Numerical Simulation Of Temperature Fields And Performance Optimization For A Thermoelectric Freezer

Without compressor, refrigerant, no noise, cooling rapidly, simple structure, refrigeration temperature difference can be adjusted within a range of20℃～150℃, thermoelectric coolers are suitable for using on many special occasions. At present, large output and good quality of thermoelectric refrigeration chips, and refrigerator production technology has reached international advanced level, development of automotive thermoelectric freezer has excellent potential in china with the rapid development of automobile industry.The optimization of temperature and flow field is an important issue in research of thermoelectric freezer, but the optimization researches neither rely on a simple algebraic equation nor be completely dependent on experiments, because experimental measurements need to layout a lot of sensors, and these sensors will destroy the flow field. Therefore, numerical simulation is used to find the optimum position for cold-face in order to optimize the temperature and flow field in this paper.A three-dimensional steady-state numerical model was made, and its accuracy was verified by experiment. An unsteady-state model was also made in order to clarify the layout program of the cold-face further.The results show that the top center inside the freezer is the best choice under condition of either forced or natural air-cooled convection was used for heat-exchange on cold-face. Then, by means of comparing temperature fields of the two best programs, it is concluded that a fan should be set with the cold-face to get a better performance.In addition, the best efficiency and the maximum refrigeration capacity and current IU working condition and the one condition in which refrigeration capacity equal to consumption power had been analyzed based on the general to optimize the working condition. The results show that the current IU working condition is the best one.Finally, the effect of various parameters of thermoelectric refrigerators on the refrigeration performance had been analyzed. The results show that increase of merit factor Z and cold-face temperature Tc is conducive to the optimization of the system performance. And decrease of t, heat-cold face temperature ratio, is conducive to the optimization of the system performance. It is also concluded that t values should be in a certain range to ensure the normal work, and increase of Z and Tc are conducive to the range expansion of t.The conclusion of this paper could be a theoretical reference for structure and working condition design and parameters selection of thermoelectric freezer.