TEMPERATURE PREFERENCE TEST:
TECA's model AHP-1200DCP consists of two adjacent thermoelectric heat/cool plates.
In this example, the customer has added an optional Plexiglas barrier that allows the rat to easily move between the two surfaces. One plate was set at 30ºC and the other plate was alternately set also to 30ºC or to a different temperature. Animals spent time on each plate.
The customer studies whether rats/mice exhibit a significant, temperature-dependent avoidance of plates after injection of analgesic drugs.
ANIMAL BEHAVIOR RESEARCH:
Investigating the changes in behavioral responses due to changes in experimental floor temperature and dermal application of heating/cooling compounds in an animal model requires precise temperature control system.
The TECA AHP-1200DCP dual zone cold/hot thermoelectric plate with two independently controllable temperature zones provides precise regulation of the floor temperature and change of settings as deemed
experimentally necessary. The Plexiglass arena allows careful monitoring of animal activity while allowing the animal to roam free across the experimental surface.
ELECTRONIC TEST STATION:
An aerospace contractor was interested in a large cold plate for the testing of electronic components. We first offered them the AHP-1200CPV but they responded that the AHP-1200DCP was more the size they wanted. Could we change it to a single plate? Well we couldn’t change the plate size but we could add an accessory plate which was larger. And we could build the unit with one controller including all of the standard options.
Now they are using the 12” x 18” custom accessory plate and a special AHP-1200DCP to test electronic amplifiers by ramping the temperature up and down between +10 to +70. A custom solution at very nearly standard product price to fill a not so unusual need.
COOLING 64 DEGREES BELOW THE AMBIENT:
A medical device manufacturer uses a TECA Low-Temperature Cascade System in his design process. The Cascade System consists of a TECA Cold Plate and Cascade attachment. The system offers direct contact cooling to the customer's load. In this example, the customer was able to cool his load of Isopropyl Alcohol solution from +25C to -25C in about 35 minutes.
We received the following feedback from the customer:
“I was eventually able to get it down to -38C at an ambient temperature of 26C. It beats the heck out of the system that is currently being used...This thing is working beautifully. Everyone is most impressed. Thanks!!!”
AGRICULTURAL RESEARCH USING TEMPERATURE GRADIENT:
A department of the Canadian government uses two TECA Thermal Gradient Bar (TGB-5030) systems to conduct thermal behavior research on insects. In the photographs shown here, the customer used two AHP-1200CPV Cold/Hot plates plus one Large Gradient Plate (p/n TGB-5030) and created a gradient area spanning from 4 degrees C to 33 degrees C.
Two groups of insects were placed side-by-side on the gradient bar, in separate cages. This allowed the researchers to test two groups at the same time. The research has been submitted to be published in an academic journal. Please see the What’s New or the 2012 Innovations sections of this website for other published article citations.
LABORATORY RESEARCH, MEASURING PLANT METABOLISM:
A university-based agriculture research laboratory in Spain is measuring plant metabolism under various conditions. TECA Corporation's high-capacity version of the AHP-1200CPV (please refer to part number 9-35EB-1-0A0 on our product specification sheet) is used to cool the plant to 22C. Precise temperature control is important in this application as the plant's roots must not get too cold. There is a significant heat load to deal with as well: the plant is being illuminated with LED lights. Finally, thermal contact is an issue. The plant is inside a glass container, which is inside an aluminum block, which is placed on the AHP-1200CPV Cold Plate surface. Working closely with TECA engineers, the customer was successfully able to integrate the AHP-1200CPV Cold Plate into this unique experiment design and his sensitive thermal management needs were met.
The customer shared with us:
“Your suggestion to add water between the glass and the aluminum block is a good one. It does lower the temperature inside, probably by increasing the thermal contact. The fit between the block and the glass is pretty tight. The glass was made first and then the block was drilled out using the glass as a reference. Still, even a tiny space basically ruins the heat transfer, so adding the water seems to fix that. Thanks for your help and suggestions, they were quite useful.”
TESTING PROPERTIES OF MATERIALS:
A materials scientist at a state university used TECA's AHP-1200CPV to conduct published research. The researchers built a thermal fatigue chamber using the AHP-1200CPV.
