PERFORMANCE OF A THERMOELECTRIC ADSORPTION HEAT PUMP VIS-A-VIS THERMOELECTRIC DEVICE AND ADSORPTION HEAT PUMP FOR ELECTRONICS COOLING APPLICATIONS

Performance of 'ThermoElectric (TE)', 'Thermo ElectricAdsorption (TEA)' and Adsorption heat pumps has been compared, theoretically, for identical conditions. The TEA heat pump uses TB devices to drive heat regeneration for its adsorption cycle. While this increases the COP of the TEA heat pump, it also highlights the need to investigate if a TE device, when applied alone, could have outperformed the TEA and the Adsorption heat pumps. This becomes important in the context of cooling applications that only require cooling of a few degrees below ambient, and in cases where the ambient environment is thermally harsh. In the first context the TE devices pump heat across a lesser temperature difference with good COP that may outweigh the COP of a TEA or an Adsorption heat pump, in the second, the performance of TB device deteriorates due to high temperatures, and gains in overall COP of TEA heat pump due to heat regeneration become marginal. A heat rejection temperature range of 50 to 200 degrees C is considered for this investigation. Mathematical models for formulation of the COP of these systems are constructed and compared. It is observed that a TB device is preferable for cooling 20-30 degrees C below the ambient. Beyond this range a TEA chiller is a good option.