Elastocaloric Fluid Heating and Cooling Without Coolant Circulation
Find Innovative SolutionsGenerate Solutions
Solution Overview
Problem
Conventional heat pumps require coolant, which leads to maintenance issues and potential environmental damage from escaped coolant, and lack efficiency in heating and cooling fluid temperatures.
Innovation Solution
A device utilizing elastocaloric elements that elongate and relax cyclically to transfer heat, eliminating the need for coolant by using shape-memory materials like nickel-titanium alloys to heat or cool fluids directly within chambers, with a cam disk actuating unit and valve system for controlled fluid flow.
Engineering Contradictions & Design Principles
Engineering Contradiction Analysis
1Reliability
If conventional heat pumps use coolant to transfer heat, then heat transfer function is achieved, but maintenance issues arise and environmental damage occurs from escaped coolant
Solution Approach 1:
The patent removes the coolant substance from the heat pump system entirely, replacing it with elastocaloric elements that transfer heat through solid-state mechanical deformation. This extraction of the harmful coolant component eliminates maintenance issues and environmental damage while preserving the heat transfer function.
Solution Approach 2:
The patent replaces the chemical/thermal coolant-based heat transfer mechanism with a mechanical elastocaloric mechanism. The elastocaloric elements use reversible elastic deformation to absorb and release heat, substituting the traditional coolant circulation system with a mechanically actuated solid-state heat transfer system.
2Ease of operation
If conventional heat pumps use coolant circulation to heat and cool fluids, then temperature control is achieved, but system complexity and maintenance outlay increase
Solution Approach 1:
The patent extracts and removes the complex coolant circulation infrastructure including pumps, pipes, expansion valves, and coolant reservoirs. The simplified system uses elastocaloric elements that can be directly actuated, eliminating multiple complex components while maintaining temperature control capability.
Solution Approach 2:
The patent changes the fundamental operating parameter from coolant temperature/pressure cycles to elastocaloric element strain/stress cycles. This parameter transformation simplifies the system by replacing complex fluid dynamics control with more straightforward mechanical actuation and control of solid-state material properties.
3Productivity
If heat pumps use coolant reservoirs outside the controlled region, then heat exchange is achieved, but efficiency in heating and cooling fluid temperatures is reduced
Solution Approach 1:
The patent nests the elastocaloric elements directly within the fluid chambers, placing the heat transfer mechanism inside the controlled region rather than outside. This nested configuration enables direct thermal coupling between the elastocaloric elements and the fluid, eliminating heat transfer losses through intermediate coolant reservoirs and improving overall efficiency.
Solution Approach 2:
The elastocaloric elements serve as a direct thermal intermediary between the actuation mechanism and the fluid, replacing the indirect coolant-mediated heat transfer. This direct intermediary approach reduces thermal resistance and energy loss, improving heating and cooling efficiency.
Applied Scientific Principles
This section explains which scientific principles are used to turn an abstract innovation direction into a practical engineering solution.
Function Achieved in This Case
This solution reduces maintenance needs, avoids coolant-related issues, and achieves higher efficiency in heating and cooling fluids compared to traditional heat pumps, allowing for targeted temperature control without coolant usage.
Implementation Method 1
a material heats up in dependence on an elongation state and accordingly also cools down again. Cyclical elongation and relaxation thus allows heat to be transported in a targeted manner from one reservoir to another reservoir
Data Source
AI summary
The present disclosure relates to a device for heating and/or cooling fluid, wherein the device has one or more chambers with respective elastocaloric elements, an actuating unit and a valve unit, wherein fluid is conducted selectively through the chambers. The present disclosure furthermore relates to an air-conditioning system having such a device.