A 2mm-thick specimen was sandwiched between two laboratory-built hot plates. The hot temperatures were as high as 400C. The AHP-1200CPV cold plate cooled the researchers' load to 30C. Our customer reports that he was able to maintain the 30C temperature within +/- 2C.
TEMPERATURE CYCLE:
A university research laboratory uses TECA’s AHP-1200CPV Cascade system to perform nucleation studies. The AHP-1200CPV Thermoelectric Cold/Hot Plate paired with a CCP-31 Cascade attachment creates a low-temperature cooling system. The customer is able to control the temperature of an aluminum dish, rapidly cycling between +20 C to -45 C. The Plexiglas box on top is to contain a dry nitrogen flow, which prevents condensation and frost from forming on the experiment stage.
MEDICAL LABORATORY:
Some researchers at Johns Hopkins have taken the AHP-1200CPV thermoelectric cold plate (Peltier cold plate) and are cooling protein crystallization in Teflon trays with a solution in them. They’ve used the remote sense feature by drilling a hole in Teflon tray and installing the sensor in there.
| Using it with internal sensor and the auto-tuning feature they have gotten the control they needed. The secret may have been in how well the teflon tray is contacting the 2" X 3" plate, machined perfectly flat. Cooling objects with concave bottoms minimizes the contact area and diminishes the cooling effectiveness. |
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MEDICATION STORAGE:
Keeping medication at optimal storage temperature is very important. A customized AHP-1200CPV thermoelectric cold plate (Peltier cooling plate) with plate that has grooves with various diameters to accomodate vials of different sizes and lengths was a perfect solution for the customer.
Another feature of this custom thermoelectric cooling unit (Peltier cold plate) is tamper proof temperature controller.
COOLING CHICAGO:
Have you ever wondered what the Chicago Skyline looks like after a nasty Noreater blows in off the lake?
The creative machinists at Metal Concepts in Chicago constructed this cityscape to highlight the cooling capacity of our AHP-1200CPV product. The V stands for Versatile and given it’s used in so many industries I guess it’s not hard to see it cooling the city. Interested in cooling a city of your own? Send us some pictures or sketches and we’ll see what the artists at Metal Concepts can do for you.
EQUIPMENT TESTING AND MAINTENANCE:
Three AHP-1200CPV Cold Plates are running continuously and in tandem at 17°C to monitor satellite equipment. The customer has added air deflectors of his own design. TECA offers standard air deflectors as well. The customer applies approximately 50 watts of heat to the cold plate.
ISOTOPE RATIO MASS SPECTROMETRY LABORATORY:
Stock thermostated sample tray supplied with mass spectrometer holds water samples at above ambient temperature. This leads to evaporation and condensation within the sample vials, and problems of gas transfer through sample needle to mass spectrometer (liquid condensation blocks gas flow through capillary tube).
USF Geology Stable Isotope Laboratory installed a second auto-sampler with a TECA AHP-1200CPV cold plate to keep samples at precisely controlled temperatures to prevent condensation and evaporation of the sample within the vials, and maintains the thermal stability required for isotope ratio mass spectrometry of water samples analyzed by equilibration method.
QUALITY CONTROL:
The AHP-1200CPV is used in a customer's Quality Control inspection process. The customer required a specific piece of equipment that would allow for bench top inspection of solution samples contained in small vials. Maintaining a 5C temperature throughout the QC inspection process was crucial. Ease of use and dependable control by TECA Model AHP-1200CPV Cold Plate has made the customer's process more efficient.
CONSUMER ELECTRONICS:
They manufacture navigation devices for land, road,
trail and water and they needed to evaluate circuit boards @ various temperatures (-30C to -40C, no or minimal heat load, room temperature ambient) and on recommendation of a person who joined them from a controls company and had been using the solid state cold plate AHP-1200CPV. The system required the cold plate, cascade, cascade control and tapped plate. The tapped plate is built into the cold plate in place of a smooth plate surface to attach to the cascade plate. The cascade control facilitates power and temperature control to the cascade. The system also included an acrylic cover and insulation block. They received the system and liked how it is built.
