Heat pump by induced voltage

Abstract

The invention provides heat pump comprising a chamber for accommodating electrically charged or chargeable particles, having a thermal conductive wall, and an electrically insulating sink wall. A resistive layer made of electrical resistive material, is positioned outside the chamber with one of its faces proximal to the sink wall. The chargeable particles hit the internal surface of the sink wall, and the thermal conductive wall is in thermal communication with the particles. Thermal fluctuations of the charged particle in the chamber induce variable electric field on the resistive layer, which is harvested into electric current.

Description

[0001] HEAT PUMP BY INDUCED VOLTAGE

[0002] TECHNICAL FIELD

[0003] The present invention relates to heat pumps.

[0004] BACKGROUND ART

[0005] Heat pumps are known to transfer heat from one side to the other, usually from colder reservoir to hotter reservoir. The reservoir can be the surrounding air, air inside a room, a water pot, a solid surface, the ocean etc. A rather familiar heat pump is the air conditioning system in a modern car, in which the heat pump is a refrigeration cycle that absorbs the heat from the passengers' compartment and dispenses it to the environment. The reservoirs are not always well distinctive of each other, as in the car example, if the window is slightly open, the heat pump still absorbs heat from the passengers' compartment toward the environment, but heat might return through the open window. Another example of a heat pump is the Peltier thermoelectric cooler (TEC) where heat flows from the colder surface of the TEC toward the hotter surface as used in some modern computer's CPU coolers. In general, conventional thermoelectric devices, (e.g., TEC devices mentioned above) use a (fixed) electric power to generate heat flow from a first junction to a second junction (e.g., Peltier effect).

[0006] Heat pumps, known in the industry, require an external energy source to provide the work to operate them. In the car air conditioning example, the external work source is usually the motors rotational driveshaft. In the TEC example above, the external energy source that is harnessed to provide work is electricity.

[0007] The growing world population hence the growth in global energy consumption puts a lot of stress on the planet resources and environment. Most of the energy today is produced from burning fossil fuel. The nuclear energy sources, although cleaner in terms of emitting CO2, creates radiation pollution when disposed, and poses safety risks to the cities surrounding the reactors. New renewable energy (NRE) apparatuses such as solar panels and wind turbines are now the growing clean energy sources. Their energy is clean, but the NRE prices are still relatively high. If the population continues to grow in current rate, those sources might not be enough to supply the growing demand.

[0008] The theory of stochastic thermodynamics of small systems indicates that work can be extracted from the fluctuations of the small system in very specific scenarios. One example is that small machines (such as nanomachines or even mitochondria in a cell) will spend part of their time running in "reverse", e.g., that it is possible to observe that these small molecular machines are able to generate work by taking heat from the environment. Such phenomena have also been observed in RNA and protein folding, see for example, Collin, D.; Ritort, F.; Jarzynski C.; Smith, B.; Tinoco Jr, I.; Bustamante C. (8 September 2005). "Verification of Crooks fluctuation theorem and recovery of RNA folding free energies". Nature. 437 (7056): 231-4.

[0009] International Patent Application No. PCT / US2011 / 042998 discloses an asymmetric system that is characterized by one or more stochastic variables, which exhibit at least one statistical component that is not Gaussian and / or not white for extracting renewable energy.

[0010] US Patent No. 10,896,929 discloses an energy harvesting element, which includes a first conductor layer, a low work function layer, a dielectric layer, and a second conductor layer that are particularly configured to promote electron migration from the low work function layer, through the dielectric layer, to the facing surface of the second conductor layer in a manner that develops an electric potential between the first conductor layer and the second conductor layer.

[0011] Advanced engineering allows building large scale devices that encompass micro or nano-scale elements. Examples are electronics chips that are on a centimeter-scale device that comprise millions of elements at the nano scale or LCD displays that comprises millions of pixels, each at micrometric scale. When considering the thermodynamic and kinetic characterization of the small-scale elements that comprise the device, fluctuations of their extensive and intensive parameters must be taken into account. An ensemble of such micromachines can be considered and manipulated to generate work. SUMMARY OF INVENTION

[0012] TECHNICAL PROBLEM

[0013] The aim of the invention is to provide an energy efficient heat pump. A further aim is to provide a device that can be used as a heat pump, one that harvests heat from fluctuations of density of charged carriers in a chamber to induce minute electric currents in a resistive layer. A further aim of the invention is to provide a device and a method for continuously using the charged carriers kinetic (thermal) energy to induce currents in the resistor and by that to generate heat at the high temperature side of a heat pump thereby continuously pumping energy from the cold side to the hot side of the heat pump. Heat entering at the cold side maintains the charged carriers at a preconfigured energy and density fluctuation amplitude and maintains the ability of continuous operation.

[0014] SOLLUTION TO THE PROBLEM

[0015] In a first aspect the invention provides a heat pump comprising a chamber for accommodating electrically charged or chargeable particles, and a resistive layer. The chamber comprises a thermal conductive wall and an electrically insulating sink wall having internal and external surfaces. The chargeable particles, having translational degree of freedom to bounce and hit the internal surface of the sink wall and having a designed mean distance between the charged particles (MDBCP). The resistive layer is made of a material having some electrical resistivity but not defined as an insulating material. In otherwords, the material of the resistive layer can be either electrically conductive or electrically resistive. The resistive layer comprises a first face proximal to the external surface of the sink wall and a second face distal from the sink wall. The resistive layer is positioned outside the chamber, wherein the minimal distance between the first face of the resistive layer and the internal surface of the sink wall defines a susceptibility distance being shorter than 10 times of the MDBCP and longer than tenth of the MDBCP, and the thermal conductive wall being in thermal communication with the particles. In a second aspect, the invention provides a system of heat pumps, comprising a cascade of heat pumps as described above wherein the thermal conductive wall of at least one of the heat pumps is thermally connected with the resistive layer of an adjacent heat pump.

[0016] In a third aspect the invention provides a heat pump core that includes:

[0017] (1) a resistive layer made of an electrical resistive material having a specific resistivity of less than lKQm and more that lOnQm, comprising a first face and a second face;

[0018] (2) an electrically insulating sink wall comprising a first surface and a second surface intended to be an internal surface and an external surface, respectively, of a chamber in a heat pump. The first surface is exposed to the environment, and the second surface faces the first face of the resistive layer, and

[0019] (3) a frame fixated to the resistive layer and to the sink wall, wherein the first face of the resistive layer is proximal to the second surface of the sink wall and the second face of the resistive layer is distal to the sink wall, wherein the minimal distance between the first face of the resistive layer and the internal surface of the sink wall is less than 1 micron, wherein the minimal distance between the first face of the resistive layer and the external surface of the sink wall is more than 1 nanometer and wherein the frame supporting structure is a thermal insulator such that the total conductive heat transfer coefficient between the resistive layer and sink wall w is less than 1000— — . m2-°C

[0020] In a fourth aspect, the invention provides a method for transferring heat comprising obtaining the heat of the invention as described above, and charging the gas particles in case they are not pre-charged and in case there is a gap between the external surface of the sink wall and the first face of the resistive layer then vacuuming the gap.

[0021] ADVANTAGEOUS EFFECTS OF INVENTION

[0022] The invention provides a heat pump that leverages small scale fluctuations of charged carriers in a chamber to transfer energy from a lower temperature medium to a higher temperature medium through the induction of currents in a resistor. Energy is transferred from the chamber to the resistor and replenished from the lower temperature medium. Backward heat transfer from the resistor to the chamber (by conduction, convection, or radiation) is mitigated by proper insulation, thus providing a novel heat pump mechanism with minimal investment of external work.

[0023] This invention provides new means for harvesting renewable energy from the environment. Heat entering the device comprising the heat pump, may turn into usable energy (that is, can be used to perform work), such as electricity, and finally the electricity might be disposed back to the environment as heat after using it. The operation of the device poses almost no stress on the planet's resources, with extremely low environmental impacts and competitive costs.

[0024] The heat pump of the invention can be utilized for converting heat from a reservoir into electricity, and by that to absorb heat, such as in cooling air conditioning system or refrigerator with only cold side, and the absorbed heat from the reservoir is converted and provided by the heat pump to the electrical grid through the e-socket, to charge an e-car or to activate an artificial cardiac pacemaker. In some cases, the heat pump of the invention can be utilized for heat pump applications such as mentioned before, but instead of emitting the absorbed energy to the grid, it uses heat from first reservoir and heats a second reservoir, e.g., as in a heating air conditioning system or as in a heat pump-based laundry dryer.

[0025] In some cases, the heat pump of the invention can be utilized for producing electrical energy from the heat energy of the environment e.g., for direct use or for charging batteries, or by absorbing the ambient heat and converting it into electrical energy.

[0026] According to some embodiments, the heat pump applications include cooling hot structures by absorbing the heat from a structure and transferring the heat to a heat dissipating element generating elevated temperature at the heat dissipating element (the emitting side), thus increasing the efficiency of the cooling process. Examples of such applications include a nuclear reactor cooling system, and a combustion engine cooling system and are particularly beneficial in cases in which limited surface area available to cool a heat source. 6

[0027] BRIEF DESCRIPTION OF THE DRAWINGS

[0028] For better understanding of the present invention and in order to exemplify how it may be implemented in practice, several embodiments are hereby described, which should be interpreted only as non-limiting examples, with reference to the accompanying figures. It is noted that the sizes and scale of the embodiments presented in the figures are exemplary and non-limiting. If not specified otherwise, the views are drawn at first angle projection.

[0029] It will be appreciated that for simplicity and clarity of illustration, where appropriate, reference numerals have been repeated among the different figures to indicate corresponding or analogous elements. In addition, numerous specific details are set forth to provide a thorough understanding of the embodiments described herein.

[0030] However, it will be understood by those of ordinary skill in the art that the embodiments described herein can be practiced without these specific details. In other instances, methods, procedures, and components have not been described in detail so as not to obscure the related relevant feature being described. Also, the description is not to be considered as limiting the scope of the embodiments described herein.

[0031] Figure 1A depicts a schematic structure of the heat pump according to an embodiment of the instant invention.

[0032] Figure IB depicts a schematic structure of the heat pump having supporting walls according to an embodiment of the instant invention.

[0033] Figure 2 depicts a schematic illustration of the current induction mechanism according to an embodiment of the instant invention.

[0034] Figures 3A, 3B depict a schematic illustration of coupling of the heat pump according to embodiments of the invention to a heat engine.

[0035] Figures 4 and 4.1 depict a schematic illustration of a heat pump comprising an arrangement of a plurality of chambers arranged over a common resistor each chamber surrounded by a chargeable ring according to an embodiment of the invention.

[0036] RECTIFIED SHEET (RULE 91) 7

[0037] Figure 4A depicts a schematic cross-section along line A-A in Figure 4 according to an embodiment of the invention.

[0038] Figure 4B depicts a schematic cross-section along line B-B in Figure 4.1 according to an embodiment of the invention.

[0039] Figures 5 and 5.1 depict a schematic illustration of a heat pump comprising an arrangement of a plurality of chambers arranged over a common resistor, each chamber comprising a chargeable rod according to an embodiment of the invention.

[0040] Figure 5A depicts a schematic cross-section along line A-A in Figure 5 according to an embodiment of the invention comprising an arrangement of a plurality of chambers arranged over a common resistor according to an embodiment of the invention comprising a chamber comprising a chargeable rod.

[0041] Figure 5B depicts a schematic cross-section along line B-B in Figure 5.1 according to an embodiment of the invention comprising an arrangement of a plurality of chambers arranged over a common resistor according to an embodiment of the invention comprising a chamber comprising a chargeable rod.

