Real-time optimization of thermoelectric coolers' performance based on energy and exergy analysis

Abstract: New strategy is presented to optimize the performance of Thermoelectric (TE) coolers. This approach breaks optimizing TE coolers free from traditional methods of controlling temperature or engineering materials and the structural properties of the junctions. We introduced a dimensionless figure, {\gamma}, that shows the ratio of the unavailable cooling capacity to the available cooling capacity. This parameter relates the TE coolers' coefficient of performance (COP) to the COP of the reversible cycle (second law of thermodynamics efficiency) for a given electrical current. The theoretical description of the model is presented, and it is shown that controlling {\gamma} during the TE performance minimizes entropy generation and energy loss, which leads to the maximum pumped heat. We validated this model against a designed TE cooler. In this cooler, contrary to conventional TE coolers, where the temperature of the cold space is generally controlled at a specific temperature, and the performance of the cooler overlooked, the entropy generation and heat loss are engineered, and the electrical current is tuned to minimize {\gamma} by the controller so that the TE cooler works near to its optimum performance at any time.