CN104534772B - Semiconductor refrigerator - Google Patents

Abstract

The invention provides a semiconductor refrigerator. The semiconductor refrigerator includes a plurality of semiconductor refrigerating sheets and a power supply system for supplying power to the plurality of semiconductor refrigerating sheets. The semiconductor refrigerator is provided with a plurality of temperature zones, and each temperature zone is refrigerated by one or more of the semiconductor refrigerating sheets; the power supply system It is configured to supply power to semiconductor cooling chips in multiple temperature zones respectively. Utilizing the scheme of the present invention, a plurality of semiconductor refrigerating sheets cool a plurality of temperature zones separately, and use a power supply system to supply power to the semiconductor refrigerating sheets in multiple temperature zones respectively, and apply different voltages to the semiconductor refrigerating sheets in different temperature zones to make the semiconductor refrigerating The cooling capacity of the slices is different, so that different temperature zones can achieve different temperature storage environments, which meets the storage requirements of different types of items. Moreover, a power conversion device that meets the power supply requirements of the semiconductor refrigeration sheet can be selected from a plurality of power conversion devices with different voltage output ranges for power supply, thereby improving the energy consumption efficiency of the semiconductor refrigerator.

Description

semiconductor refrigerator

technical field

The invention relates to the field of refrigeration equipment, in particular to a semiconductor refrigerator.

Background technique

Semiconductor refrigeration refrigerators, also known as thermoelectric refrigerators. It uses semiconductor refrigerating sheets to achieve cooling through heat pipe heat dissipation and conduction technology and automatic variable pressure and variable flow control technology. It does not require refrigerants and mechanical moving parts, and solves the application problems of traditional mechanical refrigeration refrigerators such as medium pollution and mechanical vibration.

The cooling capacity of the semiconductor refrigerator is determined by the voltage supplied to the semiconductor refrigerator. In the prior art, the existing semiconductor refrigerator generally calculates the power supply required by the semiconductor refrigerator by calculating the difference between the cooling temperature and the set temperature. Voltage, and then use the power conversion device to provide the required power supply voltage to the semiconductor refrigeration sheet. That is to say, most of the semiconductor refrigerators have a single temperature zone, that is, the temperature inside the semiconductor refrigerator is the same, resulting in a single use of the semiconductor refrigerator, which cannot meet the requirements for storing different types of items.

In addition, due to the wide operating voltage range of the semiconductor refrigerator, in some usage environments, the power conversion efficiency of the power conversion device is very low, resulting in a large energy consumption of the semiconductor refrigerator. Moreover, a wide range of power conversion devices will also lead to an increase in cost.

Contents of the invention

In view of the above problems, the present invention is proposed to provide a semiconductor refrigerator that overcomes the above problems or at least partially solves the above problems.

A further object of the present invention is to enable the semiconductor refrigerator to have multiple storage environments with different temperatures to meet the storage requirements of different types of items.

A further object of the invention is to increase the energy efficiency of semiconductors.

According to one aspect of the present invention, the present invention provides a semiconductor refrigerator. The semiconductor refrigerator includes a plurality of semiconductor refrigerating sheets and a power supply system for supplying power to the plurality of semiconductor refrigerating sheets. The semiconductor refrigerator is provided with a plurality of temperature zones, and each temperature zone is refrigerated by one or more of the semiconductor refrigerating sheets; the power supply system It is configured to supply power to semiconductor cooling chips in multiple temperature zones respectively.

Optionally, the power supply system includes: a plurality of power conversion devices, each power conversion device has a different voltage output range, and is configured to be electrically connected to the peltiers in one or more temperature zones in a controlled manner.

Optionally, the power supply system further includes: an AC input terminal and a rectification and filtering module; wherein the AC input terminal is configured to be connected to an external AC power supply; and the rectification and filtering module is connected between a plurality of power conversion devices and the AC input terminal, and is configured to The external AC power supply is rectified and filtered to DC power supply.

Optionally, the plurality of power conversion devices are switching power supplies, and the input end of each power conversion device is connected to the DC terminal of the rectification and filtering module, and is configured to convert the DC power supply into a voltage within the respective voltage output range.

Optionally, the power supply system further includes: a DC switch assembly, arranged between the output ends of multiple power conversion devices and the peltiers, configured to connect the power conversion devices that meet the power supply requirements of the peltiers in each temperature zone to the corresponding Semiconductor coolers in the temperature zone.

