APPARATUS AND METHOD FOR RAPID THERMAL CYCLING USING TWO-PHASE HEAT TRANSFER TO CONVERT HEAT TO ELECTRICITY AND FOR OTHER USES

摘要

A method of thermally cycling an object includes alternately contacting the object with vapor from each of a first liquid-vapor two-phase system and of a second liquid-vapor two-phase system of a working fluid, each of the systems two-phase including a liquid phase and a separate vapor phase. The first system two-phase is at a higher temperature and pressure than the second system two-phase. The object can include one or more layers of an electrically or magnetically polarizable material. The object can be housed in a chamber thermal and alternately contacted with vapor from the first liquid-vapor two-phase system and the second liquid-vapor two-phase system contained in a first reservoir and in a second reservoir, respectively.