OPTICS:
A research and development team in Europe uses the TECA Model AHP-1200CPV Cold Plate with a TECA Model TC-1 Tube Chiller attached. Their process is proprietary but involves optical material and measurements.
The TC-1 Tube Chiller is designed to heat or cool fluid without introducing contaminants to the fluid. The fluid flows through the flexible tubing (various tubing diameters are possible) within the plate surface.
HEARING AID:
A global leader in developing and manufacturing cochlear implant systems uses the AHP-1200CPV to cool down silicone molds after the curing process so the operators can safely handle the mold. So far the cold plate has been performing perfectly.
BROADCAST MICROWAVE SYSTEM:
Customer uses TECA AHP-1200CPV cold plate for a very accurate temperature control of a transmitter. 
The temperature of the unit under test is always the same, no matter what power it dissipates.
The thermal control loop works great and there is never a problem going cold or hot or switching power on or off.
COSMOLOGICAL PHYSICS:
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An associate professor of Cosmological Physics at a local university traveled to Antarctica for research. TECA's High-Capacity AHP-1200CPV Cold Plate went along with him! The AHP-1200CPV is being used for testing on a NASA project. |
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CASCADE COLD PLATE:
Here’s a step by step of an AHP-1200CAS/CCP-22 Cascade system our engineers were playing with. They took a purple EasySep magnetic nano particle vessel, set it on the cascade, insulated it and then cycled it up and down for kicks. The curve shows the results. Faster times can be achieved by thinning out the plates and building the cascade into the
AHP-1200CAS rather than having it as an option. Talk to TECA engineers if your interested.
COLD WELL:
The CWB-01 cold well was first developed as an AHP-1200CPV custom accessory for the petrochemical industry. It replaced the need to maintain ice baths for the storage of chemicals. It has the advantage of good temperature control in either heating or cooling modes.
The temperature of the cold plate can be referenced to the fluid temperature or the remote sensibility feature of the CPV can be used to control based on the actual fluid temperatures.
COOLING OF PURE FLUID FLOW:
The customer needed to cool a very low flow rate of a very pure fluid. Passing tubing through an ice bath did not provide close enough and consistent enough temperature control. However by using the AHP-1200CPV with tube chiller option and by determining the optimum set point a consistently cooled flow of the pure fluid was obtained.
LABORATORY EQUIPMENT:
A research organization had a problem with overheating of their equipment in a chemical-vapor deposition reactor.
TECA’s AHP-301CPV Cold Plate cooled the equipment and improved the performance of the customer’s system. The customer was able to avoid system failures, which allowed the completion of a research project.
COOLING ASPHALT SAMPLES:
An oil refinery runs tests on asphalt samples at different temperatures. TECA Model AHP-301CPV
Cold Plate is currently being used during the course of the customer's testing. The customer says, “We have used this unit at different temperatures, and it has performed well. Thank you for your follow-up on the performance of this device.”
THERMAL GRADIENT BAR:
The gradient plate shown is not TECA’s. It’s from a University. They had been running a hot plate on one end and a liquid cooled LHP-300CP with the plate in the evaluation of temperature preference in insects.
They needed better control and a wider temperature range and they wanted it on their existing plate. Many tests were run with the AHP-301CPV (shown) and the AHP-1200CPV to evaluate temperature uniformity and differential. More and more researchers are looking into the versatile CPV line of cold plates to improve their tests with the CPV line of products and accessories. Call us. Maybe we can help you too.
R & D LABORATORY:
An R&D laboratory needed to quickly cool beakers of high-concentration sucrose samples to 10C. The customer reports that using TECA's AHP-800MSP Magnetic Stirring Cold/Hot Plate system has been successful. The customer has different sizes of samples, which are accommodated by TECA's sleeve accessories. The customer uses 2L, 1.5L, 1L and 800mL sleeves at different times with the AHP-800MSP system. The sleeves are easy to switch in and out and add versatility to the system. In fact, unique to this product is the adjustable nature of many of its features: stir-bar speed, fan speed (for noise reduction), and temperature sensing (internal or external).
