Thermoelectrics enhanced air cooling limits and improvement techniques: Experimental and computational studies

The use of thermoelectric cooler (TEC) as enhanced air cooling technique for electronic generating devices has been of increasing interest. In this paper, experimental and computational studies of TEC enhanced air cooling limits are conducted. The experimental work was first conducted as a baseline study. The setup consisted of a fan-cooled heat sink, a thermal test board mounted with a test die, and a TEC of 50 mm × 50 mm. Experiments were run at different power inputs and operation currents. The cross-over power with TEC enhancement cases was identified to be about 62W under nonuniform die heating. The computational model was constructed according to the experimental study. The TEC module was modeled as heat conduction blocks with respective volumetric heat generations. Good agreement was achieved between computational predictions and measurements. The size of TEC module, which was seldom addressed in literature, was then varied to examine its effect on the junction temperature. Improving techniques such as the use of better TIM1 or indium TIM1 and liquid cooling technique are also discussed.