[0042] Figure 6. depicts a schematic illustration of a heat pump according to an embodiment of the invention comprising a chamber having a chargeable element located in its center and connected to the resisting layer.

[0043] Figure 7 depicts a schematic representation of a cascade of two heat pumps in tandem according to an embodiment of the invention.

[0044] Figure 8A depicts the front view of lower plate 800 of a heat pump according to an embodiment of the invention.

[0045] Figure 8B depicts view C (from the left) of the front view of a lower plate 800 of a heat pump according to an embodiment of the invention.

[0046] Figure 8C depicts a slice section view A-A of front view 8A along line A-A mark in figure

[0047] 8A.

[0048] RECTIFIED SHEET (RULE 91) Figure 8D depicts a slice section view B-B of front view 8A along line B-B mark in figure

[0049] 8A.

[0050] Fig. 9A depicts the front view of mid plate 900.

[0051] Figure 9B depicts the left side view (view from left side of the front view) of mid plate 900.

[0052] Figure 9C depicts a back view of plate 900.

[0053] Figure 9D depicts a slice section view A-A of front view 9A along line A-A mark in figure 9A.

[0054] Figure 9E depicts a slice section view B-B of front view 9A along line B-B mark in figure 9A.

[0055] Fig. 10A depicts the front view of top of a plate of a heat pump assembly, according to an embodiment of the invention.

[0056] Figure 10B depicts a magnified detailed view of an item on a plate of a heat pump assembly, according to an embodiment of the invention.

[0057] Figure 10C depicts a slice section view B-B of front view 10A along line B-B mark in figure 10A.

[0058] Figure 10D depicts a slice section view A-A of front view 10A along line A-A mark in figure 10A.

[0059] Figures 11A is a rotated isometric exploded view of a heat pump assembly according to an embodiment of the invention.

[0060] Figures 11B is the other side of the rotated isometric exploded view of the heat pump assembly according to an embodiment of the invention. Figure 11C depicts the front view with partial section of heat pump assembly being part of the heat pump assembly depicted in figures 11A and 11B according to an embodiment of the invention.

[0061] Figure 11D depicts a left view (view from the left of the front view 11C) of a heat pump assembly, according to an embodiment of the invention.

[0062] Figure HE depicts a slice section view A-A of front view 11C along line A-A mark in figure 11C.

[0063] Figure 11F depicts a slice section view B-B of front view 11C along line B-B mark in figure 11C.

[0064] Figure 11G depicts a partial section C-C of side view 11D along line C-C marked in figure 11D.

[0065] Figure 12 depicts hatches legend, explaining the materials in the sections of views 8A- D- - 15 A-F.

[0066] Figure 13A depicts an isometric view of a lower plate obtained in the manufacturing process of a heat pump core according to an embodiment of the invention

[0067] Figure 13B depicts the top view of the lower plate obtained in the manufacturing process of a heat pump core according to an embodiment of the invention and section lines D-D, E-E as depicted.

[0068] Figure 13C depicts the left view (view from the left) of a lower plate obtained in the manufacturing process of a heat pump core according to an embodiment of the invention.

[0069] Figure 13D depicts the back view of a lower plate obtained in the manufacturing process of a heat pump core according to an embodiment of the invention

[0070] Figure 13E depicts the slice section view D-D, along line D-D in figure 13B Figure 13E1 depicts a detail-view, detailing a small typical area close to the upper side of slice section D-D.

[0071] Figure 13E2 depicts a detail-view, detailing a small typical area close to the lower side of slice section D-D.

[0072] Figure 13F depicts the slice section view F-F, along line F-F in figure 13B.

[0073] Figure 13F1 depicts a detail-view, detailing a small typical area close to the lower side of slice section E-E.

[0074] Figure 14A depicts an isometric view of an upper plate obtained in the manufacturing process of a heat pump core according to an embodiment of the invention

[0075] Figure 14B depicts the top view of the upper plate obtained in the manufacturing process of a heat pump core according to an embodiment of the invention, section lines G-G, F-F, and area H to be detailed, as depicted.

[0076] Figure 14C depicts the left view of the upper plate obtained in the manufacturing process of a heat pump core according to an embodiment of the invention.

[0077] Figure 14D depicts slice section of upper plate obtained in the manufacturing process of a heat pump core according to an embodiment of the invention along line F-F depicted in figure 14B.

[0078] Figure 14E depicts slice section of upper plate obtained in the manufacturing process of a heat pump core according to an embodiment of the invention along line G-G depicted in figure 14B.

[0079] Figure 14F depicts a typical detail located on the lower part of slice section G-G in figure G-G.

[0080] Figure 14G depicts typical detail H of an area specified in figure 14B. Figure 15A and 15B depict rotated isometric exploded views of an assembly which contains a lower plate, and an upper plate obtained in the manufacturing process of a heat pump core according to an embodiment of the invention.

[0081] Figure 15C depicts a top view of a heat pump core according to an embodiment of the current invention, and section lines H-H, I-I to describe sections locations.

[0082] Figure 15D depicts the slice section of a heat pump core according to an embodiment of the current invention, along line H-H depicted in figure 15C.

[0083] Figure 15D1 depicts a detail-view of area I of a heat pump core according to an embodiment of the current invention as described in figure 15D.

[0084] Figure 15E depicts slice section of a heat pump core according to an embodiment of the current invention along line I-I depicted in figure 15C, and a typical area J to be detailed.

[0085] Figure 15F depicts a detail-view of area J a heat pump core according to an embodiment of the current invention as described in figure 15E.

[0086] Figure 16A, 16B depicts rotated isometric views of a heat pump according to an embodiment of the current invention which comprises a heat pump core according to an embodiment of the current invention.

[0087] Figure 16C depicts a front view of a heat pump according to an embodiment of the current invention which comprises a heat pump core according to an embodiment of the current invention and a section line K-K.

[0088] Figure 16D depicts a section view of a heat pump according to an embodiment of the current invention which comprises a heat pump core according to an embodiment of the current invention along line K-K depicted in figure 16C. DESCRIPTION OF EMBODIMENTS

[0089] Although the invention is illustrated and described herein as embodied in Figures 1 to 16, in examples 1,3 and demonstrated for its utility in examples 2,4, the invention is not limited to the details shown because various modifications and structural changes may be made without departing from the invention and the equivalents of the claims. However, the compositions construction and method of production or operation of the invention together with additional objects and advantages thereof will be best understood from the following description of specific embodiments when read in connection with the accompanying drawings.

[0090] According to a first aspect, the invention provides a heat pump comprising a chamber and a resistive layer. The chamber includes a thermal conductive wall and an electrically insulating sink wall having internal and external surfaces. The chamber is intended for accommodating electrically charged or chargeable particles, having a translational degree of freedom to bounce and hit the internal surface of the sink wall. The particles also have a designed mean distance between the charged particles (MDBCP). The resistive layer is made of electrical resistive material, comprising a first face proximal to the external surface of the sink wall and a second face being distal from the sink wall, the resistive layer being positioned outside the chamber, wherein the minimal distance between the first face of the resistive layer and the internal surface of the sink wall defines a susceptibility distance being shorter than 10 times of the MDBCP and the thermal conductive wall being in thermal communication with the particles.

[0091] Without being bound to theory, local dynamic electric potentials that are generated by electric field fluctuations are used to generate currents in the resistive layer. These fluctuating electric fields are generated by fluctuation of charge densities due to fluctuations of the positions of charged carriers positioned in a chamber. The electric field fluctuations generate small currents in a resistive layer and, in turn, are used to generate heat almost regardless of the temperature of the heated resistive layer.

[0092] Inducing the currents reduces the energy of the medium in which the fluctuations accrue (i.e., reducing the energy content of the charged particles in the chamber), which in turn reduces the fluctuations. According to some embodiments, this energy is replenished by coupling the medium to a heat source, e.g., to the ambient atmosphere which may serve as a heat reservoir at constant temperature. According to some embodiments, this heat power is provided by a big source that is maintained at a steady state, e.g., the surrounding air or ocean water, enabling maintaining the temperature of the source and the medium in a steady state. According to some embodiments, this heat power is provided by a source having relatively small dimensions, and due to that heat power drawn, the temperature of the source is reduced, in some cases to a new colder steady state at the source side. Such heat sources may be for example a passengers' compartment in a car or the inside chamber of a refrigerator. According to some embodiments the heat flows continuously from a heat source toward the fluctuating charged particles, then, by current induction, toward the resistive layer, and from there to a heat drain. According to some embodiments, the heat flow continues even when the temperature of the heat source is lower than the temperature of the heat drain. According to some embodiments, the heat flow stops when the heat pump is balanced at a certain point at which the heat source temperature is lower than the temperature of the heat drain.

[0093] Referring to Figures lA and IB, a heat pump 100 according to the general aspect of the invention is schematically illustrated and its method of operation is disclosed. According to embodiments of the invention the heat pump 100 comprises a chamber 102 having a thermal conductive wall 104 on one side and a sink wall 108 on the other side. The sink wall 108 is electrically insulating, has an internal surface 112 and an external surface 116. In some embodiments, the sink wall 108 is opposite to the thermal conductive wall 104, for example when the chamber is a square chamber. In some embodiments, the thermal conductive wall 104 and the sink wall 108, intersect each other, or are in contact at their edges. According to some embodiments, as shown in Figure IB, chamber walls 109 connect the sink wall and the conductive wall. In some embodiments, the chamber has no structural walls, for example, it may have a donut shape where the thermally conductive wall and the sink wall are two arc walls forming the donut shape. In some embodiments, the chamber walls 109 have the same properties and function as the thermally conductive wall (as shown in Figure IB). According to some embodiments, the chamber wall has a combined thermal conductivity of at least 1 W / (m2 oK), at least 10 W / (m2 oK) or at least 20 W / (m2 oK), allowing heat to be transferred from the external surface of the thermally conductive wall 104 to particles that are disposed in the chamber 102. According to some embodiments, the chamber walls 109 are constructed of non-electrically conductive materials. According to some embodiments, at least one of the chamber walls 109 and the thermally conductive wall 104 are covered internally with an electrically insulation cover or coating.

[0094] The heat pump in Figures 1A, IB further comprises electrically charged particles 120, disposed in chamber 102, having translational degree of freedom to bounce and hit the internal surface 112 of the sink wall. The charged particles 120 may be chargeable particles that are charged prior to the operation of the heat pump. The charging of the particles in the chamber can be achieved in several examples which are disclosed below.

[0095] According to some embodiments, at least some of the walls defining the chamber 102, i.e. the thermally conductive walls 104 and / or the chamber walls, are charged with a charge of the same polarity as the charged particles 120 located in the chamber 102, thereby repelling the charged particles 120 from the charged walls and preventing the charge carried by the charged particles 120 described below from being depleted.

