Thermoelectric refrigeration system control scheme for high efficiency performance
First Claim
1. A method of controlling a heat exchanger comprising a plurality of thermoelectric coolers to maintain a set point temperature of a chamber, the method comprising:
- receiving temperature data indicative of a temperature of the chamber; and
selectively controlling two or more subsets of thermoelectric coolers in the plurality of thermoelectric coolers based on the temperature of the chamber;
wherein selectively controlling the two or more subsets of thermoelectric coolers comprises operating each thermoelectric cooler in a first subset of thermoelectric coolers from the plurality of thermoelectric coolers at or near the point where the coefficient of performance is maximized (QCOPmax) by providing a current or voltage with amplitude corresponding to QCOPmax (ICOPmax, VCOPmax) when the temperature of the chamber is within a predefined steady state range including the set point temperature.
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Abstract
A method of controlling a heat exchanger including thermoelectric coolers to maintain set point temperature of a chamber. The method includes receiving temperature data indicative of a temperature of the chamber and selectively controlling two or more subsets of thermoelectric coolers based on the temperature of the chamber. Selectively controlling the two or more subsets includes operating each thermoelectric cooler in a first subset at or near the point where the coefficient of performance is maximized (QCOPmax) by providing a current or voltage with amplitude corresponding to QCOPmax (ICOPmax, VCOPmax) when the temperature of the chamber is within a predefined steady state range including the set point temperature.
338 Citations
28 Claims
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1. A method of controlling a heat exchanger comprising a plurality of thermoelectric coolers to maintain a set point temperature of a chamber, the method comprising:
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receiving temperature data indicative of a temperature of the chamber; and selectively controlling two or more subsets of thermoelectric coolers in the plurality of thermoelectric coolers based on the temperature of the chamber; wherein selectively controlling the two or more subsets of thermoelectric coolers comprises operating each thermoelectric cooler in a first subset of thermoelectric coolers from the plurality of thermoelectric coolers at or near the point where the coefficient of performance is maximized (QCOPmax) by providing a current or voltage with amplitude corresponding to QCOPmax (ICOPmax, VCOPmax) when the temperature of the chamber is within a predefined steady state range including the set point temperature. - View Dependent Claims (2, 3, 4, 5, 6, 7, 8, 9, 10, 11, 12, 13, 14, 15, 16, 17, 18, 19, 20, 21, 22, 23)
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24. A system comprising:
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a plurality of thermoelectric coolers; and a controller associated with the plurality of thermoelectric coolers, the controller configured to; receive temperature data indicative of a temperature of a chamber; and selectively control two or more subsets of thermoelectric coolers in the plurality of thermoelectric coolers based on the temperature of the chamber such that each in a first subset of thermoelectric coolers from the two or more subsets of thermoelectric coolers operates at or near the point where the coefficient of performance is maximized (QCOPmax) by providing a current or voltage with amplitude corresponding to QCOPmax (ICOPmax, VCOPmax) when the temperature of the chamber is within a steady state range including a set point temperature.
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25. A system comprising:
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a heat exchanger comprising a plurality of thermoelectric coolers; a controller associated with the plurality of thermoelectric coolers configured to; select one or more control schemes from a set of control schemes of the controller based on temperature data and a desired performance profile, the set of control schemes comprising two or more of a group consisting of;
separately controlling activation and deactivation of each subset of thermoelectric coolers of one or more subsets of thermoelectric coolers in the plurality of thermoelectric coolers, separately controlling a current provided to each subset of the one or more subsets of thermoelectric coolers in the plurality of thermoelectric coolers, and separately controlling a duty cycle of each subset of thermoelectric coolers of the one or more subsets of thermoelectric coolers in the plurality of thermoelectric coolers; andcontrol the one or more subsets of thermoelectric coolers in the plurality of thermoelectric coolers according to the one or more control schemes selected from the set of control schemes of the controller such that each thermoelectric cooler in a first subset of thermoelectric coolers from the one or more subsets of thermoelectric coolers operates at or near QCOPmax when a temperature of a chamber is within a steady state range including a set point temperature. - View Dependent Claims (26, 27, 28)
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Specification