Thermoelectric cascade for cryosurgical destroyer

The paper is a continuation of our investigations on a thermoelectric cooling system for medical applications in cryosurgical destroyers. It concerns experimental analysis of a three-stage thermoelectric cascade based on Melcor modules. The experiments have been conducted for two working conditions: first-maximum temperature difference /spl Delta/T/sub max/ and the second-maximum cooling capacity Q/sub 0max/. The best obtained results are as follows: maximum temperature difference /spl Delta/T=115.5 K for supplying current I=3.1 A, maximum cooling capacity Q/sub 0/=8.05 W for supplying current I=2.8 A. Moreover the results have been applied to verify the method of numerical optimization of thermoelectric multistage systems elaborated in the framework of our previous research. That verification is in good agreement with the experimental results. The experiments have confirmed that the temperature of the cold side of the cascade can reach the level of 200 K (-73/spl deg/C) while the cooling capacity at the same time equals Q/sub 0/=1 W.