[0096] The heat pump further comprises a resistive layer 124. According to some embodiments, the resistive layer 124 is made of a resistive material having electrical specific resistance p. The resistive layer may have a specific resistance greater than 10 nfim, and below 2 KQm. The resistive layer 124 is positioned outside the chamber 102 and comprises a face 126 being proximal to the sink wall 108. The resistive layer 124. In some embodiments, the resistive layer 124 is connected to a substrate 132 and positioned between the substrate and the sink wall 108. The resistive layer 124 may be connected to the substrate 132 by being an integral part of the substrate, layered or coated on the substrate. The substrate 132 may also be made of a resisting material, so it too acts as a resistive layer 124. The closest distance between the first face 126 and the external surface 116 of the sink wall 108 defines a gap 127A. Gap 127A can have a gap length of less than 0.1 microns, less than 1 micron, less than 5 microns, or less than 10 microns. Susceptibility distance 127B is defined as the distance between the internal surface 112 of the sink wall 108 to the first face 126 of the resistive layer 124. Thus, the sink wall 108 is additionally differentiated from the other walls of the chamber 102 by its proximity to the resisting layer 124. According to some embodiments, the width of the sink wall 108 at the respective region (i.e. the difference between susceptibility distance 127B and gap 127A) is less than 20 nm, less than 0.2 microns, less than 2 microns, less than 20 microns or less than 50 microns. According to embodiments, the size of susceptibility distance 127B, the selection of composition and dimension of sink wall 108, the fluctuations of the charged particles, induce currents in the resistive layer 124 because of fluctuations of charge distribution of the charged particles that are located in the chamber and are proximal to surface 112.

[0097] According to some embodiments, the face 126 of the resistive layer 124 is flat.

[0098] According to some embodiments, the gap 127A is enclosed in a frame that is capable to hold the gap under vacuum. The frame can be a vacuum chamber accommodating the entire heat pump. According to some embodiment, the frame has a connection to an external vacuum source so that when the frame is connected to that source, the pressure in the gap can be reduced wherein the frame keeps the vacuum within its mechanical structure. According to some embodiments, the pressure of the gas within the gap 127A and within frame void 134 (i.e., the void that is enclosed by the frame) may be less than 10 pascal (Pa), less than 5 pascal, less than 1 pascal, less than 0.1 pascal or less than 0.01 pascal.

[0099] According to some embodiments, the gap 127A is not under vacuum and the material in the gap is filled with a thermal insulating material.

[0100] According to some embodiments the thermally conductive wall 104 is thermally coupled to the charged particles 120 either by direct convection, indirect convection (such as air or other particles which may be disposed in the chamber), conductionconvection (through rods that connect the thermal conductive wall to the sink wall and from there by convection to the charged particles) or by radiation. The person of skill in the art would know how to configure and size the susceptibility distance 127B to avoid electrical breakdown between the particles, when charged, and the resistive layer face 126, by designing the susceptibility distance 127B, taking into account the temperatures, densities of the charged particles, the permittivity of the sink wall, the permittivity of the gap 127A and other relevant data in the described invention.

[0101] A person of skill in the art would know how to design a frame to hold the vacuum so it will be robust enough to withstand the vacuum forces while mitigating the heat transfer through the frame.

[0102] A person of skill in the art would also know how to mitigate the specific heat flow from the warm resistive layer 124 to the cold sink wall by designing the gap 127A size, selecting the media in gap 127A, by adjusting the vacuum pressures, by selecting reflecting surfaces in surfaces 126 & 116 as later be described, and so on. All of which are chosen according to the specific parameters of a specific embodiment of the invention.

[0103] The term "heat reservoir" as used herein refers to a thermal reservoir, also thermal energy reservoir or thermal bath, is a thermodynamic (sub)system with a large heat capacity so that the temperature of the reservoir changes relatively little when significant amount of heat is added or extracted from a coupled thermodynamic (sub)system. An example of the extent in which the term is used is the analysis of the heat exchange of an air conditioning unit (ACU) with an air-conditioned space. On the external side the ACU is coupled to the atmosphere which is with respect to the ACU a momentarily steady state heat reservoir characterized by the external temperature which practically is not changed by the heat added by the ACU and on the internal side the room is a second heat reservoir which is practically large enough so that the temperature in the room is a steady or semi-steady state. While the temperature in the room may be transient, it is expected to reach a steady state in the long run. Momentarily, the room can also be considered as a heat reservoir. In some cases, heat reservoir is considered in a steady state which also includes energy distribution in the heat reservoir. The term "heat pump” refers to a device that transfers thermal energy between spaces or regions. A heat pump is usually used to transfer heat from a first region generally at a first average temperature to a second region at a higher average temperature. However, it may also be used to force transfer of heat in cases in which the second region is at a lower average temperature, leading to accelerated heat transfer.

[0104] The term "thermally conductive wall” refers to a wall being in thermal communication, externally, with a first region or ambient which may be for example the atmosphere serving as a heat reservoir at a certain temperature and internally, with the particles in the chamber (i.e., that heat is transferred, directly or indirectly, from the wall to the particles and vice versa). Thus, the thermal conductive wall defines a thermal interface enabling heat transfer from the first region to the chamber. According to some embodiments, the thermal conductive wall is made of a material type and shape having a thermal conductivity of at least 1 W / (m2°K), at least 10 W / (m2°K) or at least 20 W / (m2°K).

[0105] According to some embodiments, at least one of the thermal conductive wall 104 and the resistive layer 124 is in contact with a heat transferring fluid and the heat transferring fluid is exchanging heat with the environment when the heat pump is operating. Non-limiting examples of heat transferring fluid are refrigerants (e.g., R32A, R1234ZA), water, antifreeze fluid (e.g., water mixed with glycol), air and oil. Heat transfer may be performed with the use of heat pipes or heat dissipator to ensure efficient heat transfer from a heat source. Accordingly, heat transfer may be indirect or direct where in the latter case the fluid in direct contact with the thermal conductive wall and / or the resistive layer.

[0106] According to some embodiments, the thermal conductive wall 104 is in thermal contact with a heat engine, adapted to receive heat from the "drain" side of the heat engine, i.e., from the heat transfer region of the heat engine from which heat is to be evacuated. According to some embodiments, the thermal conductive wall 104 is in thermal contact with a heat engine allowing heat disposal from the heat engine toward the thermal conductive wall 104. According to some embodiments, transferring heat from the heat engine or from another industrial process may be performed by the coupling of industrial heated stream (e.g., condensed steam).

[0107] The chamber 102 is not limited to a particular shape. The chamber 102 can be, for example cubic, pyramidical or spherical. In embodiments in which there is no geometric differentiation between regions of the shape, e.g., as in the case of a spheric chamber, the differentiation between regions of the shape is by the relative location of the gap and resistive layer on one part of the outer side, and the existence of a heat source on the other part of the outer side. Thus, in the case of a spherical shaped chamber, the external spheric wall is the thermally conductive wall 104, a mid-sphere is the sink wall 108 and the inner sphere may contain the resistive layer. In similarity, vice versa can also work: the internal spheric wall is the thermally conductive wall 104, the midsphere is the sink wall 108 and the outer sphere contains the resistive layer 124.

[0108] According to some embodiments, the chamber 102 further comprises additional, optionally inert particles, which, in turn, may enhance the thermal coupling of the ambient or heat-reservoir with the charged particles in the chamber 102.

[0109] To appreciate the working of the invention, when the particles are charged, and without being bound to theory, note that if the distribution of the charged particles is hypothetically perfectly stationary, a stationary electric field will form through the sink wall 108 toward the resistive layer 124, which in turn induces opposite stationary charge accumulation at the surface 126 of the resistive layer 124. However, particle distribution has inherent density fluctuations within the chamber 102. Charged particles such as charged gas atoms / molecules have lateral movement due to their heat energy. The fluctuations occur, statistically, due to the random or disharmonic lateral motion of the atoms / molecules. In case of solid charged particles (e.g., nanoparticles), the fluctuations are caused by Brownian motion of gas molecules / atom contained in the chamber and the interaction of the gas with the solid charged particles. Fluctuations of the spatial distribution of those charged particles, lead to fluctuations in the electric field distribution extending from the charged particles, through the sink wall toward the resistive layer (124 in figures 1 through 4). Consequently, the fluctuating electric field induces fluctuations of the charge accumulation at the surface 126 of the resistive layer 124, which in turn results in currents in the resistive layer 124, which heats the resistive layer 124. The heat energy than being transferred to the resistive layer 124 is drawn from the particles' kinetic energy. The particles then slow down, meaning that their temperature is reduced below the temperature of the thermal conductive wall 104. The thermal conductive wall 104, which is in thermal communication with the particles then transfers heat to the charged particles, and by that that wall cools down as well while the particles regain kinetic energy.

[0110] For the electric field fluctuations to have significant influence over the resistive layer's surface 126, the susceptibility distance should be at the magnitude order of the mean distance between the charged particles (MDBCP) which is designed for the device (i.e., the susceptibility distance is shorter than 10 times of the MDBCP and longer than tenth of the MDCB). For example: if the susceptibility distance is 5 microns, and the MDBCP is 20 nm, the fluctuations tend to cancel themselves over that large relative distance; if the susceptibility distance is 5 microns or less, and the MDBCP is 10 microns, the fluctuations of the electric field are well felt over the resistive layer 124 and they occur in high rate; If the susceptibility distance is still 5 microns or less and the MDBCP is 30 microns, the fluctuations are still well felt over the resistive layer 124, but their rate is slow, so the invention works but not ideally.

[0111] Charge fluctuations intensity and rate are nearly in linearly correlated to the induced current, up to a point in which either the MTBCP reduces beneath the factor above, or up to a breakdown voltage. Increasing the quantity of charged particles, the velocity of the charged particle, and the net charge of the particles and the rate the charged particle change the direction of their movement (as result of collisions), the higher the charge fluctuations are. Another contributing factor one may take into account is the selection of the charged particles. The type of particle that are selected and using mixture of more than one type of particle, can increase the induced currents, and as a result, increase the heat pumping effect. For example, by creating gas mixtures, such as hydrogen (H2) and radon (Rn) or hydrogen and neon (Nez) some of the above- mentioned contributing effects can be accomplished: (1) Hydrogen has low charging energy relative to the other two, so it will be charged easily so its molecules can serve as the chargeable particles. Because of their little mass, those molecules tend to move at high velocity; (2) By choosing the relative pressure of the hydrogen under working temperature of the gasses, we can determine correctly the desired MDBCP as described in previous paragraphs; (3) By choosing the other gas (neon, radon) which has big molecules that disturb the hydrogen molecules in their way, the mean time between hydrogen molecules collisions is increased, and as a result, increasing their fluctuations rate; (4) By adding another gas (radon, neon) to the chamber the convection factor is increased to assist the heat transfer from the thermal conductive wall 104 toward the charged particles 120. While using those gases, the charges fluctuations intensity and rate increases, they tend to lose their charge pretty fast, and recharging the gas requires external electrical energy, so one should calculate the benefit of using such fast-moving gas (as pure gas or as a mixture). According to another embodiment of current invention, the charged particles 120 can be selected from molecules of a gas with very low ionization energy. In this case - the recharging energy will be low, preferably lower than the chamber's materials. In such embodiments, the charge has minimal migration tendency. The gas type can be selected for example from trimethylamine (TMA) which has ionization energy of around 7.9eV or dimethylamine (DMA) which has ionization energy of around 8.2eV and the structural parts of the chamber can be made of silicon-dioxide / quartz, which has ionization energy of around 8.9eV. According to some embodiments, the resistive layer comprises one or a few regions in proximity to the sink wall 108. According to some embodiments, the resistive layer 124 is connected to a ground potential e.g., at the substrate 132. According to some embodiments, the ground potential leads to reverse currents that are generated as the electric field varies around the average electric field locally induced on face 126 of the resistive layer 124.

