Creative Fields: Thermal Engineering, Peltier Elements, Cooling Solution
Completion Date: 2024
Skills: SolidWorks modelling, design, SolidWorks Thermal Simulation, SolidWorks Flow Simulation
Background: The system is designed to evenly heat up the top surface to 200C then cool down to room temperature rapidly.
The system is able to heat up the top surface linearly to 200C in 3 minutes according to SolidWorks thermal study.
The system consists of a list of the following parts:
Silicon Heat Pad: to heat up the bottom surface of the Peltier elements to 130 C
Water Cooling Block: Provide extra cooling power to help reduce heat from the bottom surface of the Peltier elements during the cooling phases. The water cooling system is not activated during the heating phase, and there is no noticeable heat loss during heating.
Peltier Element Group: Includes 9 high-temperature Peltier Elements that pump the heat up during the heating phases and down during the cooling phases.
Top Copper Plate: The contact surface with working materials. The copper material helps to spread the heat across the working surface evenly.
However, by only modifying the inner cutout, the cooling efficiency was not been improved enough. Considering keeping the assembly compact and light, increasing the thickness of the cooling block is not an option. Therefore, different forms of cooling solutions (air fans, heat pipes) need to be tested in future studies.
The Peltier Elements combined with the water cooling block is able to cool the top surface from 200C to room temperature within 20 minutes. The cooling speed is not ideal, thus further design iterations were conducted to the inner cutout of the cooling block.
