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A Model for Material Metrics in Thermoelectric Thomson Coolers
Mona Zebarjadi1,2, Omid Akbari3
1Department of Electrical and Computer Engineering, University of Virginia, Charlottesville, VA 22904, USA.
Entropy (Basel, Switzerland)
|November 24, 2023
Summary
Thomson coolers utilize Thomson cooling for enhanced performance over Peltier coolers, especially at large temperature differences. New metrics analyze materials for efficient Thomson cooler design, particularly those with large Thomson coefficients.
Area of Science:
- Thermoelectric materials science
- Solid-state physics
- Materials engineering
Background:
- Thomson cooling, a thermoelectric effect, is key for designing advanced coolers.
- Thomson coolers offer extended operating ranges compared to traditional Peltier coolers.
- Large Thomson coefficients, observed during phase transitions, promise highly efficient devices.
Purpose of the Study:
- To analytically investigate Thomson cooler performance.
- To establish metrics for evaluating materials in Thomson coolers.
- To compare Thomson cooler performance with Peltier coolers.
Main Methods:
- Analytical performance analysis of Thomson coolers.
- Derivation of maximum heat flux under constant Thomson coefficient.
- Introduction of three dimensionless parameters for performance evaluation.
Main Results:
- Established analytical framework for Thomson cooler performance.
- Identified conditions for maximum heat flux.
- Quantified performance metrics including coefficient of performance, maximum heat flux, and temperature difference.
Conclusions:
- Thomson coolers can achieve high efficiency, particularly with materials exhibiting large Thomson coefficients.
- The introduced dimensionless parameters are crucial for material selection and device design.
- This work provides a foundation for developing next-generation thermoelectric cooling technologies.
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