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2 Anatychuk2018 PDF
2 Anatychuk2018 PDF
https://doi.org/10.1007/s10765-018-2430-z
Abstract
The physical model of the thermoelement in the unsteady cooling mode is considered.
The heat capacity of the cooling object and the connecting and insulating plates, the
heat load, the heat exchange with the ambient, the release of the Joule heat due to the
presence of contact resistance between the thermoelectric material and the metallic
connecting plate, as well as the Thomson effect impact in the bulk of thermoelement
legs are taken into account. A method is described for calculating the optimal depen-
dence of the thermoelement supply current on time, which provides the preset time
dependence of the cooling temperature. Examples of computer simulation of cur-
rent control functions for implementation of the specified time functions of operating
temperature in medical devices are given.
1 Introduction
The thermoelectric cooling method is widely used to provide thermal modes for various
electronic, medical and measuring devices. In some cases, such devices operate in the
unsteady modes and should change the operating temperature according to a specified
time law. The thermoelectric cooler enables easy realization of such unsteady modes
by controlling the cooling (heating) temperature by means of changing the supply
current of the thermoelement with time.
The process of time-dependent thermoelectric cooling–heating has not been suffi-
ciently studied yet. At the same time, the unsteady modes have a number of advantages.
B L. Vikhor
vikhorl@ukr.net
1 Institute of Thermoelectricity of the NAS and MES of Ukraine, Nauky Str., 1, Chernivtsi 58029,
Ukraine
2 Yurii Fedkovych Chernivtsi National University, Kotsubynskyi Str., 2, Chernivtsi 58000, Ukraine
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Fig. 1 Schematic of the thermoelement in the unsteady cooling mode. (1) thermoelement legs, (2) connecting
plate, (3) insulating plate, (4) cooled object, (5) area of contact resistance
To describe the thermoelement in the unsteady cooling mode, we use the schematic
shown in Fig. 1. The thermoelement legs of a height l and cross section area s are
made of n- and p-type conductivity materials. The characteristics of the leg material,
namely the Seebeck coefficient αn,p (T ) and the resistivity ρn,p (T ), depend on the
temperature, and the thermal conductivity coefficient κn,p and the heat capacity cn,p
are considered to be constants owing to their insignificant dependence on temperature
in thermoelectric materials for coolers. It is assumed that the heat-releasing surface of
the thermoelement is maintained at a fixed temperature T h , whereas the lateral surface
of the legs is adiabatically insulated. At the cold junction of the thermoelement, the
absorption of the Peltier heat, the release of the Joule heat at the junction with the
contact resistance r c , the lumped volumetric heat capacity g of the connecting and
insulating plates and the object under cooling, the heat exchange with the ambient,
whose temperature is T a , and the heat load, whose power is q0 , are considered.
For such a model, the temperature distribution in thermoelement legs is assigned
by a system of one-dimensional equations of the unsteady-state heat conduction given
by
⎧
⎨ cn ∂ Tn κn ∂ T2n + ρn (T ) I (t) − Tn ∂α∂nT(T ) I (t) ∂ Tn
2 2
∂t ∂x s2 s ∂x
n
, (1)
⎩ c p ∂ T p κ p ∂ T2p + ρ p (T ) I 2 (t) ∂α (T ) ∂ Tp
2
∂t ∂x s2
− T p ∂pT p I (t)
s ∂x
where x ∈ [0, l], t ∈ [0, tmax ]. I(t) is the current in the legs of a thermoelement which
is a function of time. In Eq. 1, the first term on the right-hand side takes into account
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the heat conduction in the thermoelement legs, the second one is the Joule heat release,
and the third one is the Thomson heat generated in the bulk of the thermoelement legs
due to the temperature dependence of the Seebeck coefficient αn,p (T ).
The boundary conditions for these equations have the form
∂T ∂ Tp
κn s n + κ p s − α p (Tc (t)) + |αn (Tc (t))| I (t)Tc (t)
∂x ∂ x x0
∂ Tc (t) rc
−g − 2s H (Tc (t) − Ta ) + 2 I 2 + q0 0,
∂t s
Tn (0, t) T p (0, t) ≡ Tc (t)
Tn (l, t) T p (l, t) ≡ Th . (2)
where the thermoelement cold surface temperature is the specified time function T c (t),
H is the coefficient of the convective heat exchange with the ambient.