ANODIZING ALUMINUM:
A technological university in Asia chose TECA' s thermoelectric cooling Model AHP-800MSP Magnetic Stirring Cold/Hot Plate to anodize aluminum. The researcher's process required a temperature of 10C.
The AHP-800MSP's universal input voltage feature (100-240 VAC) allows it to be used anywhere, making it a perfect, off the shelf choice for our customer in Asia. He wrote to us: “It is quite good. Also the manual is quite clear and quite user-friendly. Thank you.”
Unique to this product is the adjustable nature of many of its features: stir-bar speed, fan speed (for noise reduction), temperature sensing (internal or external) and more. The AHP-800MSP can even accept beakers of various size by adding optional sleeves.
The solid-state thermoelectric construction is low-maintenance. There are no filters to change and no moving parts except for the fans. Our products use robust thermoelectric modules and boast a long service life.
ELECTRONICS ENCLOSURE COOLING:
Customer plans to use the TEC unit to regulate the temperature of some electronics in an outdoor enclosure. The electronics will be mounted to a cold plate where they can be cooled by direct contact with the TEC. The walls of the enclosure will be insulated to reduce thermal losses to the outside world. The hot side of the TEC will be in a separate, ventilated part of the enclosure to carry away waste heat. Customer will provide longitudinal air flow along the heat sink, so the built-in fan will not be necessary. Originally considered using a solid-state air conditioner to cool the entire enclosure, but now prefers the direct-contact method for lower cooling requirements and smaller size.
The active load that needs to be cooled is about 50W. It will consist of a number of RF components (amps, sources, etc) mounted to a common cold plate. Several passive components will also be mounted to the plate. The whole temperature-controlled assembly will be insulated by an inch or so of foam or something similar. The ambient temperature range is roughly 0 to 100 degrees F at the extremes.
FLUID DISPENSING:
A leading manufacturer of fluid dispensing systems uses one of our Thermoelectric Cold Plate and Temperature Controller for controlling the fluid temperature of adhesives, sealants, lubricants and other materials in meter, mix and dispensing systems.
Unlike other larger, higher cost and less accurate heating and cooling devices, which use heater cartridges, refrigerant or water to heat and cool, these thermoelectric-effect temperature controllers use the Peltier-Seebeck effect to directly convert electrical voltage to thermal differentials. This effect, which is reversible, either heats or cools fluid materials with precision to the temperature set point. The compact Peltier thermoelectric device, temperature sensor and the temperature control is mounted to a manifold where the fluid passes through to be precisely heated, maintained or cooled.
BEVERAGE COOLING:
Here’s an application that TECA’s engineering team was particularly excited about. Not because of the economics or the potential new business. Frankly we didn’t think the market was there. But as soon as they found out that a ½ barrel of beer would be needed for testing they were all over it. While none was ever sold, good lessons regarding contact methods and material stratification were learned. To see the result of the test click here.
CHEMICAL WASTE TRANSPORT:
Here’s an application that our engineering crew would love to put into greater use if they could figure out where and how.
A specialty gas company called. They wanted to transfer toxic and corrosive liquids from big to small containers for lab use. The process had been taking several minutes with too much wasted product. They knew because of the conditions a natural head pressure in the big container that they could use a cold plate to cool at the receiving vessel (1.5 dia x 12" bottle) to create a driving force which moves the fluid. We didn’t go into the physics of this, we trusted what the customer said and worked with them. When they tried an AHP-1200CP it was fantastic. It turned 4 minutes and a lot of waste into no waste and 40 seconds.
COOLING WAFER:
The adjustable feet on this AHP-1200CP Peltier cooling plate (thermoelectric cooling plate) made life easier on the factory floor.
Customer wafers needed cooling at the end of processing and the feet brought the cold plate up to the perfect height to match the production mechanisms. Just a little option that TECA is ready to provide to make the products we build work for you.
MANUFACTURING:
Here’s another example of an AHP-1200CP thermoelectric cooler plate (Peltier cooler plate) used in a manufacturing station. The adjustable feet provide vertical flexibility in lining up the cold plate with the workstation. Parts slide easily from the hot plate to the work surface to the cold plate.
