INTRODUCTION

Household refrigerators and freezers are found in almost every home in the industrialized

parts of the world and in increasingly larger number elsewhere. It is estimated that the global

annual production is more than 90 million units (Harrington, 2009). In Asia the annual production

is about 45 million units with China alone accounting for more than 30 million units. Production

in Europe is around 25 million units and North and South America is about 20 million units a year.

Prior to the invention of the household refrigerator snow and ice were used to refrigerate and

preserve food. Historically, ancient cultures (Chinese, Hebrews, Greeks, Romans, and Persians)

stored snow and ice throughout the year in different types of ice houses or covered wells. The ice

was harvested from winter lakes or was brought down from the mountains. Later, ice boxes were

used in homes in which the ice were stored to keep the internal box cold. This highly work

intensive transport of thermal energy existed at least into the 1950s when it was outclassed by the

household refrigerator. In 1958, 94 % of the U.S households owned refrigerators (Radermacher

and Kim, 1996).With an expected lifetime of 10 to 20 years the stock of household refrigerators

and freezers operating in this moment is more than one billion units. (Energiläget, 2009).

Using a refrigerator, food storage technique were over and done with the process called

refrigeration. Refrigeration is the process of removing heat from a substance for lowering the

temperature. Refrigeration is related to the demand for cooling foodstuffs and many other

commodities as a normal part of commercial domestic life.

During the recent years, as a result of development in semiconductor materials, the science of

thermoelectricity has turned into a field of potentially great practical importance. The phenomenon
of thermoelectric cooling discovered by Peltier in 1834 continued to be just a matter of academic

interest until a few years ago. Now thermoelectric refrigerators and coolers have become a reality

in the industry. For some specialized uses these devices have superceded the conventional ones

and depending upon the progress in material development are expected to compete with them for

the day to day use in foreseeable future.

The purpose of this science investigatory project is to present the design and construction

techniques of the mini refrigerator which compose of the single stage thermoelectric cooling

device. An experimental cooling junction based on lead telluride ~ mini refrigerator was

constructed on the designated house of the team members. The aim of this project is to present the

‘mini refrigerator’ to the community which could possibly help the society in different ways.
Objectives:

The main objective of this project was to determine if the Mini refrigerator is an effective
alternative tool for refrigeration. This investigatory project will also focus on how effectual the
mini refrigerator can be in optimizing the energy, cost efficiency and most importantly on how it
can be beneficial to the community.

General Problem:
 Is the Mini Refrigerator is an effective alternative tool for refrigeration?
Specific Problems:
 Does the mini refrigerator can be used to optimize the energy and cost efficiency of
refrigeration?
 Is the mini refrigerator is effective, affordable and efficient tool for refrigeration?
 How does the mini refrigerator will be beneficial to the community?