Optionally, the DC switch assembly includes: a plurality of first ends and a plurality of second ends, the output end of each power conversion device is connected to a first end; the semiconductor refrigeration sheet in each temperature zone is connected to a second end ; The DC switch assembly is also configured to: connect each first end to one or more of the second ends in a controlled manner.

Optionally, the semiconductor refrigerator above further includes: a plurality of temperature measuring components, each temperature measuring component is configured to measure the cooling temperature of a temperature zone, so as to determine the power supply requirement of the semiconductor cooling sheet in the temperature zone according to the cooling temperature.

Optionally, each temperature zone is refrigerated by a peltier.

Optionally, the number of peltiers in each temperature zone is different.

Optionally, there are two power conversion devices, the voltage output range of one power conversion device is set to make the peltier cooler work in the high cooling efficiency zone, and the voltage output range of the other power conversion device is set to make the peltier cooler work in the high cooling capacity area.

The semiconductor refrigerator of the present invention uses a plurality of semiconductor refrigerating sheets to refrigerate a plurality of temperature zones separately, and uses a power supply system to supply power to the semiconductor refrigerating sheets in multiple temperature zones respectively, and applies different voltages to the semiconductor refrigerating sheets in different temperature zones so that the semiconductor refrigerating The cooling capacity of the slices is different, so that different temperature zones can achieve different temperature storage environments, which meets the storage requirements of different types of items.

Furthermore, the semiconductor refrigerator of the present invention selects a power conversion device that meets the power supply requirements of the semiconductor refrigeration sheet from a plurality of power conversion devices with different voltage output ranges to supply power, preventing the power conversion device with a wide voltage range from being too low or too high. The power consumption of semiconductor refrigerators is too high due to low power conversion efficiency at high voltage output.

Those skilled in the art will be more aware of the above and other objects, advantages and features of the present invention according to the following detailed description of specific embodiments of the present invention in conjunction with the accompanying drawings.

Description of drawings

Hereinafter, some specific embodiments of the present invention will be described in detail by way of illustration and not limitation with reference to the accompanying drawings. The same reference numerals in the drawings designate the same or similar parts or parts. Those skilled in the art will appreciate that the drawings are not necessarily drawn to scale. In the attached picture:

Fig. 1 is according to an embodiment of the present invention the semiconductive refrigerator in the semiconductive refrigerator - the refrigerating capacity - the relation diagram;

2 is a schematic diagram of a semiconductor refrigerator according to an embodiment of the present invention;

3 is a schematic diagram of a semiconductor refrigerator according to another embodiment of the present invention; and

FIG. 4 is a schematic diagram of a DC switch assembly in the semiconductor refrigerator shown in FIG. 3 .

detailed description

Fig. 1 is a graph showing the relationship between the semiconductor refrigerating sheet-cooling capacity-voltage in a semiconductor refrigerator according to an embodiment of the present invention. According to the variation curve of power supply voltage, it can be seen that the area between voltage value V1 and voltage value V3 is the area with the highest refrigeration efficiency of semiconductor refrigeration chips (in this embodiment, it can be called the high refrigeration efficiency section), where point A It is the best working point, and the cooling efficiency of the semiconducting refrigerating sheet at point A is the highest, and the voltage at point A is recorded as V2. The area between the voltage value V3 and the voltage value V4 is that the refrigerating capacity of the semiconductor cooling chip reaches the maximum (in this embodiment, it may be called a high refrigerating capacity section). Because the working efficiency of the semiconducting cooling sheet in the region with a voltage value less than V1 and greater than V4 is too low, it is generally unusable. Therefore, the operating voltage range of the semiconductor refrigeration chip of the semiconductor refrigerator is between V1 and V4.

It can be seen from Fig. 1 that the operating voltage range of the semiconductor refrigeration sheet of the semiconductor refrigerator is between V1 and V4. By applying different voltages to the peltier, the peltier can achieve different cooling capacities. If these semiconductor refrigeration sheets are used to refrigerate different closed areas of the semiconductor refrigerator, different temperature zones can be realized in the semiconductor refrigerator, thereby creating conditions for the storage of different types of articles.

In addition, due to the wide working voltage efficiency of semiconductor refrigeration chips, in the prior art, a voltage-adjustable DC power supply is used for power supply. On the one hand, the requirement for the voltage output range is higher, which increases the cost; High power conversion efficiency cannot be guaranteed in a wide output range, which increases the overall power consumption of semiconductor refrigerators.

