This paper presents the total Coefficient of Performance (CoP) of a thermoelectric module in combined heating and cooling modes, obtained through experiments and thermodynamics mathematical model. Thermoelectric module is a solid state heat pump which has a capability to pump heat with the capacity of 100 W or lower. One of the module surface will acts as a heat sink while another surface of the module rejects heat. This provides an opportunity to utilize both surfaces for cooling and heating applications. The objective of this work was to determine the total CoP of the thermoelectric module when it was operated in a combination of heating and cooling modes. The total CoP was inferred by fitting the temperature of cold and hot water streams which were obtained from experiments to a mathematical model of the thermoelectric heating and cooling system. The highest temperature difference between hot and cold streams was 40 Kelvin. The worst root-mean-square error between the measured and calculated temperature was 2 Kelvin, except for the hot stream temperature curve in the Condition 1(RMS error was 3.5 Kelvin). It was proved that the total CoP of 4.5 was achievable for thermoelectric module operated in the combined heating and cooling modes. However, the total CoP decreased as the temperature difference between hot and cold streams was increased. It can be concluded that the use of thermoelectric module in heating and cooling modes can improve its CoP which contribute to saving in electrical consumption by the module.

No abstract

Aircraft tracking via satellite uses four dimensional aircraft position information to enhance flight safety by recording, scrutinizing and visualizing the information generated by an Airborne Tracking Unit (ATU) fitted onboard of aircraft flying from one point to another. It is an important device for aircraft operator to ensure its operational safety. Starfish Tracker SF3100-1 aircraft tracking unit can be used in aircraft satellite tracking applications. Research collaboration between Worldgate Technologies (WGT), Universiti Pertahanan Nasional Malaysia (UPNM) and Universiti Putra Malaysia (UPM) has developed the ATU originally from land base to airborne vehicles tracking, hence it provides multitudes of civil and military applications. The ATU is a unique device that enables multi-tasking application such as Air Combat Manoeuvring Instrumentation (ACMI), Network Centric Warfare and Flight Data Monitoring systems. In this paper, system characteristics and its applications are presented with the potential applications for Flight Data Monitoring system.

No abstract

This paper presents a mathematical model to investigate the effect of intermediate water tank for cascade configuration of thermoelectric modules in heating and cooling application. The system consists of two thermoelectric modules separated by an intermediate water tank. Another surface of each thermoelectric module is in contact with cold water tank or hot water tank. In the simulation, both hot and cold water tanks consist one kilogram of water. The mass of water in the intermediate water tank was set to 0.01 kg (negligible thermal mass), 1 kg (equal thermal mass) and 10 kg (large thermal mass). Set point for hot and cold water tanks was 373 K and 276 K, respectively. It was found that intermediate water tank with higher thermal mass enable a better temperature control and produceshigher Coefficient of Performance for both thermoelectric modules. These findings are essential for the development of a three-stage temperature water dispenser using thermoelectric modules.