Development of Cold-Hot Water Dispenser With Therm

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Received: 8 October 2018

| Accepted: 1 December 2018

DOI: 10.1002/htj.21409

RESEARCH ARTICLE

Development of cold‐hot water dispenser with


thermoelectric module systems

Chootichai Hommalee | Songkran Wiriyasart | Paisarn Naphon

Thermo‐Fluids and Heat Transfer


Enhancement Laboratory (TFHT), Abstract
Department of Mechanical Engineering, In the present study, the results of a cold‐hot water
Faculty of Engineering, Srinakharinwirot
dispenser with a thermoelectric module system (TMS) are
University, Ongkharak, Nakhorn‐Nayok,
Thailand presented. The cold‐hot water dispenser with thermoelectric
module system consists of a cold water loop, a hot water
Correspondence
loop, a coolant loop, and a thermoelectric module. The
P. Naphon, Thermo‐Fluids and Heat
Transfer Enhancement Lab. (TFHT), thermoelectric cooling and heating modules consist of four
Department of Mechanical Engineering, and two water blocks, nine and three thermoelectric plates,
Faculty of Engineering, Srinakharinwirot
University, 63 Rangsit‐Nakhornnayok
respectively. The cooling and heating capacities obtained
Rd., Ongkharak, Nakhorn‐Nayok 26120, from the cold‐hot water dispenser with TMS are compared
Thailand. with those from a conventional cold‐hot water dispenser
Email: [email protected]
with a compression refrigeration system (CRS). As com-
Funding information pared with the conventional cold‐hot water dispenser with
Excellent Center for Sustainable
CRS, the cold‐hot water dispenser with TMS can be
Engineering (ECSE)
operated at the minimum cold water temperature of 10 to
13°C and the maximum hot water temperature of 65°C. The
obtained results are expected provide guidelines to design
cold‐hot water dispensers with TMS.

KEYWORDS
cold‐hot water dispenser, cooling capacity, thermoelectric module

1 | INTRODUCTION

Compared with the conventional electrical power generators, thermoelectric module offers many
advantages, such as environment friendliness, reliability, and absence of moving parts. The cold
and hot sides of thermoelectric modules are developed and utilized, especially, to enhance cooling
capacity in electronic components. On the other hand, the power input is a function of the cold
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© 2019 The Authors. Heat Transfer—Asian Res. Published by Wiley Periodicals, Inc.

854 | wileyonlinelibrary.com/journal/htj Heat Transfer—Asian Res. 2019;48:854–863.


