A low power, eco-friendly multipurpose thermoelectric refrigerator

Abstract

There has been an immense endeavor to mitigate global warming in spite of which it has only been worse. This paper presents the design and implementation of a low power and eco-friendly refrigeration system using the thermoelectric effect. The conventional refrigerators make use of complex mechanisms which involves synchronous operation of various units, namely the compressor, condensers, expansion valves, evaporator, refrigerant and so on. But a thermoelectric refrigerator exploits the principle of the Peltier effect, thus avoiding the utilization of these complex components. This even helps curb the release of harmful chlorofluorocarbons (CFCs) into the atmosphere which contributes to the increase in global temperature. Moreover, the temperature can be controlled and set to required values with the help of a microcontroller. Hence, this can be used both for domestic and commercial purposes. The unit does not eject any harmful gases. Therefore, the heat expelled from the unit can be tapped for heating utilities, making the use of this device versatile in its application. Thus this proposal aims not only at reducing the air pollutants by not contributing to it but also at reducing the power consumption.

Graphical abstract

Keywords

low power / eco-friendly / multipurpose / TEC-12706 / Peltier effect / microcontroller (P89V51RD2BN) / temperature control

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RIGHTS & PERMISSIONS

2015 Higher Education Press and Springer-Verlag Berlin Heidelberg