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Existing methods of determining the Peltier coefficient of an inhomogeneous electric circuit are analyzed. The proposed algorithmic method of determining the Peltier coefficient is more accurate than are the methods analyzed, because it excludes the influence of Joule heat and the Seebeck coefficient on the results of the measurement.In recent years the Peltier effect has been employed widely in measuring devices for forming thermophysical tests that are used to correct the errors of temperature-measuring instruments and a series of thermophysical quantities [1, 2]. The technical and reference literature, however, gives scanty information about the values of the Peltier coefficient for various thermoelectrodes and its temperature dependence.In the article we consider existing methods of measuring the Peltier coefficient and evaluate possible regions where those methods can be applied.Shtenbek and Baranskii [3] described a method of determining the Peltier coefficient of an inhomogeneous electric circuit. The method is based on passing a constant current through a specimen of the material under study, which is in contact with copper electrodes. The difference of the temperatures at the ends of the specimen is measured, the cooled electrode is heated additionally, and the Peltier coefficient ~r is determined (when the temperature difference becomes zero) is determined fromwhere W is the compensating power of the additional heating and I is the constant current. A compensating action is effected by means of electric heaters inside the copper electrodes. A fraction of the electrical power used directly to compensate for the Peltier effect cooling is difficult to evaluate since part of the power goes to cover the loss due to heat transfer into the ambient medium. As a result the Peltier coefficient is determined with a large error, especially in measurements over a wide temperature range.Higher accuracy is ensured by the method of Kuritnik et al. [4], where a constant current is passed through an electrical circuit containing two electrodes of different materials (forming a common junction); that current cools the junction, the TEMF the terminals of the circuit and the current in the circuit are measured, and the Peltier coefficient io calculated from the formula. At the same time, that current is passed through a similar junction of materials in the opposite direction, causing the junction to heat; the TEMF at the circuit terminals with cooled and heated common junctions is measured and the Peltier coefficient is found from r = cmATI (2 ]'Q, where c and m, respectively, are the specific heat and mass of the materials of the junction, AT is the temperature difference, and T is the time for which current flows.The method employs two calorimeters while the junctions heated and cooled are adiabatically and the temperature difference is measured with a differential thermocouple. The main difficulty in the measurements is posed by adiabatization,

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