NEW SOLID STATE REFRIGERATION TECHNOLOGIES

摘要

The article presents two novel technologies for the energy conversion,the magnetocaloric and the electrocaloric energy conversion respectively.Both technologies represent promising,environmentally friendly alternatives in domains of refrigeration,heat pumping and the power generation.This article shows analogy between the two represented technologies and describes their basic features.For a particular case it shows a comparison between the two technologies and their operating characteristics as well as the efficiency.Different technical issues are discussed as well as different possibilities for design of such devices.The most important limits are discussed and supported by description of potential solutions.Perspectives of the technology are presented and the guidelines for the future research and developments are given.