The Peltier Effect

Jacob McKenzie, Ty Nowotny, Colin Neunuebel

SRJC Engr45 - Fall 2005

History of the Seebeck effect

Discovered by Thomas Johann Seebeck

in 1821.
He accidentally found that a voltage
existed between two ends of a metal
bar when a temperature gradient
existed within the bar.

The Seebeck Effect

A temperature difference causes diffusion of
electrons from the hot side to the cold side of a
conductor.
The motion of electrons creates an electrical
current.
The voltage is proportional to the temperature
difference as governed by:
V=(Th-Tc)
where is the Seebeck coefficient of the couple

History of Peltier devices

The Peltier effect is named after Jean Charles Peltier (1785-1845)

who first observed it in 1834.
The Peltier effect had no practical use for over 100 years until
dissimilar metal devices were replaced with semiconductor
Peltiers which could produce much larger thermal gradients.

What is a Peltier Cooler?

Thermoelectric heat pumps that will produce a
temperature gradient that is proportional to an applied
current.

Peltier Effect With Dissimilar

Metals
At the junction of two dissimilar metals the energy level of
conducting electrons is forced to increase or decrease.
A decrease in the energy level emits thermal energy, while an
increase will absorb thermal energy from its surroundings.
The temperature gradient for dissimilar metals is very small.

The figure of merit is a measure of

thermoelectric efficiency.

Semiconductor Peltier
Bismuth-Telluride n and p
blocks
An electric current forces
electrons in n type and holes in
p type away from each other on
the cold side and towards each
other on the hot side.
The holes and electrons pull
thermal energy from where
they are heading away from
each other and deliver it to
where they meet.

Device Construction
Individual couples are
connected in series electrically
and in parallel thermally.
Couples are thermally
connected by a ceramic that
has high electrical resistivity
and high thermal conductivity.

Our Peltier:
Change in Temperature @ 12v
160.00
140.00
120.00
100.00

Hot Side

80.00

Cold Side
60.00

Temp
Difference

40.00
20.00
0.00
0

200

400

600

800

our peltier:
Temperature Gradient
Carnot Efficiency
70.00
60.00
50.00

Voltage vs
Temp Diff

40.00

Cold vs V

30.00

Hot vs V

20.00
10.00
0.00
0.00

2.00

4.00

6.00

8.00

10.00

12.00

Nc @ 12v:
=1-Tc/Th
=1-283.6/342.3
=17.1%

Applications
Deep space probes
Microprocessor cooling
Laser diode temperature stabilization
Temperature regulated flight suits
Air conditioning in submarines
Portable DC refrigerators
Automotive seat cooling/heating

Radioisotopic Thermoelectric
Generator (RTG)

Pros and Cons

Pros
Solid state (no moving parts)
No maintenance
Long service lifetime
Cons
Large electrical power requirements
Inefficient compared to phase change cooling

References
http://www.its.caltech.edu/~jsnyder/thermoelectrics/history_page.htm
http://www.tellurex.com/12most.html
http://www.thermoelectrics.com/introduction.htm, Thermoelectric Materials
http://www.digit-life.com/articles/peltiercoolers/
http://www.heatsink-guide.com/content.php?content=peltierinfo.shtml, THE
HEATSINK GUIDE: Peltier Guide, Part 1
http://saturn.jpl.nasa.gov/index.cfm