B

ELSEVIER

CHEMICAL

Sensors and Actuators B 26-27 (1995) 303-307

New concept of integrated Peltier cooling device for the

preventive detection of water condensation
P. Ancey a, M. Gschwind a, O. Vancauwenberghe b
IMRA Europe S.A., BP 213, 220 rue Albert Caquot, 06904 Sophia Antipolis Cedex, France
b ESIEE, Laboratoire de Syst~mes Micro-~lectroniques (LSM), BP 99, 2 bd. Blaise Pascal, 93162 Noisy-le-Grand Cedex, France

Abstract

A new sensor c o n c e p t for the preventive d e t e c t i o n of w a t e r c o n d e n s a t i o n is p r e s e n t e d . Based on the Peltier effect, this
sensor should b e able to detect, on any surface, the c o n d e n s a t i o n probability m e a s u r e d as the small difference b e t w e e n surface
t e m p e r a t u r e a n d dew-point t e m p e r a t u r e . It is c o m p o s e d of a sensitive area a n d a Peltier device a n d is linked to the surface
t h r o u g h a h e a t sink. T h e Peltier device g e n e r a t e s a t h e r m a l oscillation on the sensitive area, while the h e a t sink stays at the
surface t e m p e r a t u r e . A c o n d e n s a t i o n probability is d e t e c t e d by the c h a n g e in oscillation frequency, since the c o n d e n s a t i o n
energy d u e to d r o p l e t f o r m a t i o n introduces a delay in the t h e r m a l cycle. D e t e c t i o n efficiency d e p e n d s on the device d i m e n s i o n s
a n d on the materials. Peltier devices m a d e with b i s m u t h - t e l l u r i d e in bulk allowed us to validate the sensor concept. W e
p r e s e n t e x p e r i m e n t a l results and simulation for these devices. However, t h e t h e r m a l inertia of such devices was harmful to
t h e r e s p o n s e time. A c o m p u t e r model was developed a n d used to optimize a low-thermal-inertia s t r u c t u r e b a s e d on a
m i c r o m a c h i n e d m e m b r a n e , which will b e realized using microtechnology.
Keywords." Peltier cooling devices; Water condensation; Dew-point sensors

1. Introduction

Our purpose is to develop a mist detector in order

to prevent water condensation on a given surface, the
main application being dew prevention on automotive
windshields.
In order to solve this problem in an automotive
environment, we investigated many hygrometry sensors
on the market [1], but none of them could satisfy our
severe specifications.
In the field of dew-point sensors, the Peltier effect
is often used to cool down a surface and reach the
ambient air dew-point temperature. At this temperature,
water vapor from air condenses on the cold surface
and another apparatus is used to detect the exact
temperature at which the condensation begins. The
detection is usually realized by optical, electrical, caloric,
radiometric or gravimetric means [1,2]. Despite their
accuracy, such sensors are often complex, expensive,
slow in response and not well fitted for the preventive
detection of water condensation on an arbitrary surface.
Moreover, this detection system requires 2 or even 3
sensors to evaluate air dew-point and surface temperature, and to detect mist formation on the surface.
We present a new sensor concept able to detect in
advance the mist formation on any surface. It was
0925-4005/95/$09.50 1995 Elsevier Science S.A. All rights reserved
SSDI 0 9 2 5 - 4 0 0 5 ( 9 4 ) 0 1 6 0 6 - I

developed to surpass all the required specifications in

the scope of cheap, large-scale production. The novelty
of our sensor [3] is to use the transient Peltier effect,
combined with the Seebeck effect, in order to gather
on the same chip:
(1) the cooling device;
(2) the dew detection; and
(3) the surface temperature measurement.
This original approach allows reduction of the sensor
complexity and the total number of sensing devices.
In order to validate the concept, we first developed
a sensor with classical Peltier devices using BizTe 3
material in bulk. This material is well known for its
good thermoelectric properties [4], and we present in
Section 3 a theoretical analysis and experimental results
of a BizTe3-based sensor. In order to further optimize
performance and cost, we investigated other materials
and sensor geometries and designed structures combining the fast cooling effect [5] and compatibility with
silicon planar technology and anisotropy etching.