[0112] According to the invention, the resistive layer 124 is receptive to induced voltage by the charged particles, and the dynamic accumulation of charges of opposite sign at the face 126 of the resistive layer 124 is dependent on the local position of the dynamic charge density accumulation within the chamber 102 which results from the charge fluctuations. It is preferable that this dynamic charge density accumulation will be at the face 126 of the resistive layer 124 or at small distance from the face 126 of the resistive layer 124. Therefore, according to some embodiments the distance between the face 126 of the resistive layer 124 and the internal surface of the sink wall is less than 5 microns for example between 1 micron to 4.9 microns, 700 nm to 1.2 micron, 300 to 750nm, lOOnm to 350nm or 30 nm to 120nm. The susceptibility distance may have a value between 10 times longer of the designed MDBCP and 10 times shorter of the MDBCP. The susceptibility distance may have a value in even a narrower range, e.g., between 5 times longer of the designed MDBCP and 5 times shorter of the MDBCP.

[0113] Referring to figure 2, a simplified illustration is provided to exemplify the induction of currents in the resistive layer 124. The dynamic fluctuating particle distribution creates respective charge density fluctuation within the chamber 102. The particles 120 are charged in this case with positive electric charge. The local charge density creates a decaying electric field, according to Gauss law. Arrows 130 schematically represent velocity directions and rates of the charged particles. Resistors 168 schematically represents the resistance effect of the resistive layer 124. Temporary accumulation of positive charges close to a resistive layer 124, induces current at that resistive layer 124, which in turn may lead to accumulation of a negative charge close to the resistive layer face 126. Due to the dynamic nature of particles movement, the charge density distribution changes constantly in the chamber 102, resulting with a fluctuation of the electrical field. As a result of this dynamic fluctuation of charge distribution, and as a result of the change of the corresponding electric field, charges of opposite sign are respectively accumulated and depleted in the resistive layer face 126, currents that flow through resistors 168. As currents flow through the resistive layer 124, as a result of the electric field fluctuation and through the resistance, heat is locally generated. As the local charged particles density varies (fluctuates) back and forth around the average charge density, so do the respective currents in the resistive layer 124. According to some embodiments, the resistive layer 124 is posed upon a substrate 132. According to some embodiments, the resistive layer 124 or the substrate 132 (if conducting) is connected to a common ground. According to some embodiments, substrate 132 is thermally conductive. Thus, according to embodiments described in the previous paragraph, heat is generated in the device at the resistive layers 124 or more generally in the resistive layers region (RLRG) 178 in which the resistive layers are located. The resistive layers region includes the resistive layers 124, the voids in between the resistive layers and the optional substrate 132. According to embodiments described in the previous paragraph, heat is drawn from the heat source region 180 which includes the chamber 102 and the external environment proximal to and surrounding the chamber. According to some embodiments, the RLRG 178 and the heat source region 180 are separated by a gap 127A, which is defined between the surface 126 of the resistive layer 124 and the external surface 116 of the sink wall 108. According to some embodiments, the resistive layer face 126 is in touch (directly or indirectly) with the internal face 116 of the sink wall 108 (i.e. there is no gap separating the resistive layer face 126 and the internal face 116 of the sink wall 108), but heat transfer in between the sink wall 108 and the resistive layer 124 is then mitigated by using a thermally insulating sink wall 108, thermally insulating resistive layer 124 and / or thermally insulating intermediate layer (not shown) that is placed between the resistive layer and the sink wall. According to some embodiments, heat flows from heat source region 180 to RLRG 178 even though the temperature in RLRG 178 is higher than the temperature in the heat source region 180. According to some embodiments, the temperature in RLRG 178 is higherthan the temperature of the external face of the thermal conductive wall 106 by more than 0.1°C, more than 1 °C, more than 5 °C, by more than 15 °C, more than 50 °C or by more than 100 °C. More specifically according to some embodiments, heat generated in the resistive layer spreads across the restive layer and / or substrate 132. According to some embodiments, heat flows from heat source region 180 to RLRG 178 while the temperature of the external face 106 of the thermal conductive wall 104 is higherthan the temperature of the resistive layer 124 of the RLRG 178 and the device 100 is used for pumping heat from the heat source region 180 to RLRG 178.

[0114] Parasitic backward heat transfer from RLRG 178 toward the heat source region 180 is preferably minimized to achieve higher temperature difference between the RLRG 178 and the external face 106 of the thermal conductive wall 104. The heat can flow by four main mechanisms, each requiring a different solution for mitigation of the parasitic backward heat transfer.

[0115] The first mechanism is conduction. As mentioned above, according to some embodiments, the RLRG 178 is separated from the sink wall 108 by gap 127A. The gap 127A reduces the backward heat conduction, although heat conduction can still occur through a frame (i.e., a supporting structure) that holds RLRG 178 and the chamber 102 that is in the heat source region 180 together. According to some embodiments, the structure and material(s) which the frame that confines the gap is made of, is a thermally insulating such that the total conductive heat transfer coefficient between w

[0116] RLRG 178 and heat source region 180 is less than 1000—; — less than 100—; — , less ° m2-°C m2-°C w w w than 10 — — , less than 1— ■ — , or less than 0.1 — — . According to another m2-°C m2-°C m2-°C ° embodiment, an insulating material separates the sink wall 108 from RLRG 178, insulating material with same conductive heat transfer coefficient ranges as mentioned above for the frame. As such, at least one of the gap 127A and the sink wall 108 may comprise a thermal insulating material. The second mechanism is heat-convection by gas (or by a gas mixture such as air) contained in the gap 127A and in the frame structure. According to some embodiments, to reduce backward heat transfer by convection, the gap 127A is sealed by the frame of the support structure and, while the heat pump is working, a vacuum (gas at low pressure) is contained therein.

[0117] The third mechanism of heat transfer is radiation. According to some embodiments, in order to minimize heat transfer by radiation, the surface or the coating of at least one of face 126 and the face of RLRG 178 facing heat source region 180, is made of a material with total radiation emissivity coefficient less than 0.2, less than 0.05 or less than 0.02 at the resistive layer temperatures in which the apparatus is operating (emissivity coefficient depends on the temperature of the body). According to some embodiments, the material of the resistive layer 124 or its surface 126 can be selected from silver, platinum, or mixtures thereof. Further, to minimize radiative heat transfer between the chamber and the resistive layer, the emissivity of at least the sink wall external surface 116 and a face of heat source region 180 facing RLRG 178, is minimized as well. According to some embodiments, that external surface or coating is made of a material with emissivity coefficient less than 0.2 or less than 0.1 at the sink wall temperatures in which the apparatus is operating. According to some embodiments, the material of the external surface of sink wall 108 or the coating of the sink wall 108 is selected from magnesium oxide and polyethylene. According to some embodiments the emissivity of the resistive layer 124 is mitigated by forming a pattern on its surface 126 facing the heat source region 180 / the sink wall 108. According to such embodiments the pattern is configured to provide for a more dynamic charge mobility in response to charge fluctuations within the chamber. According to such embodiments the pattern has a synergetic effect, increasing heat generation in the conductor and reducing radiation losses. For a patterned surface having a pattern of different depths on the surface of the resistive layer the susceptibility distance 127B from the first face of the resistive layer is defined as the distance to the topmost surface sections of the first face of the resistive layer to the internal surface 112 of the sink wall 108.

[0118] The fourth mechanism of heating is matter-exchange between heat source region 180 and RLRG 178. According to some embodiments, the chamber is sealed so charged particles cannot emigrate from the chamber 102 to RLRG 178 and back. According to some embodiments, the gas separating heat source region 180 and RLRG 178 is sealed by the chamber walls 109, the sink wall 108, and the thermally conductive wall 104.

[0119] Charging the chargeable particles in the chamber can be performed in several ways. According to some embodiments, the particles are pre-charged in the production process of the heat pump. According to some embodiments of the charging process, at least one charging electrode pierces the chamber, i.e., the electrode's tip (i.e., an end on which charge may accumulate) is positioned in the chamber while it is electrically connected through the wall of the chamber to an electric circuitry outside the chamber (not shown). This is schematically illustrated in Figure 1A, the charging electrode 170 is located with its charging tip in the chamber and may be connected to a first side of a power source (not shown) to provide the voltage required to generate a charge density of a first polarity at the electrode tip sufficient to charge the chargeable particles in the chamber. According to some embodiments, the second side of the power source is electrically connected to the resistive layer, so while the particles are charged with first polarity, the resistive layer is charged by the opposite polarity. According to some embodiments, and as schematically illustrated in Figure IB, a grounding electrode 172, is connected to the resistive layer 124 and pierces the substrate, so the charging process can be done while vacuum is kept within the frame. According to some embodiments, the grounding electrode 172 is connected to the second side of the power source during the charging process. According to some embodiments, the chargeable particles in the chamber are gas molecules or atoms in partial pressure between 5Pa to 120Pa, lOOPa to 500Pa, 450Pa to lKPa, 950Pa to 5KPa, 4.5KPa to lOKPa.

[0120] According to some embodiments, another gas with large diameter molecules is mixed with the charged particles 120 in the chamber 102. According to some embodiments, another hovering solid with large diameter molecules is mixed with the charged particles in the chamber.

[0121] According to some embodiments, the resistive layer 124 in the RLRG 178 is charged with a charge of opposite polarity (opposite sign) with respect to the charge polarity of the charged particles 120. According to some embodiments, in the charging process, the circuit charging the chargeable particles is performing the charging by drawing current to or from the resistive layer according to respective charge polarity, for example, if the conductor is connected to ground potential during the charging process. According to some embodiments, one frame comprises a plurality of heat pumps, wherein chambers are arranged in an array on top of common resistive layer 124.

[0122] Referring to Figure 3A, schematic illustration of coupling of the heat pump 100 to a drain side 408 of a heat engine 410 is provided. According to the illustrated embodiments, heat transfer fluid (not shown) flows through a heat transfer circuit 404 which is in thermal contact with the drain side 408 of the heat engine 410 at a heat transfer region 412. Heat transfer fluid enters the heat transfer region 412 at temperature T1 and is heated to temperature T2. The heated heat transfer fluid flows through heat transfer circuit 404 into a second heat transfer region 416 which is in thermal contact with the thermal conductive wall 104 of the heat pump 100. According to the illustrated embodiments, the fluid enters the second heat transfer region 416 at temperature T2 and exits the region at temperature Tl, wherein T1 < T2. As indicated above, according to some embodiments, the temperature of the thermally conductive wall 104 is lower than the temperature of the resistive layer 124 of the heat pump due to the heat pumping effect of the heat pump 100. According to some embodiments, the temperature of the resistive layer 124 of the heat pump 100 is higher than the ambient temperature, so heat from the resistive layer 124 can be transferred to the surroundings (e.g., the atmosphere) as evacuating heat 406 to the surrounding, even if temperature Tl is lower than the temperature of surrounding. According to some embodiments, that heat is transferred to the surrounding environment / reservoir through substrate 132 if such exists. According to some embodiments, T2 is also lower than the temperature of the surrounding and the heat engine is using the surrounding as its heat source 405 that enters to the heat engine heat source side 409. According to such embodiments, the heat pump 100 absorbs the heat drain of the engine thereby enabling its operation.

[0123] According to the illustrated example, in case of using heat pipe in circuit 404, Tl and T2 might be almost the same temperature (preferably lower than the ambient temperature), and in this embodiment, the fluid enters the heat transfer region 412 at low enthalpy Hl and leaves the heat transfer region 412 in high enthalpy H2. This also allows the heat engine to operate when using the surrounding reservoir as the heat source, and the invented heat pump as its heat absorber.