The first condition in (2) is a heat balance equation on the cold junction between
thermocouple n- and p-type legs. For the general case, the first term is the heat due to
the thermal conductivity, the second term is the Peltier heat, the third term is a heat due
the lumped thermal capacity of connecting and insulating plates as well as of the object
under cooling connected to them, the fourth term is the convective heat transfer from
the cooled object surface, the fifth term is the Joule heat at the junction contacts, and
the last term is the active heat load, which is released by the cooled object. The second
condition in (2) is the equality between cold surface temperatures of n- and p-type
legs and their equivalence to the specified time function T c (t). The third condition in
(2) indicates that the hot junctions are considered to remain at a constant temperature.
For the general case, the initial temperature distribution in the legs should corre-
spond to a steady-state distribution with an initial value of the current I 0 , which can
be approximated by the function
(n, p) 2 2 (n, p) (n, p)
Tn, p (x, 0) C0 I0 x + C1 x + C2 , (3)
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International Journal of Thermophysics (2018) 39:108 Page 5 of 12 108
The optimal control problem is to find such a current control function I(t), which
ensures a preset time dependence of the cold temperature T c (t).
The solution of the formulated optimal control problem at arbitrary dependences of the
material parameters on temperature can be obtained only by complicated numerical
methods, for example, by constructing PI or PID regulators. We offer an approximate,
but a simple method that was already used in [18].
To solve the problem, the following averaged values of the thermoelectric material
parameters can be used:
The validity of such averaging is explained by the fact that in cooling thermoele-
ment the legs are made of n- and p-type BiTe-based materials with close in value
thermoelectric parameters.
It is necessary to note that, in the first approximation, the impact of the Thomson
effect in Eq. 1 can be considered by arithmetic averaging of the Seebeck coefficients
in the operating temperature range [20], and for resistivity coefficients it is expedient
to use integral averaging [20]. Then, the average values of these coefficients in (7) are
determined as follows:
The validity of such classical temperature averaging for the material parameters
was discussed in [20, 21]. It should be mentioned that the averaging (7)–(9) is feasible
because hot and cold temperatures T h , T c (t) are preset data. One should take into
account that ᾱn, p and ρ̄n, p and also the averaged values of α and ρ are temperature
independent but depend on time due to their dependence on preset function T c (t).
Such approximations make it possible to solve instead of the problem (1)–(3) for a
thermoelement the similar initial-boundary problem of the unsteady heat conduction
for a single leg with averaged according to (7)–(9) parameters α(t), ρ(t), κ and c.
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κs
at
where Φ(t, Tc (t)) −g dTdtc (t) − H sTc (t) − rc 2
s I0 +A− l ϑ1 (t − τ ) dTdτ
c (τ )
dτ −
0
κ
at κs ρ(0)l 2 rc 2
l Th +H sTa +q0 +0.5 s I0 + s I0 κ
csl ρ(0)I0 K (τ )dτ , A (α(0)I0 + H s) , a
2 ,
α(0)I0 +H s+ κsl cl 2
0
K(t) ϑ1 (t) − ϑ0 (t), ϑ1 (t) 1 + 2 ∞ k1 exp(−π k at), ϑ0 (t) 1 +
2 2
∞ k 2 2
2 k1 (−1) exp(−π k at).
The relation (10) is a nonlinear integral equation, which is solved by a numerical
method of successive approximations. A fairly complex algorithm for solving such an
equation is realized by means of computer application developed in the MathLab 7.0.
In dermatology and cosmetology, the temperature effect is used in the complex treat-
ment of skin diseases such as alopecia areata, pink and vulgar acne, chronic eczema,
lichen planus, flat warts, annular granuloma, hemangioma, etc., and also to smooth
wrinkles, improve skin elasticity, etc. [23–25]. For cryomassage, a rapid decrease in
temperature is required, i.e., cooling of the skin to the cryostability threshold of tis-
sues, which is 5–10 °C. When the tissues are cooled below the cryostability threshold,
crystallization of the tissue fluid leads to their destruction (cryodestruction). There is a
fine line between the processes of cryomassage and cryodestruction, so it is important
to clearly control the temperature effect on the human skin. Such control is possible
with the help of a thermoelectric method of cooling–heating.