HOMMALEE ET AL. | 855

and hot sides of thermoelectric modules, and the power consumption of these modules is high.
Thermoelectric modules find applications in many thermal management systems. Chang et al1
investigated a thermoelectric air‐cooling module for electronic cooling devices. Martínez et al2,3
experimentally and numerically studied electronic cooling devices with thermoelectric cooling
modules. Jieting et al4 studied power generation cooling with thermoelectric and heat pipes.
Jeong5 optimized the thermoelectric cooling module with a novel one‐dimensional analytic
model. Li et al6 applied a thermoelectric cooling module for cooling phase change material (PCM)
heat storage for patients with multiple sclerosis (MS). Mohammadian and Zhang7 analyzed the
effect of nanofluids on thermoelectric cooling performance with micro‐pin‐fin heat exchangers.
Tan and Demirel8 investigated the performance and cooling efficiency of thermoelectric cooling
modules on a server central processing unit. Zhang et al9 studied the thermal performance of a
micro‐semiconductor laser with a thermoelectric cooling module. Ahammed et al10 studied the
performance of a thermoelectric cooling module embedded with multiport minichannel heat
exchanger with nanofluids as coolants for cooling electronic devices. Hu et al11 experimentally
studied a water‐cooled thermoelectric cooler for cooling central processing units. Lin and Yu12
presented a trapezoid‐type two‐stage Peltier couple for application two‐stage thermoelectric
cooling. Martinez et al13 used the thermoelectric cooling module to enhance cooling performance
in power generation. Sadighi et al14 experimentally investigated the cooling feasibility of air flow
via a novel air‐water based thermoelectric cooling system for different climate conditions. Shen
et al15 studied the applications of thermoelectric technology in buildings. Tsai and Le16 presented
the energy recycling and self‐sufficient application of a novel high‐power light emitting diode
integrated with a thermoelectric generator module. Yilmazoglu17 numerically and experimentally
studied the performance of a prototype thermoelectric heating/cooling unit. Banakar et al18
applied a thermoelectric module in the cogeneration of heat and power with a Fresnel lens
collector in a thermoelectric solar system. Cai et al19 optimized the thermoelectric cooling module
for central processing unit cooling. Gao et al20 considered the effect of the supplied pulse currents
on the hot and the cold stages of a two‐stage cascaded thermoelectric coolers (TEC) to seek
further increase in temperature drop across the TEC. Gökçek and Şahin21 experimentally studied
the performance of a minichannel water‐cooled thermoelectric refrigerator. Ibañez‐Puy et al22
demonstrated the building heating and cooling potential with the vertical configuration of 16
thermoelectric modules. Irshad et al23 experimentally and numerically investigated a novel
thermoelectric air duct system assisted with a photovoltaic system for space cooling in Malaysian
weather conditions. Joshi et al24 and Karwa et al25 developed a thermoelectric fresh water
generator by using thermoelectric cooling module and thermoelectric refrigerator. Liu et al26 and
Sun et al27 designed the optimal heat exchanger configuration for a heat pipe with an integrated
thermoelectric cooling module for cooling of electronic devices. Le et al28 presented the
advantages and disadvantages of three typical heat exchangers in a thermoelectric cooling
module. Su et al29 considered the effect of thermal and electrical contact resistances on the
thermoelectric microrefrigerator based on thin‐film technologies to address high performance on
chip cooling and compatibility with fabrication of microelectronics.
According to a review of the literature, most researchers have investigated the application of
thermoelectric in various applications. In the present study, the results of a cold‐hot water
dispenser with a thermoelectric module system (TMS) are presented. The cooling and heating
capacities obtained from the cold‐hot water dispenser with a TMS are compared with those from
the conventional cold‐hot water dispenser with a compression refrigeration system (CRS). The
obtained results are expected to provide guidelines to designing cold‐hot water dispensers
with TMS.
856 | HOMMALEE ET AL.

2 | E X P E R I M E N T A L A P P A R A T U S AN D T E S T
P R OC E D U R E

2.1 | Experimental apparatus


As shown in Figure 1, the experimental apparatus of the cold‐hot water dispenser with TMS
and with CRS consisted of a cold water loop, a hot water loop, a coolant loop, and a TMS. The
cold‐hot water dispenser with a thermoelectric module is shown in Figure 2. For the cold water
loop, the cold water is suctioned from the water tank, and it flows into the thermoelectric
cooling module (cold side) to decrease temperature. Then, it flows back into the cold water tank
while the coolant flows into the thermoelectric cooling module (hot side) and flows into the
radiator for heat ventilation into the atmosphere and flows into the thermoelectric heating
module (cold side) to decrease temperature; it then flows into the thermoelectric cooling
module again. For the hot water loop, the water pump is used to circulate the hot water loop,
which flows into the thermoelectric heating module (hot side) and then returns into the hot
water tank. The cold‐hot water temperatures are controlled by solid states, which control each
TMS. The variations of cold and hot water temperatures obtained from TMS are compared with
those from CRS. The cold and hot water dispenser with CRS diagram is shown in Figure 3; it
can be seen from the figure that the cooling and heating of water are performed with CRS and
an electric heater.