[0124] Referring to Figure 3B, schematic illustration of coupling of the heat pump 100 to a source side 409 of a heat engine 410 is provided. According to the illustrated embodiment, heat transfer fluid (not shown) flows through heat transfer circuit 404 which is in thermal contact with the source side 409 of the heat engine 410 at heat transfer region 412. Heat transfer fluid enters the heat transfer region 412 at temperature Tl and is cooled to temperature T2. The cooled heat transfer fluid flows through heat transfer circuit 404 into a second heat transfer region 416 which is in thermal contact with the heat pump substrate 132. In other embodiments, the second heat transfer region 416 is in contact with the resistive layer 124 directly, adapted to transfer heat from the resistive layer to the source side of the heat engine. According to the illustrated embodiment, the fluid enters the second heat transfer region 416 at temperature T2 and exits the region at temperature Tl, wherein T1 > T2. As indicated above, according to some embodiments, the temperature of substrate 132 is higher than the temperature of the thermally conductive wall 104 due to the heat pumping effect of the heat pump 100. According to some embodiments, the temperature of the thermally conductive wall 104 of the heat pump 100 is lower than the ambient temperature, so the surroundings (e.g., the atmosphere) is being used as heat source 405, and heat can be transferred to the thermally conductive wall 104, even if temperature T2 is higher than the temperature of surrounding. According to some embodiments, Tl is also higher than the temperature of the surrounding and the heat engine is evacuating heat 406 to the surrounding at its heat drain side 408. According to such embodiments, the heat pump 100 provides the source of energy of the heat engine 410 thereby enabling its operation.

[0125] According to the illustrated example, in case of using heat pipe in circuit 404, Tl and T2 might be almost the same temperature (preferably higher than the ambient), and in this embodiment, the fluid enters the heat transfer region 412 at high enthalpy Hl and leaves the heat transfer region 412 in low enthalpy H2. This also allows to operate the heat engine when using the surrounding reservoir as the heat drain 406, and the heat pump of the invention as its heat source provider. Electrical resistivity of a physical element is defined by its material characteristics, geometrical shape and dimensions. Specific resistivity refers to a property defined for the material. Accordingly, the term "electrically conductive material" refers to a physical element having a specific resistivity between lOnQm and O.lQm ; The term "electrically resistive material" refers to a physical element having a specific resistivity between lOQm to 2KQm ; The term "insulative material" refers to a physical element having a specific resistivity above 20KQm. Wherein the intermediate values between those three definitions can be related to each one of them according to their usage in the context. The term "chargeable particles" refers to neutral particles that may undergo redox reaction or direct electrical charging to receive or donate at least one electron. Examples include gas molecules such as hydrogen, water vapor molecules, suspended water droplets or oil droplets and solid particles such as Fullerenes and carbon nanotubes, or atoms such 28 as radon that may easily ionize. According to some embodiments charged nanoparticles such as fullerenes or carbon nanotubes may be charged by more than one elementary charge (either positive or negative). Generally, the tendency of a particle to be charged is at least partially characterized by a triboelectric coefficient, and by its Ionization energy. According to some embodiments the chargeable particles may be atoms of helium, radon, xenon, molecules of hydrogen, oxygen, nitrogen, disodium (Naz), water vapor, alkyl amines (e.g., trimethylamine and dimethylamine) or molecules of ammonia vapor. The particles may be selected from particles of hydrogen, helium, trimethylamine, dimethylamine and mixtures thereof. The chargeable particles may be a mixture of gases. The mixture of gases may be a mixture of hydrogen and helium. The charged particles are the ionized forms of the particles mentioned above

[0126] (e.g., Na2+for Naz).

[0127] The term “triboelectricity" refers to the susceptibility of a material to be charged with surplus charge by contact interaction with a second material. Triboelectricity effects describe the transfer of charge that accrues as a result of contact between surfaces or contact between a fluid and a surface. The triboelectric series is an ordering of different materials indicating their relative tendency to donate or receive charge through contact electrification.

[0128] Referring now to figures 4, 4.1, 4A, and 4B provide a schematic showing a plurality of chambers 102 as part of such an arrangement.

[0129] According to some embodiments, a frame 500 mechanically connects chambers 102 and RLRG 178 together where a gap 127A is kept in between the chambers 102 and the

[0130] RLRG 178. In other embodiments, there is no gap between the regions. The frame 500 may contain: first frame surface 508; second frame surface 502; frame walls 506; and frame supporting rods 504. As previously noted, the frame 500 is mechanically capable of separating the low pressure that may exist in the gap 127A from the ambient pressure and keep the ambient pressure from deforming the structure due to pressure difference in between the ambient and the low pressure in the gaps.

[0131] RECTIFIED SHEET (RULE 91) The first frame surface 508 is mechanically connected with at least one thermal conductive wall 104. In some embodiment - several thermal conductive walls 104, each for a different heat pump, are combined in the first frame surface 508. In some embodiments, at least the heat transfer properties and thermal radiative coating of the first surface 508 and the thermal conductive walls 104 are similar or equivalent. In some embodiment, the frame first surface 508 serves as a thermal conductive wall 104 of one or more heat pumps 100.

[0132] The second frame surface 502 is mechanically connected with at least one substrate 132. In some embodiment, several substrates, each for a different heat pump, are combined in the second frame surface 502. In some embodiments, at least the heat transfer properties and thermal radiative coating of the frame second surface 502 and the substrate 132 are similar or equivalent. In some embodiment, the frame second surface 502 is the substrate 132 itself, and in some embodiments the frame second surface 502 serves as few substrates 132 of several heat-pumps 100. In some embodiments, the resistive layer 124 of some heat pumps is combined as a part of the frame second surface 502, layered thereon, or coated on the surface.

[0133] Frame walls 506 mechanically connect the surrounding perimeters of the first and second frame thermally conductive walls. In some embodiments, the walls can be made of SiOz, SijIX or other material with low thermal conductivity, in order to mitigate heat transfer from RLRG(s) 178 toward heat source region(s) 180. In some embodiments, the thickness of the walls is less than lOOmicrons, less than 10 microns and less than 2 microns, the thinner they are - less heat can transfer RLRG(s) 178 toward heat source region(s) 180. In some embodiments, the frame walls 506 should be able to keep low pressure located in the gap(s) when the heat pump is working and should withstand the pressure differential located in between their inner side (gap's low pressure) and outer sides (ambient). In some embodiments, the walls are zigzagged, skewed or any other shape that strengthens the walls in order to withstand the pressure differential.

[0134] Frame supporting rods 504 mechanically connect and separates the first face surface

[0135] 508 and second frame surface 502 inner faces. The rods should keep their distance 30 under the pressure differential. In some embodiments, the rods 504 should have low thermal conductivity in order to mitigate heat transfer RLRG(s) 178 toward heat source region(s) 180. The rods 504 may be made of SiC>2, SiglSU or other material with low thermal conductivity, in order to mitigate heat transfer from RLRG(s) 178 toward heat source region(s) 180. In some embodiments, the rods are hollow or partially hollow for the same reason, with wall thickness of less than 100 microns, less than 10 microns or less than 2 microns, the thinner they are - less heat can transfer between RLRG(s) 178 toward heat source region(s) 180.

[0136] Naturally, charged particles with similar polarity tend to repel each other. This might cause low particles density in the middle of the chamber 102. According to some embodiments, to improve the operation of the heat pump 100 it is preferred that the average statistic distribution of the charged particle will be as even as possible close to the sink wall 108, as will be explain in figures 4-6.

[0137] Figure 4 is a top view of structure 500 containing a frame 501 holding several heat pumps 100 in an array. Figure 5.1 is a front view on said structure (first angle projection). Figure 4A is a vertical slice cross-section i.e., a cross-section vertical through one of the first frame surface 508 (which is also the thermally conductive wall

[0138] 104) and the second frame surface 502 (same as substate 132). Figure 4B is a partial cross section parallel and in between to the first frame surface 508 and one of respective sink wall 108 of the chamber. According to some embodiments, as depicted, the first frame surface 508 acts as the thermally conductive walls 104 and is common to the chambers in the array. In some embodiments, and as depicted, the second frame surface 502 acts as substrate 132 and is common to the heat pumps in the array. The resistive layer 124 here is also common to the chambers 102 in the array layered upon the second substrate surface 502 and also common to the heat pumps 100. According to some embodiments, the frame supporting rods 504 and frame walls 506 serve as frame structural elements to hold the position of the chambers in between a common top thermally conductive wall 104 and the common resistive layer in a structure. It also maintains the gaps between the sink walls 108 of the chambers and the resistive layer

[0139] 124. The frame walls 506, together with the first frame surface 508 and the second

[0140] RECTIFIED SHEET (RULE 91) the frame 501. In some embodiment, frame supporting rods 504 separate and support the first frame surface 508 and the second frame surface 502, so mechanical distortion of the structure mitigates under external pressure. Frame elements 504 and 506 can be structured and made from selected materials to provide low thermal conduction between the second frame surface 502 (substrate 132) and first frame surface 508 (thermally conductive wall 104). In some embodiments, their combined thermally conduction is less than lW / m2 / °C, less than 0.1W / m2 / °C or less than 0.01W / m2 / °C. According to some embodiments the gaps and spaces between the chambers that are all part of a continuous volume confined by the frame walls 506 and first and second surfaces 508, 502 and are filled with a gas at low-pressure. In some embodiments, one frame may contain more than 1 chamber, more than 100 chambers, more than 10,000 chambers, or more than 1,000,000 chambers.

[0141] According to respective embodiments, the heat pump further comprises a bounding ring 184 located around the chamber 102, the bounding ring 184 is charged while the heat pump 1000 is operating with an electric charge of the same polarity as the electrically charged particles 120 to cancel at least some of the repulsion forces in between the particles. Thus, the position of the charged bounding ring improves the homogeneity distribution of the charged particles within the chamber. According to some embodiments, the bounding ring can be made of an electrically nonconductive material, such as SiO? that may be pre-charged with the appropriate charge.

[0142] According to some embodiments, internal faces of the chamber 102 are made of and / or coated by a triboelectric material configured and adapted to transfer charge upon friction. According to such embodiments, due to the charging process of the particles, some charge is transferred to the surrounding casing walls, and those particles may re-charge. In this case, the charge on the casing wall serves the same repelling role as the boundary ring. For example, if one chooses to charge the particles with positive charge, the internal surface of the chamber may be selected to be made of SiCh, since SiO? has a strong tendency to contribute positive charge (a property that is reflected by its position in the triboelectric series). Alternatively, if the chargeable particles are charged with negative charge, the internal surfaces of the chamber walls might be made of silicon, a material that has strong negative triboelectric tendency, i.e., a tendency to acquire a negative charge, which again, is reflected for by its position in the triboelectric series. According to some embodiments, the chargeable element is charged, and its opposite polarity partially attracts the charged particles towards the center of the chamber and reduces repulsion forces that deflect the charged particles towards the circumference of the chamber, thereby increasing the spatial uniformity in a plane parallel to the conductor. Making reference to Figure 5, which depicts another embodiment of the invention the chargeable element (e.g., chargeable rod 604) is made of electrically insulating material and may be pre-charged. According to some embodiments, the chargeable element is a conductor. According to some embodiments, insulating coating or insulating hollow cylinder 606 separates the charged chamber rods 604 from the particles to avoid mutual discharge between the chamber rods 604 and particles 120. Referring to Figure 6B, a top view of the sketched embodiment is shown, in which the top thermally conductive wall is not shown. Illustrated in the figure is the coating or hollow rods 606, separating chargeable rod 604, in case it is charged, from the particles in the chamber.