Fig. 2 is a schematic diagram of a semiconductor refrigerator according to an embodiment of the present invention, the semiconductor refrigerator includes a plurality of semiconductor refrigeration chips 200 and a power supply system 100 for supplying power to the plurality of semiconductor refrigeration chips 200, the semiconductor refrigerator is provided with a plurality of temperature zones, Each temperature zone is cooled by one or more of the peltiers 200; the power supply system 100 is configured to supply power to the peltiers 200 in multiple temperature zones respectively.

The semiconductor refrigerator of this embodiment utilizes a plurality of semiconductor refrigeration chips 200 to cool multiple temperature zones separately, and uses a power supply system to supply power to the semiconductor refrigeration chips 200 in multiple temperature zones respectively, by applying different voltages to the semiconductor refrigeration chips in different temperature zones The refrigerating capacity of the semiconductor refrigerating sheet is different, and the storage environment of different temperatures is realized in different temperature zones, which meets the storage requirements of different types of items.

When in use, the semiconductor refrigerator of this embodiment can be provided with a temperature measuring component in each temperature zone, which is used to measure the cooling temperature of the temperature zone, and calculate the difference between the cooling temperature and the set temperature according to the measured cooling temperature for each temperature zone. The power supply system 100 outputs the corresponding DC voltages to the corresponding peltiers 200 for the power supply voltage required by the peltiers 200 in each temperature zone.

Generally, one temperature zone can use one semiconductor cooling chip 200 for cooling, and the cooling capacity of the semiconductor cooling chip 200 can be used to achieve different cooling temperatures in the temperature zone. In some optional embodiments, the number of peltiers 200 in each temperature zone can also be set to be different, so as to realize different cooling capacities by using different numbers of peltiers 200 .

Fig. 3 is a schematic diagram of a semiconductor refrigerator according to another embodiment of the present invention. On the basis of the previous embodiment, the semiconductor refrigerator of this embodiment optimizes the power supply system and adds some related components.

The power supply system 100 includes: a plurality of power conversion devices 110 , each power conversion device 110 has a voltage output range set to be different, and is configured to be electrically connected to the peltier 200 in a controlled manner. The required voltages of the peltiers 200 in multiple temperature zones are different, and one of the above multiple power conversion devices 110 can be used to supply power to one or more peltiers 200 in the corresponding temperature zone.

Considering that semiconductor refrigerators generally use power frequency power (such as 220V, 50Hz AC) for power supply, the rectification and filtering module can be used to rectify and filter the power frequency power into DC with higher voltage. The switching power supply adjustable within a certain range, its input is the direct current output by the rectification and filtering module, and its output is the direct current adjustable within different voltage ranges.

The sum of the voltage output ranges of multiple power conversion devices 110 can be within the working voltage range of the peltiers, and the power of each power conversion device 110 needs to meet the requirement of simultaneously supplying power to all peltiers 200 .

Considering that too many power conversion devices will also lead to high cost, it is preferable that there are two power conversion devices 110, and the voltage output range of one of the power conversion devices is set to the high cooling efficiency section of the semiconductor refrigeration chip (such as V1 to V3 in Fig. 1), the voltage output range of another power conversion device is set to the high cooling capacity section of the peltier cooler (V3 to V4 in Fig. 1). In some other embodiments, the number of power conversion devices and the voltage output range can be configured according to usage requirements, for example, three power conversion devices are configured, and the voltage output ranges are respectively configured as: V1 to V2, V2 to V3, and V3 to V4; Another example is that two power conversion devices are configured, and the voltage output ranges are respectively configured as: V1 to V2, and V2 to V4.

In Fig. 3, this embodiment is provided with a power conversion device 111 whose voltage output range is set to make the peltier cooler work in the high cooling efficiency zone and a power supply whose voltage output range is set to make the peltier cooler work in the high cooling capacity zone Transformation means 112.

The AC input terminal 120 is configured to be connected to an external AC power supply, and the rectification and filtering module 130 is connected between a plurality of power conversion devices 110 and the AC input terminal 120, and is configured to rectify and filter the external AC power supply into a DC power supply, for example, convert 220V power frequency The power supply performs full-bridge rectification and filtering to output a DC voltage of about 310V. In addition, the rectification and filtering module 130 can also be provided with an output switch to controllably supply DC power to the power conversion device 111 or power conversion device 112 .

4 is a schematic diagram of the DC switch assembly 140 in the semiconductor refrigerator shown in FIG. One temperature zone power supply requirement is connected to the peltier refrigerating sheet 200 of this temperature zone.

