A Thought Experiment - Thermoelectrics and Cars
Posted: Sun Jul 11, 2004 5:41 pm
I just had a idea. Wow, that was painful!<p>My dad, and everyone in the small town where I
grew up drove large, full size sedans. This was
during the 60's and 70's. Remember those old
Buick station wagons. They were so long, wide,
and heavy that the shocks could be blown out
and you would hardly notice the difference.
When you lifted the hood there was so much
room around the engine a small child could
climb over the bumper and stand next to the
engine without getting cut or scrapped.<p>There wasn't any accessory you couldn't fit
under the hood. You could hang a second fan
in front of the radiator which effectively created
a push and pull air flow through the radiator.
This helped a lot if you were towing a trailer
or had a wife and six kids. I remember a friend
who's dad gave him the old family sedan as
his first car. He turned it into a hotrod. In
order to cool the thing he added two smaller
fans to supplement the bigger ones that were
bolted to the front and back of the radiator.<p>Starting in the early 90's everything changed.
Engine compartments now look like jigsaw
puzzles, where each piece is separated just
enough so that they don't crush each other!
Mechanics, who would have rather worn
pantyhose and a dress, now wear high tech
cut resistant gloves so they can force their
hands into places were human hands were
never meant to be.<p>Recently, a colleague asked me if I could think
of a way to add some additional cooling power
to his car. We both took a good look above and
below (using ramps) the engine compartment.
Adding an additional fan is out to the question.
There isn't even enough room for an auxiliary
radiator cooler, despite the fact the these
coolers take up very little extra space.<p>I started to think, could the wonderful world of
modern electronics come the rescue?<p>What if you cut the upper and lower radiator
hoses in half. These hoses are very easy to
spot. They are more than twice the diameter
of any of the other hoses that circulate coolant.<p>You purchased or fabricated two copper cubes,
slightly larger than the hoses and soldered a pipe
stub to either end of the cube that would slip
inside the cut ends of radiator hoses. On each
of the remaining four sides of the cube you would
cement a thermoelectric cooler using thermally
conductive adhesive. A thermostat, relay, or
switch (or a combination of all three) would control
power to the cubes.<p>I haven't spent a dime on this idea. It was really
just a thought experiment. The question is would
it have any effect on coolant temperature, or would
the hot coolant pumping through the hoses overwhelm
any cooling effect from these devices?<p>I think I already know the answer. Still, it was such
a fun thing to discuss with my colleague I couldn't
resist posting this query. Oh well, it's sometimes
nice to dream about elegant solutions to difficult
problems.<p>WildBoar<p>[ July 11, 2004: Message edited by: WildBoar ]</p>
grew up drove large, full size sedans. This was
during the 60's and 70's. Remember those old
Buick station wagons. They were so long, wide,
and heavy that the shocks could be blown out
and you would hardly notice the difference.
When you lifted the hood there was so much
room around the engine a small child could
climb over the bumper and stand next to the
engine without getting cut or scrapped.<p>There wasn't any accessory you couldn't fit
under the hood. You could hang a second fan
in front of the radiator which effectively created
a push and pull air flow through the radiator.
This helped a lot if you were towing a trailer
or had a wife and six kids. I remember a friend
who's dad gave him the old family sedan as
his first car. He turned it into a hotrod. In
order to cool the thing he added two smaller
fans to supplement the bigger ones that were
bolted to the front and back of the radiator.<p>Starting in the early 90's everything changed.
Engine compartments now look like jigsaw
puzzles, where each piece is separated just
enough so that they don't crush each other!
Mechanics, who would have rather worn
pantyhose and a dress, now wear high tech
cut resistant gloves so they can force their
hands into places were human hands were
never meant to be.<p>Recently, a colleague asked me if I could think
of a way to add some additional cooling power
to his car. We both took a good look above and
below (using ramps) the engine compartment.
Adding an additional fan is out to the question.
There isn't even enough room for an auxiliary
radiator cooler, despite the fact the these
coolers take up very little extra space.<p>I started to think, could the wonderful world of
modern electronics come the rescue?<p>What if you cut the upper and lower radiator
hoses in half. These hoses are very easy to
spot. They are more than twice the diameter
of any of the other hoses that circulate coolant.<p>You purchased or fabricated two copper cubes,
slightly larger than the hoses and soldered a pipe
stub to either end of the cube that would slip
inside the cut ends of radiator hoses. On each
of the remaining four sides of the cube you would
cement a thermoelectric cooler using thermally
conductive adhesive. A thermostat, relay, or
switch (or a combination of all three) would control
power to the cubes.<p>I haven't spent a dime on this idea. It was really
just a thought experiment. The question is would
it have any effect on coolant temperature, or would
the hot coolant pumping through the hoses overwhelm
any cooling effect from these devices?<p>I think I already know the answer. Still, it was such
a fun thing to discuss with my colleague I couldn't
resist posting this query. Oh well, it's sometimes
nice to dream about elegant solutions to difficult
problems.<p>WildBoar<p>[ July 11, 2004: Message edited by: WildBoar ]</p>