Optimization of a thermoelectric cooler-heat sink combination for active CPU cooling

Abstract

This study was carried out to explore the possibility of extending the limits of air cooling by using a thermoelectric cooler (TEC) enhanced cooling system which consists of a TEC used in conjunction with a forced convection heat sink to cool a processor. A systematic methodology for characterizing and comparing the performance of the TEC enhanced system with that of a heat sink only cooling system is proposed. The performance of each cooling system is characterized using 2 parameters; its ability to produce lower junction temperatures (Tj) and its ability to allow the use of larger heat sink thermal resistances (RHS), both for specified heat dissipation requirements. The effect of variations in the coefficient of performance (COP) of the TEC on the cooling system's performance in terms of these 2 parameters is also explored followed by the conditions under which the TEC enhanced system will perform better than the heat sink only system and vice versa.