Downhole thermoelectric refrigerator

A downhole thermoelectric refrigerator for cooling electronic components located downhole in a high ambient temperature environment in a deep well containing well fluid, comprising:

• a thermoelectric cooling system, positioned downhole in the deep well, having a hot plate and a cold plate and having at least one cooling stage, the cold plate serving as a mounting support for the electronic components to be cooled;
• a vapor phase heat transfer pipe having lower and upper ends and extending along the axis of the well, the lower end of the pipe being thermally connected to the hot plate of said thermoelectric cooling system;
• a vacuum insulated dewar flask, extending along the axis of the well, having a closed lower end and surrounding the thermoelectric cooling system, the electronic components and a major portion of the heat transfer pipe;
• a thermal insulator stopper inserted in the open upper end of the dewar flask, the heat transfer pipe extending through the stopper so that an upper minor portion of the pipe is positioned above the stopper and is outside of the enclosure formed by the dewar flask and the stopper;
• and heat exchanger means thermally connected to the upper portion of the heat transfer pipe and communicating with the well fluid in order to conduct heat from the pipe to the well fluid and thus to the downhole environment,
• heat being pumped uphill against the temperature gradient by the thermoelectric cooling system, thereby cooling the electronic components, from a relatively low temperature on the cold plate, which low temperature is substantially less than the high ambient temperature in the downhole environment, to a relatively high temperature on the hot plate, which high temperature is greater than the ambient temperature, heat thereby being transferred by said heat transfer pipe with relatively little temperature loss from the hot plate and from the pipe's lower end to the pipe's upper end, from which upper end said heat exchanger means transfers heat downhill with the temperature gradient to the well fluid and to the downhole environment which are established at the ambient temperature and have an infinite heat capacity, thereby functioning as a heat sink.