2.2 | Test section


The thermoelectric cooling and heating module systems are shown in Figure 2. The
thermoelectric cooling module system consisted of four water blocks and nine thermoelectric
plates. The water blocks were fabricated from the longitudinal aluminum fins with the
dimensions of 10 × 40 × 120 mm3. Three thermoelectric plates were attached at each side of
the water block with a high thermal conductivity special glue. For the thermoelectric heating,

FIGURE 1 Hot‐cold water dispenser with CSR and TMS loops. CRS, compression refrigeration system;
TMS, thermoelectric module system [Color figure can be viewed at wileyonlinelibrary.com]
HOMMALEE ET AL. | 857

FIGURE 2 Diagram of the experimental apparatus of hot‐cold water dispenser with thermoelectric module
system (TMS) [Color figure can be viewed at wileyonlinelibrary.com]

the module system consisted of two water blocks and three thermoelectric plates. The
thermoelectric plates with dimension of 40 × 40 mm2, 10 A were used in the present study. The
cold and hot water temperatures were measured by type T thermocouples with the accuracy of
0.1% of full scale. Type T thermocouples were precalibrated with a dry box temperature
calibrator with 0.01°C precision.

2.3 | Experimental test method and uncertainty analysis


In the experiments, the hot and water mass flow rate was kept constant at 0.015 kg/s. For
specific cold and hot water temperatures in two water tanks at 12°C and 65°C, respectively, the
transient cold and hot water temperatures at various water consumptions (200, 400, 600, and
800 mL) have been recorded with a data acquisition system in test rooms with and without air
conditioning systems. The variations of cold and hot water temperatures obtained from TMS are

Cold water tank

Evaporator
Dispenser

Heater
Dispenser
Hot water tank

Compressor

Condenser

Control Unit

FIGURE 3 Diagram of the experimental apparatus of hot‐cold water dispenser with a compression
refrigeration system (CRS) [Color figure can be viewed at wileyonlinelibrary.com]
858 | HOMMALEE ET AL.

T A B L E 1 Accuracy and uncertainty of measurements

Instrument Accuracy (%) Uncertainly


Power supply, V 0.2 ±0.5
Thermocouple type T 0.1 ±0.1
Data logger, °C 0.1 ±0.1
Multimeter 0.1 ±0.05

compared those from CRS. The uncertainty and accuracy of the measurement are given in
Table 1. Uncertainty estimates can be done by considering the errors of the instruments, the
measurement variance, and calibrations errors.

3 | R E S U L T S AN D D I S C U S S I O N

For the cold‐hot water dispenser with TMS in the test room temperature of 24°C (with air
conditioning system), experiments were performed on the cooling capacity of the cold‐hot water
dispenser with TMS by considering the cold and hot water temperature variations with various
cold water consumption conditions (500, 1000, and 1500 mL). It can be seen from the figure that
the water temperature tends to decrease to 10°C (setting temperature) as the water flow enters
the cold side of the thermoelectric cooling module. After a temperature drop of 10°C, the
thermoelectric cooling module stops working and meanwhile the cold water consumption rate
is 500 mL. It can be seen that after cold water is used, the water from the water tank flows into
the cold water loop, which results in higher cold water temperature (cold water loop). As cold
water temperature is higher than the setting temperature, the thermoelectric cooling module
starts working to chill the water in the loop, so the cold water temperature tends to decrease to
the setting temperature in the cooling period time of 15 minutes. After the cold water
temperature is chilled to the setting temperature, the cold water consumption rates are 1000
and 1500 mL, respectively. The variation of cold water temperature obtained from the cold‐hot

FIGURE 4 Variation of cold water temperature with period time at different room temperatures for 500,
1000, and 1500 mL water consumptions [Color figure can be viewed at wileyonlinelibrary.com]
HOMMALEE ET AL. | 859