THEME PARK EXHIBIT:
A company specializing in 3-D designs for museums, theme parks, and other attractions needed to build an "icy throne" for a museum exhibit and keep it dry at the same time.
Using four TECA AHP-1200CP Peltier cold plates (thermoelectric cold plates), one was placed in the seat, back, and in each arm rest of the throne. Raw aluminum was then screwed onto the plates, and the throne surfaces reached close to -20C!
Visitors to the museum can sit on the throne to feel the chill. The "ice" in the picture is not real. It is a "hard coat" of scenic ice. The throne manufacturers did not want museum visitors to get wet from real ice; their goal was to create a throne that felt as cold as possible. They are thrilled with the results! |
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MEDICAL LABORATORY:
Department of histology in a major hospital needed a peltier cold plate to freeze tissue samples for examination.
The Histology Division of the Department of Pathology places tissue samples from biopsies into a small block and fills it with wax. Several of these samples are then placed on one of the AHP-1200CP thermoelectric cold plates (Peltier cold plates) to "pull the heat" out of the wax so it gets really hard. The near-frozen samples are then shaved down to the desired section (slice) using a Microtome (in picture). The thin sections are then placed in the water bath to warm up the remaining wax in order to remove it and then place the section on a slide for examination.
INDUSTRIAL MATERIAL:
In this example of an AHP-1200CP application a box surrounds the cold plate area. Materials are set directly upon the cold plate and the lid is closed. The material is cooled and temperature controlled without the large air cooling refrigerator.
3D PRINTING PROCESS:
The AHP-301CP Cold Plate has simplified the customer’s process by replacing a messy hot wax system.
A customer heard about TECA’s Thermoelectric Cold Plates through word-of-mouth and placed an order within the week. The AHP-301CP Cold Plate is used in the customer’s 3D printing process. Parts are printed on an aluminum plate which is then set on the AHP-301CP Cold Plate. As the AHP-301CP Cold Plate cools the aluminum plate, the 3D prints just pop right off of the aluminum plate. The customer is pleased with the performance, ease of use and low purchase price of this basic model.
COOLING LED CHIPS:
The customer was looking for a cooling solution for LED chips. With a heat load as high as 45 watts at times,
the customer needed to cool the chips quickly. The customer was able to utilize TECA's Loaner Program and
test the AHP-301CP cold plate before purchasing. Satisfied with the AHP-301CP performance, the customer has since
purchased several more and sold them as a part of his total system to his clients.
PERFORMANCE TESTING:
Customer needed to test low-temperature performance of inertial measuring devices.
In this application of low temperature thermoelectric cooling; the user is testing inertial measurement devices over a temperature range. The devices as well as the TECA cascaded cooling assembly are subjected to various rotational and acceleration stimuli while device temperature is controlled.
The custom thermoelectric cold plate cascaded (Peltier cascade) was built up from a standard Model AHP301CP cold plate. The finished test fixture was able to function with a maximum rotation rate of 1700 degrees per second and 50g acceleration. The rotation is evident in the photo. By using a standard product as the basis for the cooling system, higher costs associated with a custom solution were avoided.
COOLING FLUID FLOW:
Chilling liquids being circulated by a peristaltic pump under ultra-clean conditions. When handling and processing various fluids in laboratory and electronic environments cleanliness is a must. Peristaltic pumps have been developed for the purpose of creating a fluid flow without contacting the fluid itself.
TECA developed a liquid chiller to cool fluids, while satisfying the same cleanliness requirements. The solution, based on our successful cold plate product line, has proven to be versatile and effective. Pictured here is the first prototype of a multiple-pass tube cooler for use with a peristaltic pump.
Applications range from laboratory to medical to industrial.
COOLING FLUID FLOW:
A customer needed to cool high pressure flow of fluid in a single pass. Using expanded Aluminum foam and attaching it to the surface of AHP-301CP thermoelectric cold plate (peltier cold plate) provided a way to maximize the thermal contact surface and eliminated the need to complex fluid path and larger cold plate.
