Field-active direct contact regenerator

Patent metadata

Field	Value
Publication number	US-10107527-B2
Application number	US-201415302642-A
Country	US
Kind code	B2
Filing date	Apr 9, 2014
Priority date	Apr 9, 2014
Publication date	Oct 23, 2018
Grant date	Oct 23, 2018

Abstract

Embodiments are directed to a heat pump element comprising: a thin-film polymer or ceramic material within a range of 0.1 microns-100 microns thickness, and electrodes coupled to both sides of the thin-film material to form an electroded active thin-film material, wherein the thin-film material is separated by, and in intimate contact with, a heat transfer fluid in channels within a range of 10 microns-10 millimeters thickness, in which the fluid is capable of being translated back and forth through the element by an imposed pressure field.

First claim

What is claimed is:

1. A heat pump element comprising:
a thin-film polymer or ceramic material within a range of 0.1 microns-100 microns thickness; and
electrodes coupled to both sides of the thin-film material to form an electroded active thin-film material,
wherein the electroded active thin-film material is separated by, and in intimate contact with, a heat transfer fluid in channels within a range of 10 microns-10 millimeters thickness, in which the fluid is capable of being translated back and forth through the element by an imposed pressure field.

2. The heat pump element of claim 1 , wherein the heat transfer fluid is ambient air in direct thermal contact with the electroded active thin-film material.

3. The heat pump element of claim 2 , wherein the ambient air is dehumidified using overcooling or desiccant techniques to prevent condensation on the active thin-film material.

4. The heat pump element of claim 1 , wherein the thin-film material is made in some part of at least one of polyvinylidene fluoride (PVDF), a liquid crystal polymer (LCP), and barium strontium titanate (BST).

5. The heat pump element of claim 1 , wherein the thin-film material and electrodes are included as part of a multilayer material of thin-film materials and electrodes.

6. The heat pump element of claim 5 , wherein the multilayer material comprises anywhere from 1 to 10 layers, inclusive.

7. The heat pump element of claim 5 , wherein the multilayer material further includes at least one substrate configured to support the thin-film materials to prevent fatigue, wherein the at least one substrate is optimized to provide minimal necessary support with a lowest possible Biot number.

8. The heat pump element of claim 7 , wherein the at least one substrate comprises a plurality of substrates, and wherein the plurality of substrates comprises extensions to separate the thin-film materials to create channels for heat transfer fluid now.

9. The heat pump element of claim 8 , wherein the thin-film materials are arranged such that electrodes facing a substrate-separator are energized with the same polarity to prevent arcing across the substrate or fluid.

10. The heat pump element of claim 7 , wherein at least one substrate comprises field-active material that is configured to be energized by the electrodes, and wherein the electrodes are configured to energize an active film in order to generate capacity to offset a parasitic effect of the at least one substrate.

11. The heat pump element of claim 1 , wherein the thin-film material comprises single layers and substrates associated with the single layers stacked together.

12. The heat pump element of claim 1 , wherein the heat pump element is configured to translate the heat transfer fluid back and forth while the thin-film material is energized and de-energized to create a temperature gradient in the fluid and increase temperature lift.

13. The heat pump element of claim 12 , wherein the heat pump element is configured to synchronize an activation of the thin-film material to an oscillation of the fluid flow with a phase relationship that is a function of a relative capacity and temperature lift required of the heat pump element to provide a maximum ratio of heat pump capacity to input power.

14. The heat pump element of claim 1 , wherein the thin-film material and electrodes are layers that are coupled to a fluid layer and a substrate layer, and wherein the thin-film material, electrode, and substrate layers are segmented in a fluid flow direction and separated by gaps filled with fluid to reduce heat conduction in the fluid flow direction.

15. The heat pump element of claim 1 , wherein the Curie temperature of the thin-film material is grade continuously or segment-to-segment such that the material Curie temperature in each segment is closer to an expected operating temperature of the segment at the element design condition.

16. The heat pump element of claim 1 , wherein the thin-film material comprises machined lengthwise grooves or cross-drilled holes to create channels for heat transfer fluid to provide for the intimate contact of the fluid and the thin-film material.

17. The heat pump element of claim 1 , wherein the heat pump element is created by solution or vacuum deposition of electrocaloric ceramic or polymer and electrodes on a substrate, the substrate comprising heat transfer fluid channels.

18. The heat pump element of claim 17 , wherein the heat transfer fluid channels comprise a ceramic honeycomb structure.

19. The heat pump element of claim 1 , wherein the heat transfer fluid is at least partially gas or vapor, and wherein an actuation of fluid movement comprises a sequence of: compression, translation, expansion, and translation synchronized in a controlled phase relationship with an energizing and de-energizing of the thin-film material to create a combined cycle that adds the temperature lift of both electrocaloric effect (ECE) and compression.

20. The heat pump element of claim 19 , wherein non-active material is coupled to the thin-film material or to a substrate to provide a balance between ECE and compression.

Assignees

• Carrier Corp

Inventors

• Radcliff Thomas D
• Mantese Joseph V
• Culp Slade R
• Annapragada Subramanyaravi

Classifications

• Y02B30/00

  Energy efficient heating, ventilation or air conditioning [HVAC] · CPC title

• F25B2321/001

  by using electro-caloric effects · CPC title

• F25B9/145 Primary

  pulse-tube cycle · CPC title

• F25B25/00

  Machines, plants or systems, using a combination of modes of operation covered by two or more of the groups F25B1/00 - F25B23/00 · CPC title

• F25B2309/1415

  Pulse-tube cycles characterised by regenerator details · CPC title