Introduction to the Thermoelectric Leg Model

A thermoelectric leg is a fundamental component of a thermoelectric cooler (or heater). The component in this example is 1-by-1-by-6 mm, capped by two thin copper electrodes. The thermoelectric part is made of bismuth telluride.

The material properties needed are the thermal conductivity, the electric conductivity, and the Seebeck coefficient of copper and bismuth telluride. The material properties of this model is taken from the paper in Ref. 1:

Property	Symbol and Unit	Bismuth Telluride	Copper
Thermal conductivity	k (W/(m*K))	1.6	350
Electric conductivity	σ (S/m)	1.1e5	5.9e8
Seebeck coefficient	S (V/K)	p: 200e-6 n: -200e-6	6.5e-6

The bottom electrode surface is held at 0 degrees C and is electrically grounded at 0 V. The top electrode is set to 0.05 V and is thermally insulated. Applying a constraint for only one degree of freedom automatically sets a natural boundary condition for the other.