COOLING OF GAS FLOW:
A potential customer expressed interest in a cooling/heating system for an aerosol flow tube envisioning a 1 inch OD, 0.875 inch ID stainless steel flow tube mounted inside a 2-2.5 inch ID pipe (likely also stainless steel and insulated on the outside) capable of controlling the tube at temperatures ranging from roughly 5 degrees C to 40 degrees at an ambient temperature of 25-30 degrees Celsius. We are measuring the change in particulates in the air due to the temp change. Standard liquid chillers were first offered along with technical design assistance. The requirements led to direct contact cooling as being a good solution. Standard cold plate products and controllers were offered which led to this request for a custom package. “We would like to have the flow tube sandwiched between the cold plates with the temperature controller and power supplies attached in a similar manner so that we only need attach the temperature controller (the TC-3400 appears as if it will work) to a computer so that we can change the set points remotely. Is any of this even possible or am I dreaming in Technicolor?” We advised him that the best dreams were in color. Preliminary design work was done and a quote prepared. Shortly thereafter an order was received; design documents were completed and sent to production. Less than 3 months after the initial contact the product was shipped. Several months later a follow up was made with this response. “Things are doing really well. It does exactly what we wanted it to do, and is much more efficient and better than we hoped for. We're very happy!
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CANADIAN FOG BOX:
Below are few pictures of the “Canadian Fog Box” that our customer constructed using TECA's AHP-300CP cold plates, power supply, and TC-3400 PID controllers.
The interior of the box is covered with mirror finished aluminum to reflect the ultraviolet rays from the bulb in the bottom. The top is normally closed as well.
The interior ambient temperature of the box is maintained @ 122 F. subjecting the 2 insulated glass units (laying at a 45 degree angle) to intense UV radiation similar to strong sunlight.
The upper portion of the glass is chilled to 70 F. by your cold plates. This is maintained for 1 week 24 hours/day.
The insulated glass unit is then inspected for any condensation inside where the cold plates contacted the glass.
Any condensation indicates impurities present inside the unit, which indicated faulty materials containing volatile gasses, which would lead to premature window unit failure.
Any other ‘fog boxes’ use water flow cold plates to maintain temperatures.
Our customer during a research found TECA's cold plates and decided to give them a try to eliminate the hassle and mess of water plates.
The thermoelectric cold plates (Peltier cold plates) have performed excellently to date, reaching and maintaining the 70 F. quickly and without incident.
TITER PLATE COOLING:
The WWW brings many to TECA’s door. These particular customer requirements were filled by an AHP-300CP Peltier cold plate. He needed to control the temperature of a 96 well titer plate in a new product design. But he needed just a few things the standard unit didn’t provide and he didn’t need some that it did provide. He wanted a 24 VDC heat cool system with continuous fan operation and a custom tap pattern on the cold plate. In short order the TECA sales team assigned a preliminary part number, passed the requirements through to engineering and together the first units were modified and shipped. This gave the customer plenty of time to work with the solid state cold plates and refine his requirements into the custom design he uses today.
MOTOR SPORT:
A rally car racing team had a need to chill drinking water inside their moving vehicles, while they raced through very hot desert conditions.
A solid state cold plate based on TECA model AHP-300CP. The AHP-300CP thermoelectric cold plate (Peltier cold plate), which draws power directly from the car battery, was the solution to maintain the temperature of the water at an acceptable level. With a ready supply of chilled water, the racing team could drive at peak performance.
LOW TEMPERATURE CASCADE:
A cascade sandwich is what we called this that day. The customer needed a fairly large mass cycle between two extremes. The mass and size of the load were limiting factors.
The pictures and assembly look crude, and it was, but they were also effective.
It was determined that a final design based on standard components would be successful.
CONDENSATION TEST:
A company that offers a broad range of door and window components and related building products with proven product lines and a multi-state collection of modern manufacturing facilities uses the AHP-150CP in a Canadian Fog Box, for testing double pane windows for condensation.
OEM LABORATORY EQUIPMENT:
As a component in an OEM laboratory chamber, the AHP-150CP condenses out moisture to control humidity.
