• Journal of Astronomy and Space Sciences
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• v.17 no.1
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• pp.53-66
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• 2000

We developed low light CCD imaging system using thermoelectric cooling method collaboration with a company to design a commercial model. It consists of Kodak KAF-0401E(768$\times$512 pixels) CCD chip, thermoelectric module manufactured by Thermotek. This TEC system can reach an operative temperature of $-25^{\circ}C$. We employed an Uniblitz VS25s shutter and it has capability a minimum exposure time 80ms. The system components are an interface card using a Korea Astronomy Observatory (hereafter KAO) ISA bus controller, image acquisition with AD9816 chip, that is 12bit video processor. The performance test with this imaging system showed good operation within the initial specification of our design. It shows a dark current less than 0.4e-/pixel/sec at a temperature of $-10^{\circ}C$, a linearity 99.9$\pm$0.1%, gain 4.24e-/adu, and system noise is 25.3e-(rms). For low temperature CCD operation, we designed a TEC, which uses a one-stage peltier module and forced air heat exchanger. This TEC imaging system enables accurate photometry($\pm$0.01mag) even though the CCD is not at 'conventional' cryogenic temperatures(140k). The system can be a useful instrument for any other imaging applications. Finally, with this system, we obtained several images of astronomical objects for system performance tests.

• Journal of Energy Engineering
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• v.14 no.4 s.44
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• pp.213-218
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• 2005

In order to understand the heat and mass transfer characteristics of humid airflow in frosting conditions, a flat plate of aluminum with cooling modules located in the central part of the plate was used. A microscope system (resolution of 0.05 mm) was used for the measurement of local thickness of frost at seven points along the plate in the flow direction. For the total mass of frost at each test operation, an electronic balance (resolution of 1 mg) was used. The local frost thickness distributions far various test conditions were presented along with the frost mass data measured at the given operating times. The effect of humidity and velocity of humid air on frosting were analyzed.