[0143] Referring to Figure 6 an additional embodiment comprising a chargeable element is portrayed, the figure being a schematic and a cross-section view, similar to the cross section of Figure 5A. According to the illustrated embodiment, the chargeable element 704 is made of a resistive or conductive material and is electrically connected to the resistive layer 124 or is part of the resistive layer 124 in which currents are induced by the charge fluctuations in the chamber 102. The position of the chargeable element 704 relative to the volume of the chamber and the accumulation of reverse charge in the chargeable element serves to balance repulsion forces between the charges particles and mitigate the charge inhomogeneity in the chamber 102.

[0144] According to some embodiments, the material and / or internal coating of the chamber 102 are selected to minimize charge accumulation at the external free volume of the chamber, as repealing charges tend to do. According to some embodiments, collision of particles at the surface of the triboelectric coating of the chamber 102 may mitigate charge transfer to / from the chargeable particles and the coating, thus maintaining the charged particles ratio in the chamber 102. For example, if one chooses to charge the particles with positive charge, the internal surface of the chamber walls 109 may be selected to be made of SiOz, a material that a high positive triboelectric tendency (a property that is reflected by its position in the triboelectric series). Alternatively, if the chargeable particles are charged with negative charge, the internal chamber walls 109 might be made of silicon, since silicon has a strong tendency to contribute negative charge (which again, is reflected for by its position in the triboelectric series).

[0145] As mentioned, the sink wall 108 can be very thin, and there is some pressure differential between its face. To prevent the sink wall from deforming, then according to an embodiment, there is at least one chamber rod 604 within chamber 102, which mechanically connects and fixates the sink wall 108 to the thermally conductive wall 104. In some embodiment, the chamber rod 604 is insulated by insulation or coating.

[0146] According to a further aspect, the invention provides a heat pump system 101 formed by a cascade of heat pumps, wherein each heat pump is configured and operated according to the invention and the thermal conductive wall of at least one of the heat pumps is thermally connected with the resistive layer of the adjacent heat pump. The heat pump system can be formed of two or more heat pumps according to the invention in tandem. Figure 7 schematically illustrates an embodiment according to the further aspect of the invention wherein the heat pump system 101 is a cascade of two heat pumps 100A, 100B, each indicated by surrounding dashed lines. The two heat pumps 100A and 100B are in thermal contact through thermal interface 306. Heat pumps 100A and 100B each respectively comprising chamber 102A and 102B having a respective thermal conductive wall 104A and 104B and an electrically insulating sink wall 108A and 108B. Each heat pump is configured and operated according to the invention and wherein the resistive layer 124A of the first heat pump is thermally connected (coupled) to the thermal conductive wall 104B of the second heat pump, thus constructing a tandem device achieving an accumulated temperature difference between the second resistive layer 124B and the first thermally conductive wall 104A, a difference that is the sum of the temperature difference in each of the two subsystems. According to some embodiments, thermal interface 306 is direct contact between resistive layer 124A and thermally conductive wall 104B. According to some embodiments, thermal interface 306 is the substrate 132A, and / or the thermally conductive wall 104B. According to some embodiments, thermal interface 306 is a heat exchanger.

[0147] According to a further aspect, the invention provides a method for transferring heat comprising the steps of: obtaining the heat pump of the invention; charging the gas particles in case they are not already pre-charged; and in case there is a gap between the external surface of the sink wall and the first face of the resistive layer - then vacuuming the gap to obtain heat pumping.

[0148] In some embodiments, the vacuuming is performed to each a pressure lower than 100 Pa. The method may further include steps of connecting the heat pump to a heat engine.

[0149] In a further aspect, the invention provides heat pump core comprising a resistive layer made of electrical resistive material having a specific resistivity of less than lKQm and more that lOnQm, comprising a first face and a second face; an electrically insulating sink wall comprising a first surface and a second surface intended to be an internal surface and an external surface, respectively, of a chamber in a heat pump, wherein the first surface is exposed to the environment, and the second surface faces the first face of the resistive layer; and a frame supporting structure, fixated to the resistive layer and to the sink wall, wherein the first face of the resistive layer is proximal to the second surface of the sink wall and the second face of the resistive layer is distal to the sink wall, wherein the minimal distance between the first face of the resistive layer and the internal surface of the sink wall is less than 1 micron, wherein the minimal distance between the first face of the resistive layer and the external surface of the sink wall is more than 1 nanometer and wherein the frame supporting structure is a thermal insulator. In some embodiments the supporting frame is made of a thermal insulating material as known in the art. In some embodiments the supporting layer is made of a thermal insulating material and designed such that the total conductive heat transfer coefficient between RLRG (as previously defined) 178 and sink wall 108 is less than 1000^^ when the heat pump core is integrated in a heat pump of the invention. In some embodiments the supporting layer is made of a thermal insulating material and designed such that the total conductive heat transfer coefficient between resistive layer 112 and sink wall 108 is less than 1000 when the heat pump core is integrated in a heat pump of the invention. The heat pump core described above may be used to manufacture a heat pump according to the invention. In some embodiments the frame supporting structure is designated to hold a vacuum in the gap. In some embodiments the frame supporting structure comprises a structural path from the gap to an aperture so air can escape from the gap through it, whenever the aperture is connected to a vacuum pump, to perform the vacuum in the gap.

[0150] The description of the present invention has been presented for purposes of illustration and description, but it is not intended to be exhaustive or limited to the invention in the form disclosed. Many modifications and variations will be apparent to those of ordinary skill in the art without departing from the scope and spirit of the invention. Embodiments were chosen and described in order to best explain the principles of the invention and the practical application, and to enable others of ordinary skill in the art to understand the invention for various embodiments with various modifications as suited to the particular use contemplated. To the extent that the following description is of a specific embodiment or a particular use of the invention, it is intended to be illustrative only and not limiting the claimed invention.

[0151] The corresponding structures, materials, acts, and equivalents of all means or steps plus function elements in the claims appended to this specification are intended to include any structure, material, or act for performing the function in combination with other claimed elements as specifically claimed.

[0152] References in the specification to "one embodiment", "an embodiment", etc., indicate that the embodiment described may include a particular aspect, feature, structure, or characteristic, but not every embodiment necessarily includes that aspect, feature, structure, or characteristic. Moreover, such phrases may, but do not necessarily, refer to the same embodiment referred to in other portions of the specification. Further, when a particular aspect, feature, structure, or characteristic is described in connection with an embodiment, it is within the knowledge of one skilled in the art to combine, affect or connect such aspect, feature, structure, or characteristic with other embodiments, whether or not such connection or combination is explicitly described. In other words, any element or feature may be combined with any other element or feature in different embodiments, unless there is an obvious or inherent incompatibility between the two, or it is specifically excluded.

[0153] It is further noted that the claims may be drafted to exclude any optional element. As such, this statement is intended to serve as antecedent basis for the use of exclusive terminology, such as "solely," "only," and the like, in connection with the recitation of claim elements or use of a "negative" limitation. The terms "preferably," "preferred," "prefer," "optionally," "may," and similar terms are used to indicate that an item, condition or step being referred to is an optional (not required) feature of the invention.

[0154] The singular forms "a," "an," and "the" include the plural reference unless the context clearly dictates otherwise. The term "and / or" means any one of the items, any combination of the items, or all of the items with which this term is associated.

[0155] As will be understood by one skilled in the art, for any and all purposes, particularly in terms of providing a written description, all ranges recited herein also encompass any and all possible sub-ranges and combinations of sub-ranges thereof, as well as the individual values making up the range, particularly integer values. A recited range (e.g., weight percent) includes each specific value, integer, decimal, or identity within the range. Any listed range can be easily recognized as sufficiently describing and enabling the same range being broken down into at least equal halves, thirds, quarters, fifths, or tenths. As a non-limiting example, each range discussed herein can be readily broken down into a lower third, middle third and upper third, etc. As will also be understood by one skilled in the art, all ranges described herein, and all language such as "up to", "at least", "greater than", "less than", "more than", "or more", and the like, include the number(s) recited and such terms refer to ranges that can be subsequently broken down into sub-ranges as discussed above.

[0156] Examples

[0157] The production example given herein, uses the basic steps known to the semiconductor integrated circuits industry, such as: masking, lithography, masking removal, oxidization, doping, wafer bonding, wafer cutting, deposition, etc.

[0158] The materials used for this example are also well used to that industry, materials such as: pure Silicon, doped Silicon, Silicon-Dioxide, Gold, Copper, Bonding layer, etc.

[0159] To simplify the explanation, basic production steps are not mentioned here, since it should be well known to a person skilled in the art how to produce the plates described in in first set of Figures 8A-D 9A-E, 10A-D, 12, and in second set of Figures 13A-F,14A- D. However, those figures and the assembly in Figures 11 and 15 respectively will be described to understand the possible shape to be received in the production process.

[0160] Example 1

[0161] Production of a heat pump:

[0162] Figures 8A-D-12 describe the manufacturing of four heat pumps in a single frame, each heat pump and / heat pump core is being an exemplary embodiment of the current invention.

[0163] A single heat pump 2000, includes a chamber 102, chargeable particles 120 accommodated in the chamber between the thermally conductive wall 104 and the electrically insulated sink wall 108, the gap 127A, the resistive layer 124 and optionally a substrate 132 to which the resistive layer is attached to. Some general remarks regarding figures 8A-D-12 should be mentioned:

[0164] 1. The frame assembly as described in figures 11A - 11G uses 3 plates, each produced by processing a silicon wafer and then assembled one on top of the other. A person skill in the art will know how to produce a single, dozens or even thousands of such heat pumps in one frame. Moreover, those figures describe a fraction of a standard silicon wafer, since wafers in the integrated circuits industry are usually supplied by a disc shape between 49 mm to 400 mm in diameter, and the frame described in figures 11A-G is just 2.6 mm X 2.6 mm, which is a fraction of the wafer size. It is assumed that the assembly in figures 11A-G is cut as known to the industry (e.g., Laser cut and Etching) after the assembly. For simplicity, the plates described in figures 8A-D, 9A-E, 10A-D and 12 are described like they were already cut before the assembly. A person skill in the art will know how to produce the full-scale plates, to assemble them into one or multiple frame structures and then to separate them.

[0165] 2. Linear dimensions in figures 8A-D-11A-G are given in microns, and angular dimensions are given in degrees. For the simplicity and better visuality, some items are out of scale, for example, in figure 8C, width of 1.2 micron is not proportional to a diameter of 120 micron, because if 1.2 microns dimension was drawn to scale, it would have appeared as a thin line over an existing face line in that drawing.

[0166] 3. Dimension accuracy can vary from one dimension to another, as long as the total functionality and production-ability is maintained. A person skill in the art can understand which tolerance is adequate for each dimension.

[0167] 4. Those drawing are drawn in first angle projection.

[0168] 5. The section-views in the drawing are all slice-sections, except from the one in figure 11G. The hatches in those section-views are drawn to explain the cut material. A legend for those material, in general, is given in figure 12.

[0169] 6. The bonding material might shrink during the bonding process. The thickness of that material, when posed on top of the plates is drawn as if the bonding material was already shrunk, and a person skill in the art can calculate according to the chosen material, which addition should be considered for that thickness.

