Development of a thermoelectric cooler

• Main Author: Song, Guo Quan
• Other Authors: Rusli
• Format: Final Year Project
• Language: English
• Published: Nanyang Technological University 2024
• Subjects: Engineering; Electrical engineering
• Online Access: https://hdl.handle.net/10356/176371
• Institution: Nanyang Technological University

There is a growing demand for energy intensive air conditioner systems, resulting in a global rise in consumption of energy, which consequently led to increased carbon emissions, making them a serious contributor to greenhouse gas emissions. Although conventional air conditioners are relatively efficient in use of electrical power, but they typically consume high electrical power and involve refrigerants that are harmful to the atmosphere. Consequently, green technologies such as Thermoelectric Coolers (TECs) have been developed to provide alternative solutions. Unfortunately, the modest Coefficient of Performance (COP) of TECs limits their widespread adoption. The goal of this final year project is to examine how TECs may be combined with mechanical draft cooling towers that are traditionally used for high cooling loads to enhance their COP and consequently reduce the environmental impact. The objective of this study is therefore to fabricate and analyze a scaled down cooling tower-TEC system and compare it with a typical TEC system as well as standard/typical air-conditioning units based on aspects like energy usage, carbon footprint, cost, and COP. The purpose is to examine if this integrated approach can lead to an efficient indoor climate control as opposed to the current mainstream cooling methods.