Model M325D User’s Manual
Doc. SE-MAN-056: Revision: 00
Page 5 of 28
©2018 Perma Pure LLC. All rights reserved. Specifications subject to change.
PRINCIPLE OF OPERATION
One of the natural products of combustion (and
other processes) is significant amounts of water
in the form of vapor. Most measurement
processes require this water vapor to be
removed to prevent the water vapor from
interfering with the measurement. The cooler
rapidly lowers the temperature of the sample gas
stream in the heat exchanger (impinger) to just
above the freezing point of the water. This forces
the water vapor to condense. Once condensed, it
is collected and removed. The thermoelectric
cooler (TEC) utilizes TEC (also called a ‘Peltier’)
elements to provide active cooling. When
powered, one side becomes cold and the other
side becomes hot, transferring heat energy. The
heat then passes through the heat transfer block
into the surrounding air. A cooling fan is used to
dissipate heat into the surrounding air. The
control system reacts to variations in temperature
at the heat transfer block, maintaining the temperature as
the load or ambient conditions vary.
Depending on the cooler model, the cooler may also include a passive stage, where the cold block is thermally
mated directly to the heat transfer block, but can only cool to approximately room temperature, limiting its heat-,
and therefore water-removal, capacity.
LIMITATIONS
There are some operational limitations for thermoelectric coolers.
The TEC elements can only transfer rated amount of heat. If more heat is applied to the TEC than the element
can transfer for a given temperature, the element will be overwhelmed, the temperature of the cooler and sample
gas will then rise above the set temperature.
The Peltier element generates a differential temperature for a given voltage and load. Should ambient conditions
become too hot, the element will no longer be able to cool the sample through heat transfer. Ambient conditions
should be within specifications for proper function of the cooler.
The condensation process can also remove other analytes of interest with the water. This situation may impact
your measurements. SOx and NOx are two examples of chemicals in gases that can easily mix with standing
water.
Perma Pure LLC can also provide Nafion-based sample conditioning systems which prevent loss of water
soluble analytes using a permeation method for sample drying.
Figure 1: Thermo-electric element (Peltier)