The chamber is primarily used in hospital laboratories. The small size of the AHP-150CP helped reduce
the footprint of the chamber and helped increase the workspace within the chamber. The AHP-150CP is
maintenance free and the reliability of its thermoelectric cooling technology made our smallest cold plate
the perfect OEM solution for this customer.
COLD PLATE / CONTROLLER SYSTEM:
If you’re putting the pieces together rather than buy a complete system it might end up something like this. Pictures are an AHP-150CP with no insulation or sealant, a TC-4300 with
RS-232 communications and an H-Bridge relay package.
The customer had a specific package for a “one of” requirement.
.LIQUID COOLED COLD PLATE:
Our customer asked for a quote on delivery and price for the LHP-800CPHC. He then asked if we had a liquid cooled version of the AHP-1200CPHC (15" x 7.3" plate)?
The product had been in the works but on the back burner. This customers request pulled it to the front. We offered an LHP1200CP. It would be liquid cooled with 15 x 7.3 cold plate requiring 24 VDC input.
The customer later set it up with a water pump and a radiator/fan arrangement to provide a recirculation cooling water path rather than connecting to the tap and sending it down the drain.
LIQUID CHILLER COLD PLATE CASCADE:
Here are pictures of the TLC-900 thermoelectric liquid chiller with LHP-150CP Peltier liquid cooled cold plate set up run in the lab. The “load” is a plate with 10 power resistors mounted to the top and a series of thermocouples measuring the surface of the LHP-150CP’s thermoelectric cold plate. During the test the power to the resistors is increased in steps with enough time in between for the temperatures to stabilize. Plotting the data resulted in performance curves. The test was made with the load insulated and with the load simply covered. Later on we used a TLC-900CAS, a version of the TLC-900 made specifically for running and controlling secondary cold plates like the LHP-150CP and ran some step, ramp and soak profiles.
VACUUM CHAMBER:
Some engineers at Lucent wanted to cool devices inside a vacuum chamber and they didn’t want to reinvent the wheel. TECA’s been making devices like that for decades. They had a load of 10 to 20 watts generated and wanted -40C with about 15 to 20 C water available. A Custom LHP-800CP/300CP cascade, controller and power supply were supplied for a reasonable cost in a reasonable time frame.
.COLD PROBE:
A Medial Doctor was interested in a Peltier based “Cold Probe” to anesthetize the skin prior to treatment. He wanted an instrument that ran on batteries based around the Otoscope or the Ophthalmoscope with interchangeable heads. It was a medical application, a prototype and a long shot one at that. .He came to TECA with some rather limiting criteria to do a big job considering the load human skin presents. We did our best and gave the good Doctor his cold probe.
We designed it, packaged it, powered it and built it. But not many folks really needed it. Not a complete market success but a technical one. Above is a picture of it.
CRYOGENIC FLUID CONTROL:
Cryogenic fluid is extremely sensitive to temperature and pressure changes within an experimental environment.
A custom-modified version of TECA’s LHP-300CPHC Liquid-Cooled Cold Plate is installed as part of a system which allows the customer to closely monitor and control temperature. The long life expectancy and low maintenance requirements of the LHP-300CPHC offer reliability and convenience to the customer’s long-term research experiment.
INDUSTRIAL ADHESIVE COOLING:
These folks needed to cool a thick fluid that ends up being gaskets when robotically dispensed. A custom version of our AHP-1200CP fit the bill perfectly. Now the product is dispensed consistently because of the temperature control provided by thermoelectrics.
CUSTOM COLD PLATE:
The people at MIT who wanted the plain black anodized cold plate never did tell us what it was for. We think maybe they are using it to calibrate or adjust infra red temperature detectors. We could be wrong. They might have thought it just looked cool. For whatever reason, they told us what they wanted and we did our best to meet their requirement.
STIRRING COLD PLATE:
A Peltier stirring cold plate was needed to cool liquid inside a standard 1000 ml plastic tank and maintain the class 100 clean room rating.
Custom designed thermoelectric stirring cold plate with integral variable stir speed control, temperature control, alarm and remote sense capability.
TECA is glad to participate in custom and OEM product development. Over the years we have come up with some pretty innovative and novel products for our customers.