2. Principle of measurement

Our purpose is to detect high misting risk, reached

when the controlled surface temperature Ts approaches

P. Ancey et al. / Sensors and Actuators B 26-27 (1995) 303-307

304

the humid air dew-point temperature Td. The high

misting risk region is represented by the dashed part
of the wet air diagram in Fig 1.
The Peltier effect at a junction between two different
materials is reversible: depending on the current direction, the junction is cooled or heated. We use this
property to generate a thermal oscillation (Fig. 2) on
a small sensitive area, while the rest of the Peltier
device is kept at the temperature T~ of the surface on
which condensation must be detected. A high condensation risk occurs when there is a small difference
between T~ and Te. Under such conditions, the sensor
sensitive area reaches the surrounding air dew-point
temperature and a signal shift is recorded due to the
absorption of latent energy during water condensation.
If we alternately cycle the current direction in the
sensor, we produce a thermal oscillation whose frequency is time shifted proportionally to a misting risk
(i.e., a smaller Ts-Td difference) that corresponds to
an increasing amount of condensed water.
The signal frequency is important for improving thermal decoupling between the sensitive part and the
surface we want to control. In principle, the sensitive
area should oscillate in temperature around the tem-

perature of the controlled surface. At the same time,

the sensor should not modify significantly the controlled
surface state, in order to make accurate and reliable
measurements.
Such conditions can be obtained by using a performance Peltier element and through an optimized
sensor design that will increase steady-state coupling
between the contrt~lled surface and the sensitive area,
while allowing dynamic thermal decoupling between
them.
In that case, over time the average sensor temperature
remains equal to the controlled surface temperature
T, and the sensitive area temperature Tp oscillates
around this temperature:
T. = L + a T

(1)

Sensor detection occurs in a range of AT degrees above

the dew-point temperature of the air surrounding the
controlled surface.
In addition, it should be noted that a Seebeck voltage
appears through the Peltier device owing to the temperature difference induced between the sensitive area
at Tp and the heat sink at Ts. The total signal Us
recorded on the sensor includes a pure resistive signal
(R/) and the Seebeck tension:

.1_0~

Us = R(Tm)I + ~[ Tp(t) - T,I

(2)

,' 100~

,o0c~
' 20,~

10

20

?,0

40

50

~r

Temperature (C)
Fig. 1. Representationof the high mistingrisk region in the wet air
diagram.
Tp

'

~/L

!~

tp
tp_ref

~,

where Tm is the average temperature, a the Seebeck

coefficient, and I the current intensity in the Peltier.
With the appropriate measurement electronics, we
continuously monitor the temperature difference
(Tp(t)-Ts). This is used to generate the thermal oscillation: when ITp(t)-Ts[ reaches the AT value, the
current is inverted. We note that the electrical resistance
varies according to the average temperature (Tin) of
the Peltier device. For BizTe3 in bulk, R(Tm)I is roughly
3 times greater than o~T, while in the case of thin
films, R(Tm)I can be 1000 times greater than the useful
Seebeck signal. In order to extract the effective Seebeck
signal from the sensor, we need to compensate ohmic
resistance, taking into account its temperature dependence.

3. Concept evaluation
Condensauon

F
Cycle period

! No condensation risk (Ts - Td >AT)

i

tti~h risk

................

(Ts - Td < AT)

tp ref
L

tp

Fig. 2. S c h e m a t i c r e p r e s e n t a t i o n o f the t e m p e r a t u r e of the sensitive

a r e a (Tp) d u r i n g m e a s u r e m e n t .

In order to study detection feasibility, we developed

an analytical model taking into account the main sensor
characteristics under real dynamic operation. In parallel,
we designed a prototype with bulk Bi2Te3 Peltier devices
in order to evaluate the experimental behavior of the
sensor.

P. Ancey et al. / Sensors and Actuators B 26-27 (1995) 303-307

305

3.1. Theoretical analysis

3.2. Simulation

Fig. 3 describes the sensor structure based on Bi2Te 3

in bulk as it was simulated.
This model was useful to evaluate the system sensitivity and feasibility in dynamic mode and with a
variable mass of water condensed on the surface. We
used a simple nodal model in the following form:

Fig. 4 shows the temperature T o when heating current

and cooling current are equal to 100 mA. It is clear
that sensor operation is not symmetric around Ts owing
to the Joule effect in the sensor. In this case, we notice
that the steady-state average temperature is above the
initial surface temperature, impeding the preventive
water detection. In order to have, under steady-state
conditions, the average temperature less than or equal
to the initial surface temperature, the current must be
unbalanced (cooling current > heating current).
In Fig. 5, the cooling current is 115 mA instead of
100 mA in order to exactly balance the Joule effect.
Fig. 5 and Table 1 illustrate the frequency shift recorded
for different misting risks, with To increasing from a
temperature below 18 C (curve 1) to 20 C (curve 5).
When condensation occurs, the sensor shows a great

dT
M --~ = A T - B

(3)

M represents the mass matrix of the different nodes,

and A is the heat exchange matrix, including the Peltier
effect, which is temperature dependent:
Pel = +cd

(4)

We used a monodimensional finite difference scheme

to describe heat exchanges between nodes:
(5)

Qi = E K o ( T i - Tj)
J

with Kit the heat exchange coefficients.

