Investigation of thermoelectric cooler system effect on induction motor performance

Abstract

Induction motors are generally cooled by the fan connected to the motor shaft, as the cooling of electrical machines is important. In this study, an alternative method is proposed for cooling of induction motors. Thermoelectric coolers are used in the proposed system and these coolers effects on the system are investigated. While the heat generated by the induction motor during its operation is removed from the motor with thermoelectric elements and aluminum fans, the temperature has been tried to be reduced by the thermoelectric elements acting effect as a thermoelectric cooler. The thermoelectric effect efficiency used in the system is determined by the Peltier effect. In this proposed method, the temperature formed on an induction motor with a power of 370 W is reduced by approximately 11% with the thermoelectric coolers. According to this value, the investigations in this study demonstrated that, in contrast to traditional methods, Thermoelectric cooler modules can be developed and used for cooling induction motors. Thus, a new cooling class could be created for induction motors whereby life cycle could be increased and operating costs reduced.