Analysis of thermoelectric coolers by a spice-compatible equivalent-circuit model

Simon Lineykin, Sam Ben-Yaakov

Research output: Contribution to journalArticlepeer-review

102 Scopus citations

Abstract

The objective of this work was to develop a PSPICE-compatible equivalent circuit of a thermoelectric cooler (TEC). Equivalent circuits are convenient tools for power electronics engineers since they help in presenting a problem in electronic circuit terms and can assist in the design of power stages and the control circuitry and algorithms. A methodology is developed for extracting the parameters of the proposed model from manufacturers' data of TECs. The present model is compatible with PSPICE or other electronic circuit simulators. An important feature of the model is its ability to generate small-signal transfer functions that can be used to design feedback networks for temperature-control applications. Several examples of successful utilization of the model are presented. Data of many different manufacturers were examined and the model parameters were extracted. In all cases, the model was found to reproduce accurately the performance of commercial TECs. The accuracy of the model was also verified by experiments.

Original languageEnglish
Pages (from-to)63-66
Number of pages4
JournalIEEE Power Electronics Letters
Volume3
Issue number2
DOIs
StatePublished - 1 Jan 2005

Keywords

  • Active cooling
  • Equivalent circuits
  • Modeling
  • Simulation
  • Temperature control
  • Thermoelectric devices
  • Thermoelectricity

ASJC Scopus subject areas

  • Energy Engineering and Power Technology
  • Electrical and Electronic Engineering

Fingerprint

Dive into the research topics of 'Analysis of thermoelectric coolers by a spice-compatible equivalent-circuit model'. Together they form a unique fingerprint.

Cite this