Researchers have now achieved an electrical efficiency of 99.74 percent using heat pump technology. This was made possible by advances in power electronics, which have been specially developed for electrocalorics. According to the Fraunhofer Institute for Applied Solid State Physics IAF, the effect is as follows: if an electrical voltage is applied to an electrocaloric material made of special ceramics or polymers, the material heats up. As soon as the voltage is removed, the material cools down again. The electrocaloric materials form an electrical capacitance.
The power electronics in the system have the task of electrically charging and discharging the electrocaloric capacities several times per second as efficiently as possible and therefore with as little loss as possible - heat is pumped in each cycle. According to Frauenhofer IAF, electrocaloric heat pumps are considered to be particularly efficient - they do not require compressors or refrigerants.
Dr. Stefan Mönch from Fraunhofer IAF underlines the importance of this development: "Thanks to our ultra-efficient power electronics, it is realistic for the first time to achieve well over 50 percent of the maximum theoretical coefficient of performance with electrocaloric heat pumps, even at system level. There is still a lot of research to be done, but in future this technology could become a more efficient and completely emission-free solution for heating and cooling." The results of the "Electrocaloric Heat Pumps" project were published in part in the "IEE Journal of Emerging and Selected Topics in Power Electronics".
Source and further information: idw-online.de/ieeexplore.ieee.org/document/10107998
© Photodune