This product was developed from scratch for a customer which was a start-up company in the field of pharmaceutical development. This TECA cold plate apparatus is designed and built for use in a clean room facility. The controls are ergonomic. The user can easily adjust controls for stir speed, timing and temperature even while wearing clean room garb and sterile gloves.
Unfortunately for the start up company, their funding was pulled and they are not around any more. The stirring cold plate was taken over as a proprietary product by TECA.
AVIONICS:
A branch of the US military had an overheating problem with a high-tech radio inside the wing of a fighter aircraft.
TECA developed a custom, high-performance cold plate that withstand the shock, vibration, and G forces created by one of the most technically advanced aircraft. In order to assure maximum strength with minimum weight, TECA's Advanced Machining Center machines the finned heat sinks for each cooler from a single blocks of material.
PORTABLE MEDICINE COOLER:
Portable cooler needed for carrying emergency intravenous solutions, all components must be enclosed within the case. TECA designed a custom thermoelectric (peltier) based cold plate built into a Pelican™ Box.
TECA is developing this product for a new customer. We have taken a standard Pelican™ Box and configured a battery powered thermoelectric cooling system which is installed totally inside.
This cooled box is for the purpose of transporting up to 4 liters of emergency intravenous solutions safely. There are fitted compartments inside as well for transporting other necessary items for patient care. Since nothing is exposed or protruding from the box, our customer has ended up with a good looking and very rugged, functional thermoelectric product.
ENVIRONMENTAL CONTROL:
A municipal waste plant had an emergency requirement for a water drop device (to condense moisture for analysis) to be installed in a smokestack.
In this time critical application TECA responded with a custom designed variation of the AHP-150CP thermoelectric cold plate, to be mounted high up in the stack. Working with the customer TECA was able to design and deliver the product in less than two weeks, more than meeting the customer’s timetable.
BEVERAGE COOLER:
The application was to keep concentrated beverage container located next to a hot water tank cool in a high volume OEM application.
TECA has always had the flexibility and resources to manufacture custom OEM thermoelectric cooler (peltier coolers) assemblies intended for use as part of a customer machine, apparatus, or system.
This OEM assembly is made by TECA in production runs in the thousands. It is not ours, so to protect the privacy and identity of our customers we can’t give too many details here.
This assembly is part of a beverage service product which is shipped worldwide by a well known consumer products company. TECA furnishes the cooling "engine" which refrigerates the beverage product to be dispensed, and the OEM builds finished machinery in their own plants.
To keep sensitive electronics used in truck processing terminals in safe and operable temperature range a system integrator company uses TECA 
overhead cranes. On top of all that the only power they had was a widely varying 250 VDC. Which we found out later had some very nasty spikes which caused everyone a few headaches. But the headaches were cured and the customized 
TECA Model 
A “quick quote” for two thermoelectric air conditioners came into our sales team. It was responded to and followed up. The application was reviewed, a quote was made and an order placed. Only after did we learn that the hard requirements they were looking for were:1) Dual adjustable temperature control (heat and cool) 2) 28 VDC operation and 3) Military environment. Fortunately the selections within TECA’s enclosure air conditioner family are large. The military Contractor borrowed a unit from TECA’s loaner stock and based on that success, placed an order. It was then that we found a problem. It seems that the application was to cool some sensitive electronics out on a 200 meter DC input which caused droop in the input which in turn caused a ringing in the circuits. The new digital monitors being used were susceptible while the older tube monitors had no issue. Working with the customer it was determined that by changing the controller to a ruggedized PWM controller all problems were solved.
Modifications to TECAs 
Keeping sensitive electronic instruments and equipments at optimum operating temperature range often is one of the most important issues in designing an enclosure system housing the instruments. A manufacturer of first response vehicles was able to maintain it’s sensitive electronics in safe operating temperature range using a custom peltier cooling system designed by TECA Corporation. 
Evaluating the condition of pipes in nuclear power plants can be time consuming and costly. Automated and remote guided methods are available. Much of the electronics for the job must be rugged and durable, capable of handling many environmental conditions. 
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