B includes inner sources inside the material due to
the Joule effect:

or the latent energy from the water evaporation and

condensation:
dMw
0--7-

(7)

! il !I !!il i (i~1
22.0

I! i i
'I i i

ii!l

I~
! ~i !'I' ~ii

I!

ir ~

"

! L i i: ii{ I' I

'i!

20.0

~I

i, ~ i'

i :~' 1~ I

:I I II lil !~'
18.0
0.0

2.5

Time (s)

5.C

Fig. 4. Sensoroperatlon with balancedcurrent (+ 100 mA).

with
aM

~'oolirkK current 100 mA

~[ieatlngcurrent ]t~lmA

(6)

Qj = R,(T~)I 2

QL = L

Temperature (C)
24.0:

dt ='w(Ta - Ts)

(8)

gw = Zs(xxw-Xxa)

(9)

where s is the surface of the sensitive area, Xxa the

water vapor concentration in air, and XTw the vapor
concentration near the water surface. Z is a coefficient
that depends on wind speed, water surface and water
diffusivity in air [6]. For the present simulation it was
set at 7 1 0 -3 .

22
20
,-...18
o~22 wIN

~ 20~
Q.

-- vanable water mass

::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::Detecting area

E
~18
~ 22:~

,,,,

7//f////~

:::::::::::::::::::::::::::::

~......
//////'ff~

[:i:i:i:i:i:i:i:i:':'~

Peltie, material
Electrical junctions

iiiiiiiiii!!i!!i!!i!i

immii imiiii i iIi i i i i i i i i i !i!i H!Hii ii i i i i i i i i i i i i i i i i i

Fig. 3. Sensor description for the computer model.

18]
0

"i
0]25,

8.5

Time (s)

Fig. 5. Signal recorded at different Ta values for an initial surface

temperature at T , = 2 0 C and for A T = 2 C.

306

P. Ancey et a L I Sensors and Actuators B 26-27 (1995) 303-307

Table 1
Frequency variation vs. To for an initial surface temperature at T~=
20 C and for A T = 2 C
Td (C)
Frequency (Hz)

31.0

< 18
4

19
3.68

19.5
3.18

//'~\, ........

As simulatedt/~::7~

~3(~,

'\',

,(

\""

\'4

/'

v.

Y,

1.0

2.0

r . . . . . . . . .

3.0

"

l,

- '

it
, I p / '~

t ~,
," 't

...

/:'

'

"

I . . . . . . . . . .

4.0
Time(s)

2.0

4.0

6.0

~4;

8.0

Time (s)

Fig. 7. Signal recorded when a frequency shift due to condensation

occurs (Td=23.1 C). Circled numbers indicate periods, and correspond to those given in Table 2.

T sensor at the \ , /;'/

". ".
.
%..

electncM junctions

/\
,,: t

0.0

"~--'

- ".~" . . . .

/"

. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . .

0.0

Tp

,.I 'L,.'/'.,

,,,%-

l"~
,"l

20
2.31

Temperature (C) (Cttrrent + 140/-160 mA)

As measured

27.0

23.0

18.5
3.88

Teniperamre ((q (('urrcnl : + 140.,-160 m A)

3()j

5.0

Table 2
Frequency variation at initial detection
Period no.
Frequency (Hz)

1
0.396

2
0.390

3
0.387

4
0.386

Fig. 6. Signal variation recorded with unbalanced current.

sensitivity to the misting risk (i.e., when Ts becomes

close to T~), especially when the difference between
surface and air dew-point temperatures decreases below

AT~2.
3.3. Experimental results
We used commercial Bi2Te3 Peltier devices, including
4 junctions as simulated in Section 3.2. When cooling,
due to negative Peltier power, balances exactly the
heating due to positive Peltier power and to the Joule
effect, we verify that the average sensor temperature
is cycling symmetrically around the controlled surface
temperature Ts. This balance was effective in our case,
with a heating current of 140 mA and a cooling current
of 160 iliA.
Fig. 6 shows an experimental validation of the simulation program developed. In this case the fitting
parameters were the heat exchange between air and
sensor surface and the contact conductivity between
the sensor and the glass. All the other parameters were
kept at their physical values found in the literature
[4].
Fig. 7 shows the frequency shift as measured when
the misting risk increases. For this experiment, the
Peltier device was fixed inside a climatic chamber on
the internal side of a glass. The dew-point temperature
was kept constant (T~ = 23.1 C). The glass was cooled
from the outside. Table 2 gives the frequency variations
(from 0.397 to 0.386 Hz), measured for each period
of Fig. 5, when condensation occurs on the sensor
detecting surface.

