US 12,314,112 B2
Power optimization for a multistage stack of thermoelectric cooling devices
Marc Anthony Azzopardi, San Gwann (MT); and Andre Micallef, Birbirkara (MT)
Assigned to UNIVERSITY OF MALTA, Msida (MT)
Filed by UNIVERSITY OF MALTA, Msida (MT)
Filed on Jul. 20, 2022, as Appl. No. 17/868,839.
Prior Publication US 2024/0028100 A1, Jan. 25, 2024
Int. Cl. G06F 1/3234 (2019.01); G06F 1/20 (2006.01)
CPC G06F 1/3234 (2013.01) [G06F 1/20 (2013.01)] 22 Claims
OG exemplary drawing
 
1. A computer-implemented method for controlling a plurality of thermoelectric cooling devices (TECs) in a stack of thermoelectric cooling devices, comprising:
determining an overall temperature differential between a top surface of a top TEC and a bottom surface of a bottom TEC, to top TEC positioned over the bottom TEC in the stack of TECs;
determining a temperature differential across each TEC in the stack of TECs, based on the temperature between each successive TEC, and the top surface temperature of the top TEC and the bottom surface temperature of the bottom TEC, of the stack of TECs; and
apportioning the temperature differential between each successive TEC in the stack of TECs to optimize the overall power consumption of the stack, such that the sum of the apportioned temperature differentials is at least approximately equal to the overall temperature differential, and the apportioning is performed by one or more of: gradient descent processes, hill climbing processes, and perturb and observe processes.