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Modeling of an Elastocaloric Cooling System for Determining Efficiency

Author

Listed:
  • Nora Bachmann

    (Fraunhofer Institute for Physical Measurement Techniques IPM, Georges-Koehler-Allee 301, 79110 Freiburg, Germany
    Institute of Internal Combustion Engines IFKM, Karlsruhe Institute of Technology (KIT), 76131 Karlsruhe, Germany)

  • Daniel Schwarz

    (Fraunhofer Institute for Physical Measurement Techniques IPM, Georges-Koehler-Allee 301, 79110 Freiburg, Germany)

  • David Bach

    (Fraunhofer Institute for Physical Measurement Techniques IPM, Georges-Koehler-Allee 301, 79110 Freiburg, Germany)

  • Olaf Schäfer-Welsen

    (Fraunhofer Institute for Physical Measurement Techniques IPM, Georges-Koehler-Allee 301, 79110 Freiburg, Germany)

  • Thomas Koch

    (Institute of Internal Combustion Engines IFKM, Karlsruhe Institute of Technology (KIT), 76131 Karlsruhe, Germany)

  • Kilian Bartholomé

    (Fraunhofer Institute for Physical Measurement Techniques IPM, Georges-Koehler-Allee 301, 79110 Freiburg, Germany)

Abstract

When it comes to covering the growing demand for cooling power worldwide, elastocalorics offer an environmentally friendly alternative to compressor-based cooling technology. The absence of harmful and flammable coolants makes elastocalorics suitable for energy applications such as battery cooling. Initial prototypes of elastocaloric systems, which transport heat by means of thermal conduction or convection, have already been developed. A particularly promising solution is the active elastocaloric heat pipe (AEH), which works with latent heat transfer by the evaporation and condensation of a fluid. This enables a fast and efficient heat transfer in a compression-based elastocaloric cooling system. In this publication, we present a simulation model of the AEH based on MATLAB-Simulink. The model showed very good agreement with the experimental data pertaining to the maximum temperature span and maximum cooling power. Hereby, non-measurable variables such as efficiency and heat fluxes in the cooling system are accessible, which allows the analysis of individual losses including the dissipation effects of the material, non-ideal isolation, losses in heat transfer from the elastocaloric material to the fluid, and other parasitic heat flux losses. In total, it can be shown that using this AEH-approach, an optimized system can achieve up to 67% of the material efficiency.

Suggested Citation

  • Nora Bachmann & Daniel Schwarz & David Bach & Olaf Schäfer-Welsen & Thomas Koch & Kilian Bartholomé, 2022. "Modeling of an Elastocaloric Cooling System for Determining Efficiency," Energies, MDPI, vol. 15(14), pages 1-14, July.
  • Handle: RePEc:gam:jeners:v:15:y:2022:i:14:p:5089-:d:861174
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    Citations

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    Cited by:

    1. Žiga Ahčin & Parham Kabirifar & Luka Porenta & Miha Brojan & Jaka Tušek, 2022. "Numerical Modeling of Shell-and-Tube-like Elastocaloric Regenerator," Energies, MDPI, vol. 15(23), pages 1-28, December.
    2. Luca Cirillo & Adriana Greco & Claudia Masselli, 2023. "The Application of Barocaloric Solid-State Cooling in the Cold Food Chain for Carbon Footprint Reduction," Energies, MDPI, vol. 16(18), pages 1-17, September.
    3. Sabrina Unmüßig & David Bach & Youri Nouchokgwe & Emmanuel Defay & Kilian Bartholomé, 2023. "Phenomenological Material Model for First-Order Electrocaloric Material," Energies, MDPI, vol. 16(15), pages 1-6, August.

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