Performansi Alat Pendingin Makanan Portable dengan Memanfaatkan Efek Perbedaan Suhu Thermo Electric Cooler (Tec1-12706)

Abstract

Food cooling devices are essential appliances widely needed by the public, particularly in tropical regions such as Indonesia. Various types of cooling equipment are commonly used to preserve food and beverages, maintaining their freshness and extending shelf life. To date, most refrigeration systems rely on chemical refrigerants, which have adverse environmental impacts, including ozone layer depletion. In this study, a portable food cooling system is designed and experimentally evaluated by utilizing the temperature differential effect of a Thermoelectric Cooler (TEC1-12706) module, which operates based on the Peltier effect. The cooling chamber was constructed using a combination of aluminum, Styrofoam, and plywood as its wall materials. The maximum cooling temperature achieved without load after 60 minutes of operation was 9.2 °C, starting from an ambient temperature of 27.5 °C. Under load conditions, the lowest temperature attained was 14.5 °C for a 200-gram packaged sausage load and 15.7 °C for a 1000-gram load. The heat transfer rate through the cooling box, with composite wall materials consisting of aluminum, Styrofoam, and plywood, was calculated to be 43.846 W, while the average convective heat transfer rate was 107.07 W/m².