There is a need to improve the thermal comfort of urban slum residents located in Rayer Bazar, a region of Dhaka, the capital of Bangladesh. Residents experience temperatures in excess of 36˚ C (97˚F) with relative humidity between 55-80%. The solution should cost no more than 2,000 - 4,000 Tk (25-50 USD).
A thermoelectric cooling system that leverages multiple thermoelectric elements or chips that generate a heat flow when supplied electricity. Cold air is delivered directly to the user. Hot air is removed from the home.
The final design has 4 thermoelectric elements that are mounted between two heatsinks: a cold-side heatsink, and a hot-side heatsink. Air is forced through the heatsinks by two large fans.
Since prototyping was not possible, a Matlab model of the system was used to determine the components for the prototype that would yield the best system performance. These include the heatsinks, fans, and thermoelectric element. Additionally, CFD was conducted to verify the accuracy of the Matlab model. These computational methods were used to predict the performance of the system.
Predicted System Performance:
Inlet Temperature: 35˚C
Outlet Temperature: 28.8˚C
On the left shows a breakdown of the elements within the proposed packaging design of our thermoelectric cooling unit.
The animation to the left was created using a CFD simulation of the air flowing through the cold side heatsink. The arrows move along streamlines and show the formation of the velocity boundary layer