷循环特性 ,在总热导率一定的条件下 ,研究最优制冷率、制冷系数时热导率的最优分配 ,并分析了各种参数对循环特性的影响 ,所得结果对工程制冷系统设计有一定的指导意义。     

Performance optimization of an irreversible Carnot refrigerator with finite mass flow rate

The present study develops a theoretical model for the optimization of an irreversible Carnot refrigerator subject to a constraint of finite mass flow rate, which includes internal as well as external irreversibilities. By introducing two dimensionless parameters as indicative of the mass flow rates for the refrigerator, the new model allows detailed analyses on the finite mass flow rate allocation problem of working fluids among the hot- and cold-side heat exchangers of Carnot refrigerators. The analytical solutions of the maximum coefficient of performance (COP) for irreversible Carnot refrigerators are obtained under the equivalent of the finite-flow rate constraint. Furthermore, the influences of major parameters on the maximum COP and the corresponding mass flow rate allocation are examined and shown by numerical examples. The obtained results may provide a theoretical guidance for the optimal design and operation of real refrigerators.     

变温热源不可逆布雷顿制冷循环制冷率密度优化

用有限时间热力学分析方法,制冷率密度为热力学优化目标,分析了变温热源条件下不可逆布雷顿制冷循环的性能,得到了普适的解析关系式,并由数值计算分析了压比、热导率分配以及工质和热源间热容率匹配等参数对制冷率密率的影响特点.     

Estimation of performance of a J-T refrigerators operating with nitrogen-hydrocarbon mixtures and a coiled tubes-in-tube heat exchanger

The exergy efficiency of Joule-Thomson (J-T) refrigerators operating with mixtures (MRC systems) strongly depends on the choice of refrigerant mixture and the performance of the heat exchanger used. Helically coiled, multiple tubes-in-tube heat exchangers with an effectiveness of over 96% are widely used in these types of systems. All the current studies focus only on the different heat transfer correlations and the uncertainty in predicting performance of the heat exchanger alone. The main focus of this work is to estimate the uncertainty in cooling capacity when the homogenous model is used by comparing the theoretical and experimental studies. The comparisons have been extended to some two-phase models present in the literature as well.Experiments have been carried out on a J-T refrigerator at a fixed heat load of 10 W with different nitrogen-hydrocarbon mixtures in the evaporator temperature range of 100–120 K. Different heat transfer models have been used to predict the temperature profiles as well as the cooling capacity of the refrigerator. The results show that the homogenous two-phase flow model is probably the most suitable model for rating the cooling capacity of a J-T refrigerator operating with nitrogen-hydrocarbon mixtures.     

磁布雷顿制冷机优化循环性能及参数设计

基于统计力学和磁工质的热力学性质,建立磁布雷顿制冷机循环新模型,探索热漏、有限速率热传导,绝热过程不可逆性和绝热时间等对循环性能的影响,应用对数平均温差及热力学分析方法,导出制冷率、性能系数的数学表式,并应用数值方法分析、评估磁布雷顿制冷循环的优化性能特性,所得结果为磁制冷机的优化设计和性能改善提供参数设计参考。     

太阳能半导体冰箱的性能分析

介绍了太阳能电池驱动的半导体制冷冰箱系统的基本结构,建立了太阳能电池驱动的半导体冰箱的理论模型,并对系统性能进行了数值模拟,分析了太阳辐射强度和环境风速的变化对太阳能半导体制冷系统性能的影响。研究表明针对设计的太阳能半导体制冷系统,在某一太阳辐射强度下,系统的制冷量输出最大,并且在辐射强度200～1000W/m^2时,制冷系数随着太阳辐射强度的减小而减小。在给定的工况下,环境风速增加使得系统工作电流朝靠近最佳工作电流数值方向增加。     

Enhancing the maximum coefficient of performance of thermoelectric cooling modules using internally cascaded thermoelectric couples

This paper presents an approach of fabricating thermoelectric cooling (TEC) module for enhancing the maximum coefficient of performance (COP) of TEC module. A significant novelty is that each stage thermoelectric couples have different leg lengths which decrease stage by stage from cold side to hot side of TEC module so that the lower stage can completely pump the heat dissipated by the upper stage. In the design configuration of the TEC module, the lower and upper stages are connected electrically in parallel and thermally in series only through intermediate copper metal strips and copper conducting wires, and thus the interstage thermal resistances and the heat leakage can be reduced compared with that of a conventional pyramid-styled configuration. A mathematical model is also developed to simulate the performances of the TEC module. The simulation results show that the enhancement in maximum COP of the TEC module can be obtained by using internally cascaded multistage thermoelectric couples.     

不可逆卡诺制冷机的最佳制冷率,制冷系数特性

在考虑制冷剂与热源间热阻损失的内可逆卡诺制冷机模型基础上，用一常数项表示热漏损失，用一常系数项表示循环中除热阻和热漏外的其余不可逆性（如摩擦、涡流、非平衡等），提出了一个新的不可逆制冷机模型。导出了其最佳制冷率、制冷系数关系和最大制冷系数及其相应的制冷率。     

变温热源不可逆布雷顿制冷循环制冷率和制冷系数优化

用有限时间热力学方法分析变温热源不可逆简单布雷顿制冷循环的特性,分别以制冷率和制冷系数为优化目标,优化了循环中换热器的热导分配以及工质和热源间的热容率匹配,并采用数值计算分析了压比、换热器总热导、压缩机和膨胀机效率、工质热容率等参数对最优制冷率和制冷系数的影响特点.所得结果对工程制冷系统设计有一定的指导意义.     

自调节电流半导体冰箱性能试验

半导体制冷芯片最大制冷量和最佳能效比所对应的工作电流均随其工况变化而变化,而目前半导体冰箱的半导体制冷芯片均以一个恒定工作电流运行,使其偏离了最佳工作状态。为研究自调节电流对半导体冰箱的性能影响,以半导体葡萄酒储藏柜为例,对自调节电流和恒定电流两种运行方式就冷却速度和耗电量进行了对比试验。试验表明,在环境温度为25℃、储藏温度为12．8℃条件下,自调节电流运行冷却时间较恒定电流运行缩短9．5％,冷却阶段能耗降低8．1％,24h耗电量降低35．6％。半导体冰箱采用自调节电流运行其主要性能指标有明显的提高。     

改善热电堆制冷性能的工艺措施研究

通过对热电制冷器的制冷工作特性的分析，找出了附加传热温差、焊缝电阻、杂散热交换、元件性能下降等造成电堆性能下降的工艺因素，提出了减小绝缘导热层厚度，检查元件的电阻值，保证夹具夹紧力、平面度和平行度，优化焊接工艺和减少钎料用量等提高热电制冷器的制冷性能的工艺措施。     

低温制冷机的性能评价

作为对制冷系数COP概念的补充,建议采用yong效率（Exergy Efficien-cy）的概念来综合评价多级低温制冷机的性能,同时也为其性能优化过程提供理论指导。本文还以yong效率为基础,综合评价了4.2K和80K温区低温制冷机的发展水平,具有一定参考价值。