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German startup advancing compressor-free electrocaloric heat pump technology (www.pv-magazine.com)
submitted 2 months ago by [M] to c/technology@slrpnk.net
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[–] 2 points 2 months ago (1 child)

I'm trying to understand. Is this a material that behaves as if compressed when electrified?

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  • [–] 2 points 2 months ago (1 child)

    No compression or imitation of such. An electric field is used to manage the entropy of the material, and in a system of constant volume, entropy is directly proportional to heat.

    The exact mechanism and the associated equations are a little beyond me, so I can be wrong on the rest, but if I got it right, the idea is to reduce entropy in part of the material, so the heat immediately flows into this part to get entropy balanced again, but by doing so it is moved from everywhere else, effectively cooling the other part of the material down.

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  • [–] 2 points 2 months ago*

    I think I'm getting the mental model. It took me a minute to get how it cycles.

    I think the material reduces entropy(atomic disorder), which is transformed into heat energy. Then you take that heat and move it elsewhere, say, into some coolant. Then that heated coolant is moved away, so when the power is deactivated the material re-entropizes(?), which transforms the same amount of heat in the material back into entropy, dropping its temperature.

    I think the idea then is to use one way valves to let the expanded coolant move toward a heat sink side and then allow in fresh coolant from the heat source side. It's not 'solid state' if you include the coolant system but it has definitely far fewer moving parts and far less friction than a common household heat pump.

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