[0170] Lower plate 800

[0171] Reference is now made to figures 8A-D and in figure 11A-G which depict the lower plate 800. This plate can be made from a pure silicon inner core 802, covered with silicon dioxide cover 804, having a thickness of about 0.5 micron. The core overall dimension before oxidization is 2600 microns width X 2600 microns length X 400 microns height. The edges of the plate are made of narrow silicon dioxide margins 806 for thermal insulation, in order to mitigate heat flowing from lower plate 800 toward mid plate 900 when the two plates are assembled together. Four silicon discs 808, are deposed and doped on the front face of lower plate 800, the doping should increase the conductivity of the pure silicon to a value of around 100 Qm in the room temperature. Under each disc, a copper lower cylindric electrode 810, is attached and centered, served as the grounding electrode of the resistive layer. Bonding layers 812, made from an electrically insulating material (such as epoxy-based material) positioned as nine bonding discs which are distributed in an evenly spaced pattern between and around the silicon discs and attached to the front face of lower plate 800. Layer 814, made from metal alloy bonding layer is laid on the perimeter of the front plate.

[0172] Mid plate 900

[0173] Mid plate 900, is described in figures 9A-E and in figures 11A-G. This plate can be made from a pure silicon inner core 902, covered with a silicon dioxide cover 904, the latter having a thickness of about 0.5micron. The core overall dimension before oxidization is 2600 microns width X 2600 microns length X 400 microns height. The edges of the plate are made of narrow silicon dioxide margins 906 for thermal insulation, in order to mitigate heat flowing from lower plate 800 toward mid plate 900 when the plates are assembled together. Four hollow cut cones 908 positioned from face 916 up to the plan of margin 906, evenly distributed around the mid plate 900 center. Each cut-cone bottom is made of Silicon-dioxide membrane 910. Within each cut-cone, six rods, (serving as optional structure enforcement elements) 912, hold the membrane in position, to enforce the structure while there is pressure difference between membrane faces. Nine further hollow cut cones 914 positioned from the front face toward the back face, evenly distributed around the plate center and between the four cut-cones, correspond to the frame supporting rods 504. Those rods are made of thin silicon-dioxide, to mitigate heat transfer between lower plate 800 toward mid plate 900, when the heat pump is operating. Note that the inner surface of cut-cones 908 and rods 914 can be made of silicon-dioxide to mitigate electric charge transfer to the inner silicon layer 902 when the heat pump is working and charged particles are moving within the chamber.

[0174] Top plate 1000

[0175] Top plate 1000 is described in figures 10A-D and in figures 11A-G. This plate can be made from a pure silicon inner core 1002, covered with silicon dioxide cover 1004, about 0.5micron in thickness. The core overall dimension before oxidization is 2600 microns width X 2600 microns length X 400 microns height. Four depositions of gold star-shapes 1006, 3 microns in width, are attached on the front face of the top plate 1000, the star-shape tips 1008 should be as sharp as possible, to allow high charge density in the tips during the charging process of the gas (chargeable elements) that later, will be caged in the chamber. Under each star-shape, a lower copper cylindric electrode 1010 is attached and centered. The cylinder 1010 together with its adjacent star-shape 1006, corresponds to the charging electrode 170. A bonding layer 1012, made from an electrically insulating material (such as an epoxy based material) is attached also on the front face of top plate 1000. This layer 1012 covers all the front face of top plate 1000 except where the gold star-shapes are positioned and except a few microns around them.

[0176] Assembly process

[0177] In order to complete the assembly, the three plates are placed in a vacuum chamber (herein: VC), the bonding layer is degassed (by heating while reducing the pressure below 0.05Pa for 5 hours). The pressure is raised in the VC by inserting a mixture of hydrogen gas at lOPa and argon gas at 50Pa. Mid plate 900 and top plates 1000 should be aligned and then bonded together according to figures 11A-G to receive a subassembly. In this process, some of the gas mixture 2002, is trapped within the four chambers.

[0178] The pressure in the VC is reduced to below 0.05Pa, and lower plate 800 is bonded to the sub-assembly according to figure 11A-G.

[0179] The assembly 2000 can then be cooled down slowly (at a rate of ~5°C per minute) while air pressure enters the VC slowly (~double pressure each minute) until reaching environmental temperature and pressure.

[0180] As mentioned before, in the first silicon wafer an array of lower plates 800 can be made, in the second silicon wafer an array of mid plates 900 can be made, and in the third silicon wafer, an array of mid plates 900 can be made. By following the assembly process mentioned, an array of assembly 2000 is produced. To receive a single 2000 assembly, a laser cut can be used to separate these assemblies from each other, and to remove excess wafer edges.

[0181] Structural analogy to the current invention

[0182] • The subassembly of top plate 1000 and mid plate 900 servs as the heat source region 180.

[0183] • Lower plate 800 servs as the second region 190.

[0184] • Each chamber 102 is constructed by each hollow cut cones 908 and top plate 1000.

[0185] • Top plate 1000 corresponds to the thermally conductive wall 104 and as the first frame surface 508

[0186] • Silicon-dioxide membrane 910, servs as the sink wall 108.

[0187] • The pure silicon and the silicon dioxide cover of lower plate 800, corresponds to the second frame surface 502 and as substrate 132.

[0188] • The doped Silicon disc 808 within lower plate 800 servs as the resistive layer 124. • Copper lower cylindric electrode 810 within lower plate 800 servs as the grounding electrode 172.

[0189] • The copper cylindric electrode 1010 and the gold star-shaped 1006 together servs as the charging electrode 170 according to current invention.

[0190] • The molecules of the hydrogen gas 2002 trapped within the chambers correspond to the chargeable particles 120.

[0191] • The close distance 2004 in between the Silicon-dioxide membrane 910 and the face of adjacent Silicon discs 808 corresponds to gap 127A.

[0192] • The low-pressure gas 2006 caged in between lower and mid plates 800 and 900 is the vacuum 134.

[0193] • Silicon dioxide margins 906,806 correspond to frame walls 506.

[0194] • The hollow cut cones 914 correspond to frame supporting rods 504.

[0195] • Rods 912 that hold the membrane in position correspond to chamber rods 604 in current invention.

[0196] Charging process

[0197] In order to activate the heat pumps 200, an electrical power source is tuned to 0V. A copper cylindric electrode 1010 (charging electrode) is electrically connected to the positive tip of the power source, the aligned copper lower cylindric electrode 810 (ground electrode), located on the opposite side of the assembly 2000, is connected to the negative tip of the electrical power source through a micro-Amperemeter. Increase the voltage slowly until a short-term current impulse appears and then the electrical connections are removed from the electrodes.

[0198] The current impulse indicates that the chargeable particles (hydrogen gas) in the aligned chamber are charged. The charging process is repeated for all remaining chambers. Example 2

[0199] Testing process

[0200] In order to test the device suggested in example 1, after charging the chargeable particles:

[0201] 1. The thermally conductive wall 104 of the device is glued with a thermal conductive thin layer of glue to a metal plate that covers its main area with thin layer of insulation (such as nail polish)

[0202] 2. Substrate 132 or resistive layer 124 of the device (whichever of them that is external) is glued with a thermal conductive thin layer of glue to a second metal plate that covers its main area with thin layer of insulation.

[0203] 3. A differential thermometer is connected between the metal plates.

[0204] 4. The whole structure is covered with thermal insulated.

[0205] 5. After a couple of hours, a temperature difference of at least 0.1°C is created and measured between the metal plates demonstrates that the device acts as a heat pump.

[0206] Example 3

[0207] Another exemplary way for producing a heat pump core and a heat pump comprising the heat pump core according to embodiments of the current invention is described in figures 13A-F,13F1,13F2,14A-D, 15A-F.

[0208] Some general remarks regarding figures 13A-16E should be mentioned:

[0209] 1. The assembly as described in figures 13A- 15F uses 2 plates, each produced by processing a silicon wafer and then assembled one on top of the other. A person skill in the art will know how to produce a single, dozens or even thousands of such heat pumps in one frame. He / She may choose to design a round array of heat pump instead og a rectangular array as described in the drawing. Moreover, those figures describe a fraction of a standard silicon wafer, since a wafers in the integrated circuits industry are usually supplied by a disc shape between 49 mm to 400 mm in diameter, and the frame described in figures 13A-15F is just 70 mm X 70 mm, which is a fraction of the wafer size. It is assumed that the assembly and it's parts, in figures 13A-15F is cut as known to the industry (e.g., Laser cut and Etching) after the assembly. For simplicity, the plates described in figures 13A-14G, are described like they were already cut before the assembly. A person skill in the art will know how to produce the full-scale plates, to assemble them into one or multiple frame structure and then to separate in between them.

[0210] 2. Linear dimensions in figures 13B-D-15F are given in microns. Dimensions of figure 15A-D are given in millimeters. For simplicity and better visuality, some items are out of scale, for example, in Figure 13E1, width of 0.02 micron is not proportional to a diameter of 0.02 micron, because if 0.02 microns dimension was drawn to scale, it would have appeared as a thin line over an existing face line in that drawing.

[0211] 3. Dimension accuracy can vary from one dimension to another, as long as the total functionality and production-ability is maintained. A person skill in the art can understand which tolerance is adequate for each dimension.

[0212] 4. Those drawing are drawn in first angle projection.

[0213] 5. The hatches in those section-views are drawn to explain the cut material. A legend for those material, in general, is given in figure 12, unless otherwise specified in the text (for example porous steel box 5200).

[0214] 6. The bonding material might shrink during the bonding process. The thickness of that material, when posed on top of the plates is drawn as if the bonding material was already shrunk, and a person skill in the art can calculate according to the chosen material, which addition should be considered for that thickness.

[0215] Lower plate 3800

[0216] Reference is now made to figures 13A-F and figure 12 as same materials legend. Figures 13A-F depict isometric view of the lower plate 3800. This plate can be made from a pure silicon inner core 3802. The plate is etched from both sides, oxidized and plated in order to obtain the desired shape. A center through hole 3004 pierces plate 3800 in the middle of the plate.

[0217] Silicon dioxide layers 3804 and 3806 cover the top plane and bottom planes, respectively. The oxide layer 3804 is etched in a few places, to expose around lmicron diameter holes in the prime Silicon core 3802. A thin layer of Gold 3808, 20nm in thickness is deposited on top of the Silicon dioxide layer 3804, wherein few areas are excluded from the deposition: 10mm from the margines top plan of the lower plate 3800; the supporting pillars 3914; annular margin of lmicron around the supporting pillars; and annular margin of lmicron around the center through hole 3004. The gold deposition layer 3808 enters the lmicron diameter holes and by that creates filling 3010. The filling 3010 allows electrical contact in between the thin gold layer 3808 and inner silicon core 3802, as shown in figure 13E1. On bottom plan of lower plate 3800, The oxide layer 3806 is etched in a few places, to create 1 micron diameter main holes, and one technical hole 3002 in the middle of each pillar 3914. Those holes expose the inner silicon layer 3802 as well. A second thin layer of gold 3810, 20nm in thickness is deposited on bottom of the silicon dioxide layer 3806, wherein few areas are excluded from the deposition here as well: 10mm from the margines bottom plan of the lower plate 3800; the supporting pillars 3914 ; annular margin of lmicron around the supporting pillars; and an annular margin of 1 micron around the center through hole 3004. The gold deposition layer 3810 enters the main 1 micron diameter holes and by that creates filling 3008. The filling allows electrical contact in between the thin gold layer 3810 and inner silicon core 3802, as shown in figure 13E2.

