Cooling
About cooling:
People mix up different ways of cooling very often. Below is an explanation about our point of view of "cooling".
Kind of cooling TCT can maintain:
The kind of cooling that can be maintained by the use of the Top-Cool technology (TCT) is continuous active cooling, this means cooling below ambient temperature for an indeterminate periode.
Cooling:
Compared to heating, where energy is being converted into warmth, cold can not be "produced" as such out of energy. Cooling is to prevent warmth of a matter. So it is removing "warmth-energy". Because energy can not be "destroyed", it means the removed "warmth-energy" should be lodged somewhere else.
About the term "cooling" we can differentiate 2 kinds of situations:
- Cooling above the ambient temperature (Passive cooling)
- Cooling under the ambient temperature (Active cooling)(TCT cooling method)
Active cooling compared to passive cooling (to surroundings)
Example passive cooling, cooling of a car engine.
A car engine burns energy obtained from fuel. This energy is released as mechanical energy and warmth energy. The mechanical energy is used to move the car. The warmth energy is mainly not used, (except for heating) and has to be transported because otherwise the engine gets to hot and will be damaged. This warmth is contained by the coolant that flows next to the engine, and is next lodged to a radiator that is in the front of the car. Next to this radiator is flowing ambient air of, for example, 30 degrees Celsius. De radiator cools down again because he lodges the warmth to the ambient air. (Which leaves the radiator for example with 35 degrees Celsius.)
Due to this the engine is not getting warmer then about 90 degrees Celsius, and therefore it can operate optimal. So the engine does not need to be coold under ambient temperature!
Example active cooling, cooling of the interior of a car (airco).
The interior of a car in the sun can become very hot , for example 40 degrees Celsius. When the windows are opened the temperature can drop untill, for example, 30 degrees Celsius (in case of a ambient temperature of 30 degrees Celsius). Often it is more pleasant to have a lower temperature, for example 23 degrees Celsius. This temperature is lower then the ambient temperature, wherefore a coolingsystem should take care of a lower temperature. So something extra should be done, for example: switching on an airco.
Continuous cooling compared to temporary cooling
A coolingsystem like a freezer or refrigerator is designed for continuous cooling (24 hours a day), this is in contrast with methods that use icewater (ice cube as cold accumulator), evaporation technique (add water each time) or for example cool with nitrogen.
An airco is also a configuration of continuous cooling, despite it is not always on. The user defines when the cooling is on.
Heating:
Besides the function of cooling the Peltier system can be applied to heat. The components of the system remain the same. By simply switching the electric power, the cold and warmth components are turned around and the same system works as a heating device.
Because the system can cool and heat within the same room this can create a lot of advantages for example for horeca and catering industries that will serve food.
The combination of cooling and heating is ideal if the desired temperature has to be above or below ambient temperature. This is for example ideal for the process industry, where a accurate and regular temperature is preserved.
Heating with high efficiency:
When the application is used for heating it can heat with a high efficiency, about 200%. This can never be accomplished with any other electric heating system. This is possible because the Peltier system with the Top-Cool Technology works as a heat pump. Not only the electric energy is converted into heat, warmth energy from the surroundings is released as well. This makes the system extra interesting.