Design and Development of a Portable Peltier-Based Air Cooler: Practical Alternative to Mist Fans with an Optimised Fan Design

Abstract

Portable mist-based fans, while economically attractive, exhibit significant performance degradation under high humidity conditions and incur substantial water consumption, thereby constraining their long-term sustainability. Thermoelectric Peltier cooling presents a water-independent alternative for personal thermal management; however, its practical adoption remains limited due to suboptimal heat dissipation and insufficiently optimised airflow architectures. This study presents the development of a portable Peltier-based air cooling system integrated with an Internet of Things IoT control framework. It focuses on empirical optimisation of fan blade geometry to enhance thermal performance. Three custom blade configurations, namely Straight Satu, Curved Dua, and Twisted Tiga were fabricated and experimentally evaluated against a conventional axial fan baseline. Experimental results indicate that the Curved Dua blade achieved superior performance, exhibiting the highest cooling rate of 0.22 °C per minute and a maximum temperature reduction of 1.1 °C within 5 minutes. This performance advantage is attributed to its ability to balance high near-field airflow velocity of 5.0 m per second with sustained downstream air delivery of 1.4 m per second. The findings show that blade curvature improves airflow coherence, enhancing convective heat rejection from the Peltier module while delivering a more uniform and natural cooling sensation to the user. Moreover, the system incorporates an IoT-enabled dual-mode control strategy with automatic and manual operation, enabling adaptive control and improved energy efficiency. Overall, the study confirms that fan blade geometry optimisation is a critical design factor in realising efficient, sustainable, and user-friendly Peltier-based personal cooling systems, offering a viable alternative to mist-based cooling technologies across diverse climatic conditions.