Thermoelectric cooling uses the Peltier effect to create a heat flux between the junction of two different types of materials. A Peltier cooler, heater, or thermoelectric heat pump is a solid-state active heat pump which transfers heat from one side of the device to the other side against the temperature gradient (from cold to hot), with consumption of electrical energy. Such an instrument is also called a Peltier device, Peltier diode, Peltier heat pump, solid state refrigerator, or thermoelectric cooler (TEC).[1] Because heating can be achieved more easily and economically by many other methods, Peltier devices are mostly used for cooling. However, when a single device is to be used for both heating and cooling, a Peltier device may be desirable. Simply connecting it to a DC voltage will cause one side to cool, while the other side warms. The effectiveness of the pump at moving the heat away from the cold side is totally dependent upon the amount of current provided and how well the heat from the hot side can be removed. The Peltier-Seebeck effect, or thermoelectric effect, is the direct conversion of heat differentials to electric voltage and vice versa. ... For other uses, see Heat (disambiguation) In physics, heat, symbolized by Q, is energy transferred from one body or system to another as a result of a difference in temperature. ... Jean Charles Athanase Peltier was a French physicist who was born in Ham (France) in 1785 and died in Paris in 1845. ... Thermoelectricity is the conversion from heat differentials to electricity or vice versa. ... A diagram of a simple heat pumps vapor-compression refrigeration cycle: 1) condenser, 2) expansion valve, 3) evaporator, 4) compressor. ... Electrical energy can refer to several closely related things. ... Types of diodes. ...

Peltier devices can also be used to generate electricity (thermogenerator) if a temperature difference is maintained between the two sides. Thermogenerators are current sources which convert heat (temperature differences) directly into electrical energy. ...

Performance

Thermoelectric junctions are generally only around 5–10% as efficient as the ideal refrigerator (Carnot cycle), compared with 40–60% achieved by conventional compression cycle systems (reverse Rankine systems like a compressor). Due to the relatively low efficiency, thermoelectric cooling is generally only used in environments where the solid state nature (no moving parts, maintenance-free) outweighs the poor efficiency. “Freezer” redirects here. ... The Carnot cycle is a particular thermodynamic cycle, modeled on the Carnot heat engine, studied by Nicolas Léonard Sadi Carnot in the 1820s and expanded upon by Benoit Paul Émile Clapeyron in the 1830s and 40s. ... The Rankine cycle is a thermodynamic cycle. ...

Peltier (thermoelectric) cooler performance is a function of ambient temperature, hot and cold side heat exchanger (heat sink) performance, thermal load, Peltier module (thermopile) geometry, and Peltier electrical parameters. Online Peltier (thermoelectric) cooler performance calculators from companies such as Novel Concepts, Inc., can accurately estimate Peltier cooler performance. CPU heat sink with fan attached A heat sink is an environment or object that absorbs and dissipates heat from another object using thermal contact (either direct or radiant). ...

Uses

Peltier devices are commonly used in camping and portable coolers and for cooling electronic components and small instruments. The cooling effect of Peltier heat pumps can also be used to extract water from the air in dehumidifiers. Car camping is camping in a tent, but nearby the car for easier access and for supply storage. ... A dehumidifier is a household appliance that reduces the level of humidity in the air. ...

The effect is used in satellites and spacecraft to counter the effect of direct sunlight on one side of a craft by dissipating the heat over the cold shaded side, whereupon the heat is dissipated by radiation into space. An Earth observation satellite, ERS 2 For other uses, see Satellite (disambiguation). ... The Space Shuttle Discovery as seen from the International Space Station. ... Prism splitting light High Resolution Solar Spectrum Sunlight in the broad sense is the total spectrum of the electromagnetic radiation given off by the Sun. ... Radiation as used in physics, is energy in the form of waves or moving subatomic particles. ...

Photon detectors such as CCDs in astronomical telescopes or expensive digital cameras are often cooled down with Peltier elements. This reduces dark counts due to thermal noise. (A dark count is the event that a pixel gives a signal although it has not received a photon but rather mistook a thermal fluctuation for one. On digital photos taken at low light these occur as speckles (or "pixel noise").) CCD can stand for: Cafe Coffee Day, a chain of coffee shops in India Charge-coupled device, an electronic light sensor used in digital cameras Colony Collapse Disorder, a mysterious die-off of commercial honeybees Confraternity of Christian Doctrine, a Catholic association devoted to teaching religion Carbonate Compensation Depth, a... 50 cm refracting telescope at Nice Observatory. ... This article or section does not cite any references or sources. ... Johnson-Nyquist noise (sometimes thermal noise, Johnson noise or Nyquist noise) is the noise generated by the equilibrium fluctuations of the electric current inside an electrical conductor, which happens without any applied voltage, due to the random thermal motion of the charge carriers (the electrons). ... In physics, a fluctuation is a variation in an extensive or intensive quantity, such as energy, density or voltage, from its spatial or temporal average. ...

Thermoelectric coolers can be used to cool computer components to keep temperatures within design limits without the noise of a fan, or to maintain stable functioning when overclocking. A Peltier cooler with a heat sink or waterblock can cool a chip to well below ambient temperature. Computer cooling is the practice of relieving heat, a potentially damaging byproduct of operation, from electronic computers. ... AMD Athlon XP Overclocking BIOS Setup on ABIT NF7-S. FSB frequency (External clock) has increased from 133 MHz to 148 MHz, and clock multiplier factor has changed from 13. ... CPU heat sink with fan attached A heat sink is an environment or object that absorbs and dissipates heat from another object using thermal contact (either direct or radiant). ... A water block is the watercooling equivalent of a heatsink. ...

External Links

• Online Peltier (thermoelectric) Calculators
• Tellurex thermoelectric module

See also

• Bismuth telluride, an efficient thermoelectric material
• Freezer, Refrigerator, Fridge
• H₂Ceramic cooling - a hybrid combination of thermoelectric and liquid cooling
• Heat transfer
• Joule's law
• Pyroelectric effect - the creation of an electric field in a crystal after uniform heating
• Thermionic emission
• Thermoelectrics
• Thermoelectric effect
• Thermoelectricity
• Thermopower
• Thermotunnel cooling
• Thermoacoustics - competitor technology to thermoelectric cooling