For example, the DC switch assembly 140 may include: a plurality of first ends and a plurality of second ends, the first end of each power conversion device 110 is connected to an input end; one or more semiconductor cooling chips 200 in each temperature zone are connected to one second terminal; the DC switch assembly 140 controllably connects each first terminal to one or more of the second terminals.

In the case of a semiconductor refrigerator with a single temperature zone, that is, when a plurality of semiconductor refrigerators 200 jointly cool the same temperature zone of the semiconductor refrigerator, the multiple semiconductor refrigerators 200 need to have the same power supply voltage. In this case, There may be one output terminal of the DC switch assembly 140, and the power supply terminals of a plurality of peltier coolers 200 are connected in parallel to the output terminal. The DC switch assembly 140 may be configured to: controllably connect one of the plurality of first terminals to the second terminal. Multiple relays or electronic switches (such as power electronic devices such as transistors and MOS tubes) may be used as switching nodes in the DC switch assembly 140 .

The above power conversion device 110, rectification and filtering module 130, AC input terminal 120, and DC switch assembly 140 can all be controlled by one or more controllers 300, and the controller 300 can measure the temperatures of multiple temperature zones through multiple temperature measurement components 400. Refrigeration temperature (the electrical connection relationship between the controller 300 and the plurality of temperature measuring components 400 is not shown in the figure), the controller 300 compares the actual temperature of each temperature zone measured by the plurality of temperature measuring components 400 with its respective set temperature, Determine the power supply voltage required by the semiconductor refrigerators in each temperature zone, and accordingly, send the switching signal for power supply to the power conversion device 110 to the rectification and filtering module 130, send the voltage regulation control signal to the power conversion device 110, and send the DC switch assembly 140 sends on-off control signals to provide required power supply voltages to different peltiers 200 .

For example, the controller 300 can use the PID (proportional-integral-derivative) algorithm to calculate the voltage required by the peltier 200 according to the difference between the set temperature and the temperature measured by the temperature measuring part 400. When the peltier 200 needs When the voltage is V3, the power conversion device 112 is cut off, and only the power conversion device 111 is used to supply power to the peltier refrigerating sheet 200. The actual power supply voltage of the power conversion device 111 is the sum of the optimal power supply voltage and the regulated voltage calculated by PID. When the voltage required by the peltier cooler 200 is higher than V3, the power conversion device 111 is cut off, and only the power conversion device 112 is used to supply power to the peltier cooler 200 .

When necessary, the one of the above power conversion devices 110 with a lower output voltage range can also supply power to components such as the fan, the temperature measuring component 400, and the control part. In addition, after the temperature of the semiconductor refrigerator is cooled, only a lower voltage is needed to maintain the temperature of each temperature zone at the set value, and the power conversion device 111 is preferentially used to ensure that the power supply has higher efficiency under this working condition. Therefore, the power conversion device 111 generally needs to keep working, and also needs to supply power to electrical components other than the peltier 200 .

In a multi-temperature semiconductor refrigerator, the DC switch assembly 140 includes a plurality of first terminals and a plurality of second terminals, and the output terminal of each power conversion device 110 is connected to a first terminal; each semiconductor cooling chip 200 is connected to A second terminal; DC switch assembly 140 is further configured to: controllably connect each first terminal to one or more of the second terminals. That is, the power conversion device 110 whose output voltage range corresponds to the power supply demand voltage is selected for the peltier refrigerating sheet 200 in each temperature zone to supply power for it.

For semiconductor refrigerators with multiple temperature zones, the temperature measurement part 400 measures the temperature separately for each temperature zone, and will calculate the power supply voltage required by the semiconductor refrigeration sheet 200 in each temperature zone in turn, and the corresponding voltage output range will be output by the DC switch assembly 140 The power conversion device 111 or the power conversion device 112 is connected to the semiconductor cooling chip 200 in the temperature zone. For most semiconductor refrigerators with dual temperature zones, two power conversion devices 110 can meet the power supply requirements.

