A hybrid thermoelectric cooler thermal management system for electronic packaging

Conventional cooling techniques, such as the use of heat pipes and forced convective cooling can be inadequate for many high performance electronic chips or when the operating ambient temperature is high. In such cases, there is a need for active cooling of the chip to keep its operating temperature below the design point. Thermoelectric coolers (TEC) provide an attractive option in such instances, and have been developed and used for thermal management in electronic packaging systems. In this paper a hybrid thermal management system is considered that incorporates a TEC system for active cooling in parallel with a conventional passive system. A thermal resistance network model is developed for that hybrid system that takes into account the governing equations for the TEC. The advantage of the hybrid system is that it can be operated with a higher overall system coefficient of performance for partial loads, while extending the range of operating conditions. System performance curves are obtained for change in heat load from the chip and ambient temperature.