Electrocaloric Cooling Prototype Using Lead-Free Barium Titanate Multilayer Capacitors and Heat Transfer Fluid Motion

Abstract

In this paper, we describe the realization and the testing of an electrocaloric effect based refrigeration prototype. The prototype makes use of Active Electrocaloric Regenerator (AER) made of commercially available MultiLayer ceramics and exploits the oscillating motion of a heat transfer fluid in a thermodynamic refrigeration cycle. The setup allows the adjustment of various parameters and the effect of the frequency of the cycle as well as the volume displaced of the heat transfer fluid has been evidenced. An amplification regenerative factor of 1.25 has been reached, comparable to those of previously proposed electrocaloric refrigerator prototypes.