2023-11-18 06:15:52
Scientists have invented a solid-state electrocaloric cooling device that has high performance.
The new solid-state electrocaloric cooling device is capable of generating a temperature difference of 20 degrees Celsius with great efficiency.
The results of the new study demonstrate that electrocaloric refrigeration can compete against other solid-state refrigeration strategies and offer a promising alternative to environmentally unfriendly vapor compression refrigeration.
Refrigeration appliances, including air conditioning systems and heat pumps, are estimated to consume approximately 20% of the world’s electricity.
Most of these systems operate using vapor compression technologies, which are relatively inefficient and require environmentally harmful fluorinated refrigerants.
Refrigeration using solid-state electrocaloric materials is an attractive alternative to vapor compression refrigeration.
Maintaining the temperature of the home below the limit at which we feel hot is not cheap using traditional cooling systems. (Illustration: Amazings/NCYT)
Electrocaloric technologies are based on ferroelectric materials exposed to an electric field that triggers changes in the polarization of the material, altering its temperature. This effect could form the basis of highly efficient cooling technologies.
However, commercially competitive electrocaloric devices have not yet been achieved and, despite their clear potential advantages, lag behind most other solid-state cooling technologies.
The situation could begin to change from now on, thanks to the work of Junning Li’s team, from the Institute of Science and Technology in Luxembourg.
On this occasion, Junning Li and his colleagues present what can be defined as a fluid-based double-loop electrocaloric heat pump capable of generating a maximum temperature range of 20.9 degrees Celsius.
According to the researchers, the temperature range and cooling power are, respectively, 50% and 15 times greater than those of the previous best electrocaloric device. Furthermore, Li and his colleagues show that his device achieves 64% of the Carnot efficiency (the theoretical maximum efficiency of a refrigeration system), which outperforms many vapor and caloric compression refrigeration devices.
The study is titled “High cooling performance in a double-loop electrocaloric heat pump”. And it has been published in the academic journal Science. (Source: AAAS)
#Solid #state #electrocaloric #cooling #spend