Numerical calculations for Peltier current lead designing Original Research Article

Peltier current leads (PCLs) are numerically analyzed. They consist of a thermoelectric element (TE) inserted into a pure copper lead at its room temperature end, with or without a high-Tc superconductor below 77 K. We solve a one-dimensional heat conduction equation to study their thermal behavior under the self-cooling condition. Each section of the lead is cooled with a helium gas under various degrees of cooling efficiency. Due to the Peltier effect, the PCLs are expected to exhibit less heat leak at the low temperature end than conventional current leads. Our calculations confirm that the PCLs show as much as 30% reductions of the heat leak when they are optimized. Temperature profiles and other physical quantities of interest are also calculated, which are useful for developing TEs and for designing PCLs.