by josh perry, editor
[email protected]

a recent article published by advanced thermal solutions, inc. (ats) explored recent developments in the use of thermoelectric assemblies (tea) in electronics cooling applications from laser diodes to medical and industrial instrumentation.

this air-to-air tea has a max cooling power of 83 watts and a temperature range of -10°c to 70°c. (advanced thermal solutions, inc.)

tea work through the peltier effect, the temperature differential created by passing an electrical current across two electrical junctions, which moves heat from one junction to the other. this allows tea to be used for cooling or heating depending on the application.

“tea are capable of cooling to well below ambient, while protecting electronics inside enclosures from outside contaminants and moisture because they do not require an air exchange with the outside environment, unlike, for instance, conventional fan trays,” the article explained. “tea also offer precise temperature control; many can provide a temperature accuracy of within 0.01?c under steady-state conditions.”

in addition, tea are typically more compact, lighter, and (thanks to their solid-state operation) can be mounted in any orientation without concern for noise or vibration. tea are also environmentally-friendly in that they do not require refrigerants.

the three most common designs for tea are air-to-air, air-to-plate, and air-to-liquid.

“in telecommunications applications, a common use of tea is to help cool small form-factor (sfp) transceivers,” the article continued. “these optical transceivers transmit data over long distances in outdoor applications. an sfp unit contains a temperature sensitive laser diode that can transmit data a kilometer away, but only if the diode is kept below 70°c.”

the article also noted that there is a growing market for thermoelectric components, particularly thermoelectric modules.

“a report released by transparency market research in 2015 said that the market for thermoelectric modules, which are components of tea, would grow to as much as $763.5 million by 2022 driven by growth in the asia pacific market and manufacturers focusing on quick and cost-effective modules to meet specific customer needs,” it added. “it also indicated that while bulk thermoelectric modules had 71 percent of the market share in 2014, the expectation was for micro modules to grow at a faster rate during the analysis period.”

read the full article at https://www.qats.com/cms/2018/03/16/electronics-cooling-with-thermoelectric-assemblies.