Thermoelectric cooler for space microgravity experiment

On May 19, 1999, during eight days the space microgravity experiment in Chinese "SJ-5" satellite was first completed by Nation Microgravity Lab of Institute of Mechanics and fruitful data have been achieved. The space microgravity experiment used the multi-layer facility made by NML. The NML has used thermoelectric cooler (TEC) by Tianjin Institute of Power Sources (TIPS) as thermal control device which supplied more than thirty kinds of different temperature gradient for liquid pool facility. The maximum temperature difference of liquid pool came about 40/spl deg/C, the temperature of one side was 90/spl deg/C. The paper describes the structure of the liquid pool unit, introduces the design considerations, the technology and screen method of TEC, gives the performance and test data of two types of TECs. The experiment has been proven that the design of the TEC is reasonable. The TECs have excellent performances and are high reliable electronic devices for space, applications.