The devices in bulk BizTe3 have a large response

time which depends on the sensor mass, restricting
work to the range of 1 Hz. They also have a low
sensitivity to condensation owing to their small ratio
of detecting area surface to the sensor mass. Moreover,
the Seebeck signal varies within + 1.2 mV for a temperature oscillation of _+3 K.

4.

Discussion

and

future

developments

With the theoretical analysis and experimental study,

we confirmed a certain number of assumptions concerning the sensor behavior and feasibility:
It is proved that the sensor can be realized with
commercialized Peltier devices, but in this case, the
sensor has a poor time response (0.3 s) and the measured
signal is small for automotive applications.
- The sensor design can be optimized to allow good
thermal decoupling between the sensor sensitive area
and the surface under control.
- In order to balance the Joule effect and other
signal asymmetry, we need to control asymmetric current
in the heating and cooling mode. If thermal symmetry
cannot be achieved, it is also possible to alternate
measurement periods with idle periods in order to avoid
temperature drift during continuous usage.
The Peltier element is the heart of the sensor.
In order to reduce sensor cost and to improve signal
amplification, we considered the possibility of developing
it in planar technology. Fig. 8 shows an example of
the micromachined structure we are investigating now.
This structure should have a very low response time,

P. Ancey et al. / Sensors and Actuators B 26-27 (1995) 303-307

Sensitive area :
/'T = T s -+AT >i
i l.ow thermal !nertia k , ~ . , , , . / . .
p
r .... '

/,,\
Cavity:
thermal insulator

//
:i
i

Silicon bulk
High thermal inertia

condensation
must be detecled

High LheLxnal cQn_ducti.i_ty

Si

Poly-Si(N)

"4'

Poly-SRP)

St3N ~

A1

307

The main advantages of this sensor in comparison

with other existing concepts are:
- The response time is very low, which allows realtime control.
- The system reliability is high, even in a poor
atmosphere with dust or other kinds of polluting gas.
- Its lifetime seems to be very long, as no specific
chemical reaction or other adsorbing material is used.
During our two years of investigation and tests, no
failures were recorded under normal operating conditions.
- Its maintenance constraints are very small.
- There is a wide variety of possible applications.
For example, if we put the sensor on a precooled
surface, it is possible to efficiently measure air or gas
dew-points, as is done with cold mirror technology.

Fig. 8. New planar structure for the sensor.

on the order of a tenth of a millisecond, but the main

problem is to produce thin films of Peltier material.
We are testing different materials such as polysilicon
and FeSi2 in thin film coatings ( 2 / , m ) . These materials
present better Seebeck coefficients, in the range of
millivolts for polysilicon, for instance. However, their
electrical resistance reaches several kiloohms, making
the implementation of measurement electronics difficult.
In order to bypass this physical barrier, we plan to
investigate thick films in the range of 0.1 mm.

Acknowledgements
This work is supported by the French Ministry of
Research and Technology in the scope of a CIFRE
contract with I M R A Europe SA. The authors wish to
thank Mr Husaunndee for technical work at IMRA
and all the members of the microelectronics laboratory
at E S I E E for their technical support and the useful
discussions.

References
5. Conclusions
The sensor concept to measure the misting risk on
a surface has been validated through experimental tests
and computer simulation.
A sensor based on this principle is under development
with planar technology and silicon micromachining, and
results will be presented in a later publication. This
technology is very promising and could reduce the
sensor price while allowing direct signal control and
amplification on the sensor chip itself.

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London, 1989, pp. 271-277.
[2] P.P.L. Regtien, Solid-state humidity sensors, Sensors and Actuators, 2 (1981/1982) 85-95
[3] M. Gschwind and P. Ancey, Process and device to detect a
risk of water condensation on a surface being in contact with
a humid air volume, Eur. Patent No. 94400355.7 (18 Feb.

1994).
[4] C. Wood, Materials for thermoelectric energy conversion, Rep.
Prog. Phys., 51 (1988) 459-539.
[5] U. Birkholz, R. Fettig and J. Rosenzweig, Fast semiconductor
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[6] J.L. Cauchepin, Le Recknagel: Manuel Pratique du Gdnie Climatique, Pyc, Paris, 2nd edn., 1986, p. 118.