Heat transfer performance of thermoelectric cooling integrated with wavy channel heat sink with different magnetic distances

Abstract

Thermoelectric cooling (TEC) reverses the electrical energy to temperature caused by the Peltier effect, where a temperature difference occurs between two conductors, that is, hot and cold junctions. This article presents the enhanced heat transfer of a TEC module using a TEC1-12710 model integrated with a wavy channel heat sink using ferrofluid as a coolant under continuous and pulsating flows, where the differences in the distance of the magnetic field are considered. Square permanent magnets measuring 30 mm × 20 mm × 4 mm (width × length × height) are used to transmit a magnetic field to the heat sink and then tested under a magnetic distance of 10–30 mm. The test is performed at a water flow rate from 0.0083 to 0.028 kg/s and supplied with a constant TEC voltage of 12 V. By applying a magnetic field to the TEC module with a magnetic distance of 20 mm and a ferrofluid concentration ratio of 0.015%, the cooling efficiency increases by approximately 18.64%. Hence, using pulsating flow may improve thermal efficiency by approximately 23%. The results show an exponential increase in the cooling efficiency when both passive and active cooling techniques are used. © 2023 Wiley Periodicals LLC.