FIGURE 5 Variation of hot water temperature with period time at different room temperatures for 500,
1000, and 1500 mL water consumptions [Color figure can be viewed at wileyonlinelibrary.com]

water dispenser with TMS for different room temperatures is shown in Figure 4. It can be
clearly seen from the figure that the cooling period time tends to increase with increasing cold
water consumption rate. In addition, the blocking heat dissipation into the atmosphere (higher
atmosphere temperature) at the radiator of the system, the cooling period time tends to
increase. Similarly, the variation of hot water temperature obtained from the cold‐hot water
dispenser with thermoelectric heating module system is shown in Figure 5. At the setting hot
water temperature of 65°C, the hot water temperature tends to decrease as hot water
consumption rates are 500, 1000, and 1500 mL, respectively. This is because the flowing turns
water into the hot water loop. In addition, it can be seen that the blocking heat dissipation into
the atmosphere (higher atmosphere temperature) at the radiator of the system is a good effect
for the hot water loop. Therefore, a higher test room temperature results in a decreased heating
period time.
Figure 6 shows the variation of cold water temperature for various cold water consumption
rate every 5 minutes. It can be seen that the cold water temperature slightly increases as the

FIGURE 6 Variation of cold water temperature for different water consumptions every 5 minutes [Color
figure can be viewed at wileyonlinelibrary.com]
860 | HOMMALEE ET AL.

FIGURE 7 Variation of hot water temperature for different water consumptions every 5 minutes [Color
figure can be viewed at wileyonlinelibrary.com]

cold water consumption rate of 200 to 400 mL every 5 minutes. This means that the cooling
capacity of the thermoelectric cooling module can cool down to the setting temperature in the
cooling period time of 5 minutes. However, as the water consumption is higher than 400 mL
every 5 minutes, the cold water temperature increases. This means that the cooling capacity of
the thermoelectric cooling module cannot cool down to the setting temperature in the cooling
period time of 5 minutes. The variation of hot water temperature for various hot water
consumption rate every 5 minutes is shown in Figure 7, and the trends of the results are similar
to the cold water temperature as mentioned above. From the results presented in Figures 6 and
7, the cooling‐heating capacity of the cold‐hot water dispenser with TMSs of 400 mL within a
5‐minute cooling period time can be obtained.
The cold and hot water temperatures obtained from the TMS as compared with those from
the conventional CRS are shown in Figures 8 and 9 for the cold and hot water consumptions
rate 1000 mL. It can be clearly seen from figures that the cold and hot water temperatures

FIGURE 8 Comparison of cold water temperature obtained from the CRS and TMS. CRS, compression
refrigeration system; TMS, thermoelectric module system [Color figure can be viewed at wileyonlinelibrary.com]
HOMMALEE ET AL. | 861

FIGURE 9 Comparison of hot water temperatures obtained from the CRS and TMS. CRS, compression
refrigeration system; TMS, thermoelectric module system [Color figure can be viewed at wileyonlinelibrary.com]

obtained from the TMS and the conventional CRS are close for the maximum water
consumption rate of 1000 mL in the period time of 1 hour while the energy consumption from
the TMS and the conventional CRS are also close.

4 | C ON C LU S I O N S

In the present study, the results of the cooling and heating capacity of a cold‐hot water
dispenser with a TMS are presented. The cooling and heating capacity obtained from the cold‐
hot water dispenser with TMS are compared with those from the conventional cold‐hot water
dispenser with CRS. At the setting temperature (13°C, 65°C), it can be found that the cooling
and heating capacities of the thermoelectric module are approximately 400 mL within a
5‐minute period time. The obtained results are expected provide guidelines that will allow
designing cool and hot water dispensers with a TMS, which is a new approach to machine
design of the cold‐hot water dispenser with simple systems.

ACKNOWLEDGMEN T
The authors would like to express their appreciation to the Excellent Center for Sustainable
Engineering (ECSE) of the Srinakharinwirot University (SWU) for providing financial support
for this study.

ORCID
P. Naphon http://orcid.org/0000-0001-9184-7466

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How to cite this article: Hommalee C, Wiriyasart S, Naphon P. Development of


cold‐hot water dispenser with thermoelectric module systems. Heat Transfer—Asian Res.
2019;48:854‐863. https://doi.org/10.1002/htj.21409

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