IPC분류정보
국가/구분 |
United States(US) Patent
등록
|
국제특허분류(IPC7판) |
|
출원번호 |
US-0020529
(2004-12-23)
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등록번호 |
US-7296417
(2007-11-20)
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발명자
/ 주소 |
|
출원인 / 주소 |
|
대리인 / 주소 |
Zagorin O'Brien Graham LLP
|
인용정보 |
피인용 횟수 :
22 인용 특허 :
52 |
초록
▼
Active cooling technologies such as thermoelectrics can be used to introduce thermal "gain" into a cooling system and, when employed in combination with forced flow liquid metal cooling loops, can provide an attractive solution for cooling high heat flux density devices and/or components. In such co
Active cooling technologies such as thermoelectrics can be used to introduce thermal "gain" into a cooling system and, when employed in combination with forced flow liquid metal cooling loops, can provide an attractive solution for cooling high heat flux density devices and/or components. In such configurations, it can be advantageous to configure fluid flows to provide heat transfer between hot-side and cold-side flows. For example, it can be desirable to substantially equilibrate temperature of liquid metal flows entering hot-side and cold-side paths. In this way, thermal differential (ΔT) across individual thermoelectric elements can be reduced, thereby improving efficiency of the thermoelectric. Various suitable recuperator designs are described including designs that provide heat exchange with and without mixture of respective flows.
대표청구항
▼
What is claimed is: 1. A thermoelectric system comprising: at least one thermoelectric module that exhibits, during operation, a thermal differential between a first and second side thereon; a first fluid pathway portion in thermal communication with the first side of the thermoelectric module; a s
What is claimed is: 1. A thermoelectric system comprising: at least one thermoelectric module that exhibits, during operation, a thermal differential between a first and second side thereon; a first fluid pathway portion in thermal communication with the first side of the thermoelectric module; a second fluid pathway portion in thermal communication with the second side of the thermoelectric module; and a recuperator coupled into a fluid flow path to at least partially equilibrate temperatures of thermal transfer fluid destined for the first and second fluid pathway portions. 2. The thermoelectric system of claim 1, wherein respective temperatures of fluid flows destined for the first and second fluid pathway portions are substantially the same. 3. The thermoelectric system of claim 1, wherein the recuperator is configured to commingle fluid flows destined for the first and second fluid pathway portions. 4. The thermoelectric system of claim 1, wherein the recuperator includes a heat exchanger. 5. The thermoelectric system of claim 1, further comprising: the thermal transfer fluid disposed within at least one of the first and second fluid pathway portions. 6. The thermoelectric system of claim 1, further comprising: at least one electromagnetic pump to motivate flow of the thermal transfer fluid though one or both of the first and second fluid pathway portions. 7. The thermoelectric system of claim 6, wherein the thermal transfer fluid includes a liquid metal. 8. The thermoelectric system of claim 6, wherein the thermal transfer fluid includes an electrically conductive fluid or slurry. 9. The thermoelectric system of claim 1, wherein the first and second fluid pathway portions are each part of a respective closed fluid loop for transfer of the thermal transfer fluid away from, and back to, the thermoelectric module. 10. The thermoelectric system of claim 1, further comprising: two distinct closed fluid loops for transfer of the thermal transfer fluid away from, and back to, the thermoelectric module, the first closed fluid loop including the first fluid pathway portion and in thermal communication with the first side of the thermoelectric module, and the second closed fluid loop including the second fluid pathway portion and in thermal communication with the second side of the thermoelectric module. 11. The thermoelectric system of claim 10, wherein the thermal transfer fluid is electrically conductive; and further comprising at least one electromagnetic pump to motivate flow of the thermal transfer fluid through the first fluid pathway portion. 12. The thermoelectric system of claim 11, further comprising, at least one electromagnetic pump to motivate flow of the liquid metal thermal transfer fluid through the second fluid pathway portion. 13. The thermoelectric system of claim 1, further comprising: a single closed loop in thermal communication with both the first and second sides of the thermoelectric module, the single closed fluid loop including both the first and the second fluid pathway portions. 14. The thermoelectric system of claim 13, wherein the thermal transfer fluid is electrically conductive; and wherein a single electromagnetic pump is disposed within the single closed loop to motivate flow of the thermal transfer fluid through both the first and second fluid pathway portions. 15. The thermoelectric system of claim 1, further comprising: two at least partially overlapped closed fluid loops for transfer of the thermal transfer fluid away from, and back to, the thermoelectric module, the first closed fluid loop including the first fluid pathway portion and in thermal communication with the first side of the thermoelectric module, and the second closed fluid loop including the second fluid pathway portion and in thermal communication with the second side of the thermoelectric module, wherein thermal transfer fluid from the first and second closed fluid loops is commingled at at least one point in the overlapped closed fluid loops. 16. The thermoelectric system of claim 15, wherein the thermal transfer fluid is electrically conductive; and further comprising at least one electromagnetic pump disposed in an overlapped portion of the overlapped closed fluid loops. 17. The thermoelectric system of claim 1, at least one additional thermoelectric module, each thermoelectric module constituting a stage of a thermoelectric array, wherein the flow topology traverses N-stages of the thermoelectric array, and wherein the flow topology is structured so that, at any particular one of the thermoelectric modules, impinging hot-side and cold-side flows respectively traverse x and N-1-x stages {x: 0≦x
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