In the work [26], a model of a thermoelectric device for the treatment of skin diseases
is proposed. The device is expedient to use for cryomassage that leads to improvement
in metabolic and reparative processes and acceleration of the inflammation regress. In
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0
1
-10
2
-20
-30
accordance with medical requirements, such a device should provide a periodic time
change of the temperature on the skin surface in the range from + 25 °C to − 30 °C
[25, 27–30]. In such a case, according to the results of computer simulation of the
temperature distribution in the skin layers described in [26], the temperature inside
the said layers will reach the limit of the cryostability threshold in tissues without
destroying the skin tissues themselves.
Examples of periodic time dependences of the cooling temperature T c (t), which
can be realized on the surface of the skin, are shown in Fig. 2. In the first mode
(dependence 1), the cooling should be achieved to − 30 °C in 10 s, in the second mode
(dependence 2), down to − 20 °C. It should last up to 30 s, followed by warming up
to the initial temperature of 25 °C within 10 s. Such specified temperature functions
T c (t) are provided by controlling the working current of the ALTEC-22 thermoelectric
module, which is a part of the operating instrument of the medical device.
Figure 3 shows the calculated periodic functions I(t) for controlling the module
supply current. The calculations were performed taking into account that the ther-
moelectric legs of the module are made of BiTe-based materials of n- and p-types
conductivity with standard thermoelectric characteristics αn,p , ρn,p , κn,p , cn,p [20]. It
was assumed that the working surface of the module is in direct contact with the human
body, the heat generation of which is 5 W·cm−2 [31] and creates the heat load on a
working surface of the module thermoelectric leg of q0 0.1 mW.
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-2
0 20 40 60 80 100 120 140 160
t, s
-20
-40
-60
0 20 40 60 80 100 120 140
t, s
instrument. It is necessary to achieve the cooling of the device working tool down to
− 45 °C in 60 s, hold this temperature for 30 s, then warm up to the initial temperature
of 25 °C in 15 s. If necessary, this cycle can be repeated several times.
Figure 5 shows the calculated control function for the supply current I(t) of a ther-
moelectric micromodule, which provides a specified time dependence of the operating
temperature of the device (Fig. 4).
The current direction, which provides cooling of the working surface of the instru-
ment, is considered positive, whereas heating is thought to be negative. To achieve
the preset cooling level within 60 s, the current must be gradually increased to 1.75
A, then it is sufficient to reduce it to 1.15 A to maintain cooling at − 45 °C for 30 s.
For heating, the direction of the current is then reversed for the opposite one, its value
is increased to 0.4 A within 15 s and the power is turned off when the temperature
reaches 25 °C.
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30
20
10
-10
0 100 200 300 400 500
t, s
The operating mode of the device starts with a cooling temperature of − 10 °C. The
initial steady-state temperature distribution in thermoelements, at which the tempera-
ture of − 10 °C is set on the working surface of the device in the mode without heat
load, is provided by supplying the module with a DC I 0 . The value of I 0 is determined
based on the ALTEC-98A module performances and amounts to I 0 0.45 A. In the
operating mode (Fig. 6), the instrument working surface should be warmed up from
− 10 °C to + 50 °C in 10 s, this temperature should be held for 240 s followed by
cooling down to − 10 °C in 20 s.
Figure 7 shows the calculated function for controlling the supply current I(t) of
a thermoelectric module, which provides a preset time dependence of the operating
temperature T c (t) of the device, which is shown in Fig. 6.
Obviously, this function I(t) is of a periodic character.
Thus, the use of optimal control functions for the supply current of a thermoelectric
device enables providing a precisely regulated cryothermic effect on the surface of
the human skin and obtaining a positive therapeutic effect during cryomassage, cryo-
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destruction and reflexotherapy. Such functions of the current control I(t) are realized
in practice with the help of special electronic controllers, which are part of the power
supply unit of the thermoelectric device.
5 Conclusion
A method is proposed for computer simulation of the optimal time function for con-
trolling the supply current of the thermoelectric device, which provides the specified
time dependence of the temperature of its working surface. It should be noted that
there are practically no experimental methods that allow finding similar functions for
controlling the supply current of the thermoelement in the cooling and heating modes.
The knowledge about required control functions of the supply current which are
optimal for specific purposes is rather important. Such functions are used for the
design and auto-calibration of special electronic controllers, which are necessary to
ensure the operation of a servo-system for controlling the process of cooling–heating
in thermoelectric devices for various purposes.
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