Flow Characteristics of an Oil Cooler for Machine Tools Using Thermoelectric Elements

초록

Conventional oil coolers for machine tools rely on condenser-based refrigeration systems that are vulnerable toperformance degradation caused by filter clogging and environmental contamination. This study proposes acondenser-free oil cooler that utilize thermoelectric modules to improve operational reliability and maintainability. Steady-state heat transfer and total heat flux analyses were performed to evaluate the thermal behavior of theproposed structure. The results show that an oil cooler incorporating 14 thermoelectric elements applied to a 1mm-thick galvanized steel plate provides stable temperature distribution and thermal stability. The lubricating oiltemperature rise was reduced by more than 77% compared to the baseline structure, while the maximum heatflux was approximately 0.06 W/mm². These quantitative results demonstrate the effectiveness of thermoelectricelements for enhancing the cooling capacity and stability of a condenser-free oil cooler under low-temperatureoperating conditions.

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