Numerical evaluation of a kilowatt-level rotary electrocaloric refrigeration system

Abstract

Abstract Electrocaloric (EC) cooling technology has rejuvenated rapidly in recent years and gained the great attention in both academia and industrial. Currently, there are only handful studies of EC cooling devices reported over the years, and most of them are focusing on small-scale cooling applications. For practical application, however, it is essential for an EC device to achieve a kilowatt level of cooling power. In this work, we develop a rotary EC device, in which the working bodies are rotating in-plane, and the heat transfer fluid flow through the working bodies in out-of-plane direction. The design allows the continuous fluid–solid conjugated heat transfer and exhibits kilowatt level of cooling power. Numerical study has been performed to explore the internal correlation between the key parameters of the working condition and performance of the device. For a given EC working body, the electric-induced heat generation/absorption is found to significantly affect the cooling power. Meanwhile, parametric studies on the temperature span and cyclic period of the system are conducted. By fine-tuning the operation parameters, the system achieves an optimized overall performance, i.e., a cooling power of 1729.90 W, when operated over a temperature span of 10 K and cyclic period of 10 s. This work provides a general topological design of a rotary device that employs fluid–solid conjugated heat transfer, and guides the optimization of operation parameters to achieve giant cooling power.