Introduction As most readers of ElectronicsCooling magazine are no doubt aware, fins may be added to a heat transfer surface to increase the effective heat transfer area and thereby reduce the base surface temperature for a given heat load and heat transfer coefficient. The formula to estimate the heat dissipation capability, qf, of a straight fin is given by, and Af is … [Read more...]
A Simple Method to Estimate the Physical Characteristics of a Thermoelectric Cooler from Vendor Datasheets
Introduction A thermoelectric cooler (TEC) is a solid-state refrigerator that operates on the Peltier effect. The absence of moving parts, compact size, precise temperature control ability and reliability all combine to make the TEC a unique refrigerator. TECs find application [1, 2] in many fields from simple food and beverage coolers for an afternoon picnic to extremely … [Read more...]