Optimal control of convective thermal devices
AssigneeGentherm Incorporated
InventorsAlan Chewter, Satya Mandali, Mobashar Ahmad, Ankit Tiwari, Tyler Myers, Chad Westerman
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Abstract
A thermal conditioning system for a vehicle seat or other surface includes a thermoelectric Peltier device (TED) with a main side and a waste side. A flap adjusts a proportion of an airflow over the main and waste side airflow paths based on one or more operational parameters of the system. The operational parameters can include a power provided to the TED, the flow rate of the airflow, a thermal efficiency between the TED and the airflow, and/or a setpoint temperature of the airflow.
Claims21
A control method for a thermal conditioning system including a thermoelectric device (TED), comprising:
- providing power to the TED;
- providing an airflow across a main side of the TED with a blower at a first blower speed;
- calculating an operational parameter based at least on the power provided to the TED, wherein the operational parameter is based on a heat transfer coefficient for a heat exchanger on the main side of the TED and a specific heat of the airflow;
- and
- adjusting the airflow across the main side of the TED based on the operational parameter.
Dependencies are inferred from the claim text.