[0218] Top plate 3900

[0219] Reference is now made to figures 14A-G and figure 12 as same materials legend, figures 13A-G depict isometric view of the top plate 3900. This plate can also be made from a pure silicon inner core 3902. The plate is etched, oxidized, deposited with polysilicon, re-etched, re-oxidized and re-deposited in order to get its general shape. The plate 3900 is etched in a few places, to create large enforcement dents 3020 5 micron deep, then oxidized to create top silicon dioxide layer cover 3904 and bottom cover 3906, both 2.3 microns thick. By etching cover 3904 in few places below each triangle, holes 3016 in that layer are created, exposing the inner core 3902 behind them. Polysilicon 3018 is deposited to fill dents 3020, and holes 3016 and to create triangular structures 3912. The triangles are being etched to reach the oxide level 3904 to get small enforcement dents 3022. The plate is then re-oxidized with 20 nm layer to get 20 nm-30 nm membranes 3910. Wafer bonding material, such as Benzocyclobutene (BCB) is deposited on the top cover 3904 to get bonding discs 3012, each 0 10 micron, 0.5 micron high, located in set distance. In addition, a thin bonding frame 3112, 80 mm distal from the plate margin is also deposited to height of 0.5 microns.

[0220] Assembly 4000

[0221] Reference is now made to figures 15A-F and figure 12 as same materials legend.

[0222] Figure 15A,15B depict rotated isometric exploded views of assembly 4000. Assembly 4000 comprises plates 3800 and 3900, aligned in a way that the bonding discs 3012 facing and being centralized with the corresponding supporting rods 3914. Note that the side of plate 3800 facing discs 3012 is the opposite side of technical holes 3002.

[0223] After bonding the two parts together, cover 3906 is etched. Then, by using selective and non-directional etching, the exposed silicon material is removed, up to the time that inner core 3902, and polysilicon behind holes 3016 are etched. During the etching process, some of the silicon inside rods 3914 are being etched through holes 3002, to form hollow frame supporting rods 3914' so the etched lower plate 3800' might have technical etching 3024 due to the non-directional etching. The etched top plate 3900' becomes very thin, and being enforced by the contact to the lower plate 3800' and by the large enforcement dents 3020 which are still filled with part of polysilicon 3018.

[0224] To summarize the final structure of etched assembly 4000': the assembly comprises the etched lower plate 3800' and the etched top plate 3900', wherein the main structural body is the inner silicon core 3802' of plate 3800. Assembly 4000' corresponding to a heat pump core according to the invention, has 2 distinctive sides: top side 4002' mainly made from silicon dioxide; lower side 4004' covered with gold.

[0225] To summarize the functionality of assembly 4000':

[0226] Hole 3016' enables external charged particles to approach membrane 3910 from top side (left side in figure 15F), hole 3004 enabled air to escape from gap 3028 and from void 3022 in case that vacuum is applied on the lower side (right side in figure 15E). The top gold layer 3808 acts as the resistive layer 124 of the structure, is electrically connected to the lower gold layer 3810 through fillings 3010, inner core 3802 and fillings 3008. The lower gold layer 3810 itself, acts as the grounding electrode 172. Distance 3026 is the susceptibility distance 127B, while distance 3028 acts as the gap 127A in the invention. The insulating membrane 3910 acts as the sink-wall 108 in the current invention. The supporting rods 3914 acts as the frame supporting rods 504. The main heat transfer path 4006 between the resistive layer 124 and the sink-wall 108 should pass back and forth through long and narrow silicon-dioxide rod, so that the total conduction heat transfer coefficient between RLRG 178 and heat source region w 180 is less than 100— — . m2-°C

[0227] To summarize- assembly 4000' acts as a heat pump core to fit in a heat pump device 100 according to the current invention.

[0228] Example 4

[0229] Testing process

[0230] In order to explain the charging and testing the device suggested in example 3, reference is now made to figures 16A-D. Figures 13A,13B depict a rotated exploded cut isometric view of the device testing structure 5000.

[0231] The testing structure 5000 comprises the following items:

[0232] 1. Housing 5300, made out of Quartz body 5302, 10mm thick and with inner aperture that fits the dimensions of device 4000' (In this example the dimension is □70mm). The housing itself has: 4 through holes 5308 in the bottom to be connected to vacuum compressor through them in order to evacuate air from void 5008; grounding disc 5304 at it's bottom , with extended grounding pin 5306.

[0233] 2. Porus steel box 5200 that allows air to flow through its body 5202, wherein it's top plan 5206 and bottom plan 5204 are polished to be accurate in lOmicrons flatness

[0234] 3. Assembly 4000', wherein face 4002' (the silicon oxide) side is facing up and face 4004' (the gold-plated side) is facing down. 4. Surrounding bonding sealing 5002 (shown in figure 16E) that seals air passage between plans 4002' and 4004'

[0235] 5. Top cover 5100 comprising: Cover main body 5102 made from copper or steel, with sealing groove; Pointed charging electrodes 5104 made from steel or copper, covered with gold; Body through hole 5106 to evacuate air from void 5010; Gas inlet through hole 5108.

[0236] After assembling the structure, one can connect holes 5308 and hole 5106 to a vacuum compressor to lower the pressure below IPa. When pressure reaches that level, one can let trimethylamine gas at room temperature to enter slowly till its pressure reaches around 0.1 bar in the top void 5010. The vacuuming process in the lower void 5008 can continue during the testing process. When the pressures are stable, the charging electrodes are charged by 20KV while the pin 5306 is connected to the ground tip. By looking at the testing device with thermal camera, one can see that the temperature of the electrodes reduces while the temperature of the grounding pin increases, due to the heat pumping effect.

Claims

CLAIMS1. A heat pump comprising: a chamber for accommodating electrically charged or chargeable particles, comprising a thermal conductive wall, and an electrically insulating sink wall having internal and external surfaces, the chargeable particles, having translational degree of freedom to bounce and hit the internal surface of the sink wall and having a designed mean distance between the charged particles (MDBCP), a resistive layer made of electrical resistive material, comprising a first face proximal to the external surface of the sink wall and a second face distal from the sink wall and having a specific resistivity of less than lKQm and more that lOnQm,; the resistive layer being positioned outside the chamber, wherein the minimal distance between the first face of the resistive layer and the internal surface of the sink wall defines a susceptibility distance being shorter than 10 times of the MDBCP and longer than tenth of the MDBCP, and the thermal conductive wall being in thermal communication with the particles.

2. The heat pump according to claim 1 wherein the susceptibility distance is less than 5 microns.

3. The heat pump according to claim 1 wherein the susceptibility distance is longer than 5 times of the designed MDBCP.

4. The heat pump according to claim 1 wherein comprising a gap between the external surface of the sink wall and the first face of the resistive layer.

5. The heat pump according to claim 4 wherein the heat pump is enclosed in a frame which is capable to maintain gas pressure below 10 Pa in the gap.

6. The heat pump according to claim 4 wherein at least one of the gap and the sink wall comprises a thermal insulating material.

7. The heat pump according to claim 1 wherein a charging electrode pierces the chamber allowing to charge the particles with electrical charge.

8. The heat pump according to claim 1 wherein a grounding electrode is electrically connected to the resistive layer allowing to charge the resistive layer with electrical charge.

9. The heat pump according to claim 1 wherein the thermal conductive wall is made of a material type and width having a thermal conductivity of at least 1 W / (m2*°K).

10. The heat pump according to claim 1 wherein at least one of the thermal conductive wall and the resistive layer is in thermal contact with the environment when the heat pump is operating.

11. The heat pump according to claim 1 wherein the resistive layer is in thermal contact with a heat engine, adapted to transfer heat to the source side of the heat engine.

12. The heat pump according to claim 1 wherein the thermal conductive wall is in thermal contact with a heat engine allowing heat disposal from the heat engine toward the thermal conductive wall.

13. The heat pump according to claim 1 wherein the particles are gas molecules or atoms in partial pressure between 5 Pa to 120 Pa, 100 Pa to 500 Pa, 450 Pa to 1 KPa, 950 Pa to 5 KPa, 4.5K Pa to lOKPa.

14. The heat pump according to claim 1 wherein the susceptibility distance is between 30 nm to 120 nm, 100 nm to 350 nm, 300 to 750 nm, 700 nm to 1.2 micron, 1 micron to 4.9 microns.

15. The heat pump according to claim 1 wherein the surface or a coating of the first face of the resistive layer is made of a material with total radiation emissivity coefficient less than 0.2 at the temperature of the resistive layer when the apparatus is operating.

16. The heat pump according to claim 4 wherein at least one of the external surface of the sink wall and the resistive layer is made of a material with total radiation emissivity coefficient less than 0.2 at the temperature of the sink wall when the apparatus is operating.

17. The heat pump of claim 16 wherein the material of the external surface or coating of the sink wall is selected from magnesium oxide and polyethylene.

18. The heat pump according to claim 1, further comprising a bounding ring located around the chamber, the bounding ring being charged while the heat pump is operating with same polarity of electric charge as the electrically charged particles.

19. The heat pump according to claim 1, further comprising a chargeable element located inside the portion of the gap being charged while the heat pump is operating with opposite polarity of the charged particles.

20. The heat pump according to claim 5 wherein the frame accommodating the heat pump is connected to an external vacuum source.

21. The heat pump according to claim 5 wherein several such heat pumps are arranged in one frame.

22. The heat pump according to claim 5 wherein the frame is a thermal insulator such that the total heat transfer coefficient between RLRG 178 and SWRG 180 is less t23. The heat pump according to claim 1 wherein the particles are selected from particles of hydrogen, helium, trimethylamine, dimethylamine and mixtures thereof.

24. The heat pump of claim 1 wherein the resistive layer is connected to a substrate.

25. A heat pump core comprising: a resistive layer made of an electrical resistive material having a specific resistivity of less than lKQm and more that lOnQm, comprising a first face and a second face; an electrically insulating sink wall comprising a first surface and a second surface intended to be an internal surface and an external surface, respectively, of a chamber in a heat pump, wherein the first surface is exposed to the environment, and the second surface faces the first face of the resistive layer; and a frame fixated to the resistive layer and to the sink wall, wherein the first face of the resistive layer is proximal to the second surface of the sink wall and the second face of the resistive layer is distal to the sink wall, wherein the minimal distance between the first face of the resistive layer and the internal surface of the sink wall is less than 1 micron, wherein the minimal distance between the first face of the resistive layer and the external surface of the sink wall is more than 1 nanometer and wherein the frame supporting structure is a thermal insulator such that the total conductive heat transfer coefficient between a region comprising the resistive layer and the void in between components of the resistive layer and further comprising an optional substrate to which the resistive layer connects to (RLRG) and the heat sink wall w is less than 1000— — . m2-°C26. The heat pump core of claim 25 wherein the frame supporting structure is thermally insulating so that the total heat transfer coefficient between RLRG and sink wall is less than27. The heat pump core of claim 25 wherein the frame supporting structure is designated to hold a vacuum in the gap.

28. The heat pump core of claim 25 wherein the frame supporting structure comprises a structural path from the gap to an aperture so air can escape from the gap through it, whenever the aperture is connected to a vacuum pump, to perform the vacuum in the gap.

29. The heat pump core of claim 25 wherein the heat pump core is for an assembly of a heat pump as defined in claim 1.

30. A system of heat pumps, comprising a cascade of heat pumps wherein each heat pump is defined according to claim 1 and the thermal conductive wall of at least one of the heat pumps is thermally connected with the resistive layer of the adjacent heat pump.

31. A method for transferring heat comprising obtaining the heat pump of claim 1, charging the gas particles in case they are not pre-charged and in case there is a gap between the external surface of the sink wall and the first face of the resistive layer then vacuuming the gap.

32. The method according to claim 31 wherein the pressure of the gas in the gap is less than 100 Pa.

Images