Theory of Thermoelectric Refrigeration

Abstract

The thermoelectric phenomena are reversible in the sense that they do not of themselves give rise to thermodynamic losses. However, they are always, in practice, accompanied by the irreversible effects of electrical resistance and thermal conduction. It turns out that the performance of any thermocouple as an energy convertor can be expressed in terms of the differential Seebeck coefficient and the thermal and electrical resistances of the two branches. These resistances depend on the thermal and electrical resistivities and the ratios of length to cross-sectional area. Again we shall, in the first instance, assume that all the properties are independent of orientation. The