Numerical and experimental analysis of transient supercooling effect of voltage pulse on thermoelectric element

This paper presents a mathematical model and its solution algorithm for analyzing the transient supercooling effect of voltage pulse on a thermoelectric (TE) element. Realistic boundary conditions, including the hot-end convection heat transfer coefficient (h) and cold-end cooling load, are considered in solving the model. The numerical simulation results show that the transient supercooling occurs when the steady input voltage experiences a step change. However, the minimum supercooling temperature (T-mts) cannot approach absolute zero as reported in previous research due to the co-existence of Joule heat and Peltier effect. There is a cost-effective h to achieve T-mts and maximum hold time of the supercooling temperature. However, the cold-end cooling load only affects T-mts. Experiments are conducted to test the transient supercooling effect of voltage pulse. The trends of the cold-end temperature responding to voltage pulses obtained in numerical simulation and experiment tests match well. (C) 2012 Elsevier Ltd and IIR. All rights reserved.