2021 Fiscal Year Annual Research Report
Making cold from natural rubber: a low-cost and environment friendly refrigeration alternative
| Project/Area Number |
19K04230
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| Research Institution | Tohoku University |
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Principal Investigator |
SEBALD GAEL 東北大学, 高等研究機構等, 客員教授 (10792161)
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| Co-Investigator(Kenkyū-buntansha) |
小宮 敦樹 東北大学, 流体科学研究所, 教授 (60371142)
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| Project Period (FY) |
2019-04-01 – 2022-03-31
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| Keywords | solid-state cooling |
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| Outline of Annual Research Achievements |
During FY2021, the first prototype of elastocaloric cooling using natural rubber was completed. In this device, numerous rubber tubes are put in parallel and work together to increase the net cooling power. Two different geometries were tested and analyzed in the light of heat transfer mechanisms. It was highlighted the importance of the heat transfer between the fluid and the natural rubber as expected, but also the thermal conduction within the natural rubber. The instrumentation was further developed, for measuring temperature at different locations, force and displacement of the actuators, and fluid flow. It was then possible to determine the temperature span of the cooling device, the cooling power, and the Coefficient of Performance. It was found that this prototype compares favorably with other category of caloric materials (such as magnetocaloric devices, metal-based elastocaloric devices and electrocaloric devices). In parallel, a fundamental study on a single tube device was performed. A parametric study was then conducted, in which the operating conditions were varied (fluid flow, waveforms). In parallel, preliminary attempts of fatigue life determination of natural rubber were conducted.
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