Numerical investigation on thermal performance of thermoelectric-cooler integrated cold plate of thermal control liquid loop in spacecraft

The traditional single-phase fluid loop (SFL) and traditioanl thermal control algorithm can barely control the temperature rapidly. Thermoelectric cooler (TEC) has been proved to be a good thermal controller because of its high reliability, liquid-free characteristics, and fast response. This paper proposes a TEC-based precooling module that resides in front of the cold plate (CP), and consists of a TEC-CP system, manifesting a high compatibility between the novel precooling module and traditional SFL. The TEC-CP system was designed, and a mathematical model of heat and mass transfer was developed to numerically investigate the effects of the geometric parameters, TEC operating conditions, and liquid cooling states of the precooling module upon payload thermal performance. Through analysis, an optimal TEC-based precooling module with optimal geometric dimensions was attained, where the coolant temperature was decreased by 13.04 K, resulting in a 28.98% reduction compared to that without the precooling module. Transient results also demonstrate that the temperature response time can be within 3 min, indicating a fast response system for temperature control. Results outlined in this paper provide structural and data references for future designs of scientific rack-level thermal control loops in space stations. © 2023 Elsevier Ltd