Methodological Development and Design of Electrocaloric Cooling Systems for Electric Vehicle Applications

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Common refrigeration and air-conditioning techniques using vapor compression are associated with greenhouse gases and high energy consumption. Solid state refrigeration based on ferroelectric effect has attracted considerable attention in recent years because of its high adiabatic temperature change and good efficiency. Up to now the research was mainly focused on material development, especially the optimization of the electrocaloric material properties like temperature change, operation temperature and electric field strength. Practical applications are hardly visible. Existing solutions are mostly concepts designed for low heat transfer rates (e.g. chip cooling). Methodical approaches of the electrocaloric material integration into cooling applications are missing. The main objective of this project is the application-oriented development of generic concepts and set-ups for electrocaloric cooling devices. Within the scope of concept development new guidelines and methods to design electrocaloric cooling solutions will be elaborated. Electromobility is a perfect example that meets the requirements of electrocaloric materials. Small amounts of heat need to be dissipated and high voltages up to 400 V are available. Heat transfer concepts based on linear and rotational movement as well as stationary designs will be developed using the example of Li-ion battery cooling. Thermal FEA-simulations will be used to dimension and optimize the EC-concepts. The optimized concepts will then be set-up and characterized concerning cooling power and efficiency. Further on control concepts will be developed to increase the efficiency. In addition to the characterization of the cooling efficiency a mechanical and functional fatigue analysis will be done. The application potential will be evaluated by comparing the developed concepts with existing conventional and other solid state cooling solutions.