Theoretical and Experimental Investigations of Thermoelectric Refrigeration Box Used for Medical Service.

With the increasing refrigeration demand in medical field, a portable and non-toxic refrigeration box is proposed and developed in the present work. Regarding of operating stability and size minimization, thermoelectric cooler (TEC) does well in it compared with traditional cooler devices such as compressors and heat pipes. This paper aimed at obtaining the optimal cooling performance of the thermoelectric refrigeration box system. Three groups of experiments comprised of 17 working conditions were conducted, depending on the full scale experiments. The temperature of hot and cold sides, internal temperature of the refrigeration box, refrigeration capacity and coefficient of performance were investigated, concerning on the influences of the voltages on the TEC. Furthermore, theoretical analysis was developed to demonstrate there exists an appropriate electrical voltage range for the semiconductors, hot side fans and cold side fans, where cooling capacity and COP (coefficient and performance) could reach their optimal values. Afterwards, experimental system has sound operating status. Optimal performance of TEC will be enhanced further by our detailed numerical and experimental investigations. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]