Role of surface radiation on the functionality of thermoelectric cooler with heat sink

The present investigation substantiates the inclusion of radiation heat transfer coming from heat sink while modelling the thermal performance of a thermo-electric cooler (TEC). A commercial grade thermoelectric cooler from Laird Technology and a heat sink from Aavid Thermal Alloy are chosen to perform this study and their actual values revealed by the respective company datasheets have been considered for the comparison. The results provided in the company datasheets are based on the assumption that the heat sink is mounted on the TEC and is cooled by natural convection only. Therefore, the present study conducted in this work, also identifies the heat transfer solely due to natural convection. The results are validated against the available operational company datasheets. Subsequently, the effect of surface radiation from the heat sink in addition to the natural convection on the thermal performance of TEC has been investigated. Furthermore, to bring more clarity in the investigation, two different ranges of working temperatures have been opted and shift in the operational points because of radiation in both ranges have been delineated through data tables, figures and comparative plots.