For the case of more than two temperature zones, two methods can be adopted, one is to set the power conversion device 110 with the same number of temperature zones, and another more preferable way is to still set two power conversion devices 110, a filtering and voltage stabilizing circuit (not shown in the figure) is provided between the output end of the DC switch assembly 140 and the semiconductor cooling sheet 200 in each temperature zone, and each DC switch assembly 140 connected to the second end The switches in are controlled using a PWM modulated wave, thus forming a PWM chopping device. When supplying power to semiconductor refrigerating sheets, set a plurality of temperature zones into two groups, one group lower than the voltage V3 is powered by the power conversion device 111, and one group higher than the voltage V3 is powered by the power conversion device 112, and the power conversion device 111 and the output voltage of the power conversion device 112 are all set to the highest value of the required voltage in the corresponding group, and then the PWM chopper device is used to step down the voltage to the required voltage of each group of semiconductor refrigeration chips.

The semiconductor refrigerator of this embodiment utilizes a plurality of semiconductor refrigerating sheets to refrigerate multiple temperature zones separately, and uses a power supply system to supply power to the semiconductor refrigerating sheets in multiple temperature zones respectively. By applying different voltages to the semiconductor refrigerating sheets in different temperature zones, the semiconductor refrigerator The refrigerating capacity of the refrigeration sheet is different, so that different temperature zones can achieve different temperature storage environments, which meets the storage requirements of different types of items.

Further, the semiconductor refrigerator of this embodiment selects a power conversion device that meets the power supply requirements of the semiconductor refrigeration sheet from a plurality of power conversion devices with different voltage output ranges to supply power, preventing the power conversion device with a wide voltage range from being too low or The power consumption of the semiconductor refrigerator is too high due to the low power conversion efficiency when the output voltage is too high.

So far, those skilled in the art should appreciate that, although a number of exemplary embodiments of the present invention have been shown and described in detail herein, without departing from the spirit and scope of the present invention, the disclosed embodiments of the present invention can still be used. Many other variations or modifications consistent with the principles of the invention are directly identified or derived from the content. Accordingly, the scope of the present invention should be understood and deemed to cover all such other variations or modifications.

Claims (8)

1. A semiconductor refrigerator, comprising a plurality of semiconductor refrigerators and a power supply system for supplying power to the plurality of semiconductor refrigerators, characterized in that The semiconductor refrigerator is provided with multiple temperature zones, and each temperature zone is refrigerated by one or more of the semiconductor refrigeration sheets; The power supply system is configured to supply power to the semiconductor refrigeration chips in the multiple temperature zones respectively, wherein the power supply system includes: A plurality of power conversion devices, each of which has a different voltage output range and is configured to be electrically connected to the peltiers in one or more temperature zones in a controlled manner, and There are two power conversion devices, and the voltage output range of one of the power conversion devices is set to make the semiconductor refrigeration chip work in the high cooling efficiency zone, and the voltage output range of the other power conversion device is set to make the The semiconductor cooling chip works in the high cooling capacity section. 2. The semiconductor refrigerator according to claim 1, characterized in that The power supply system also includes: an AC input terminal and a rectification and filtering module; wherein The AC input terminal is configured to be connected to an external AC power source; and The rectification and filtering module is connected between the plurality of power conversion devices and the AC input end, and is configured to rectify and filter the external AC power to DC power. 3. The semiconductor refrigerator according to claim 2, characterized in that The plurality of power conversion devices are switching power supplies, and the input end of each power conversion device is connected to the DC terminal of the rectification and filtering module, and is configured to convert the DC power supply into a voltage within the respective voltage output range. 4. The semiconductor refrigerator according to claim 1, wherein the power supply system further comprises: The DC switch assembly is arranged between the output ends of the plurality of power conversion devices and the semiconductor cooling sheet, and is configured to connect the power conversion device that meets the power supply requirements of the semiconductor cooling sheet in each temperature zone to the corresponding temperature zone. area of the peltier cooler. 5. The semiconductor refrigerator according to claim 4, wherein the DC switch assembly comprises: a plurality of first terminals and a plurality of second terminals, an output terminal of each of the power conversion devices is connected to one of the first terminals; The peltiers of each temperature zone are connected to one of the second terminals; The DC switch assembly is further configured to controllably connect each of the first terminals to one or more of the second terminals. 6. The semiconductor refrigerator according to claim 5, further comprising: A plurality of temperature measuring components, each of the temperature measuring components is configured to measure the cooling temperature of one of the temperature zones, so as to determine the power supply requirements of the peltiers in the temperature zone according to the cooling temperature. 7. The semiconductor refrigerator according to any one of claims 1 to 6, characterized in that Each of the temperature zones is refrigerated by one semiconductor cooling chip. 8. The semiconductor refrigerator according to any one of claims 1 to 6, characterized in that The number of the semiconductor refrigeration chips in each of the temperature zones is different.