Reconfigurable single-material Peltier effect using magnetic-phase junctions

Peltier effects, which produce a heat flux at the junction of two different materials, have been an important technology for heating and cooling by electrical means. Whereas Peltier devices have advantages such as cleanliness, silence, compactness, flexibility, reliability, and efficiency, relatively complicated modular structures are unavoidable, leading to a higher cost than that of commonly used refrigeration technology. Here, we provide a concept of a Peltier device composed of a single magnetic material exhibiting a first-order magnetic transition. Our concept is based on a controllable junction structure consisting of two magnetic phases with opposite Peltier coefficients instead of a semiconductor junction. Using $${\mathrm{Mn}}_{1.96}{\mathrm{Cr}}_{0.04}\mathrm{Sb}$$ Mn 1.96 Cr 0.04 Sb samples with the first-order magnetic transition between ferrimagnetic (FI) and antiferromagnetic (AF) states, we successfully made a stable junction structure of AF/FI/AF by a pulse heating method and achieved a maximum Peltier coefficient of 0.58 mV. Our device concept was further verified by a numerical simulation based on a finite element method. The single-material Peltier effect reported here avoids a complex device design involving material junctions and is importantly reconfigurable.

Reconfigurable Single-Material Peltier Effect Using Magnetic-Phase Junctions

Peltier effects, which produce a heat flux at the junction of two different materials, have been an important technology for heating and cooling by electrical means. Whereas Peltier devices have advantages such as cleanliness, silence, compactness, flexibility, reliability, and efficiency, relatively complicated modular structures are unavoidable, leading to a higher cost than that of commonly used refrigeration technology. Here, we provide a concept of a Peltier device composed of a single magnetic material exhibiting a first-order magnetic transition. Our concept is based on a controllable junction structure consisting of two magnetic phases with opposite Peltier coefficients instead of a semiconductor junction. Using Mn1.96Cr0.04Sb samples with the first-order magnetic transition between ferrimagnetic (FI) and antiferromagnetic (AF) states, we successfully made a stable junction structure of AF/FI/AF by a pulse heating method and achieved a maximum Peltier coefficient of 0.58 mV. Our device concept was further verified by a numerical simulation based on a finite element method. The single-material Peltier effect reported here avoids a complex device design involving material junctions and is importantly reconfigurable.

Robust nonlinear control integrated operator theory and sliding mode technology for a system considering the change of thermal conductivity

Based on the mathematical modelling of a cooling and heat system using Peltier elements, thermal conductivity influencing the characteristics of Peltier device is taken into account to increase the temperature control accuracy. Integrating operator theory and sliding mode technology, the control system is designed, where the robust stability of the nonlinear system is ensured with operator-based right coprime factorization and robust stability condition is proposed for system’s robustness analysis. Besides, for the tracking performance of the designed nonlinear system, sliding mode technology is also adopted. New simulations and experiments of the proposed system demonstrate the effectiveness.

Operator-Based Nonlinear Control of Calorimetric System Actuated by Peltier Device

Recently, the development of SiC and GaN high-performance semiconductor devices has led to higher efficiency in power conversion equipment. In order to perform thermal design of power conversion equipment and evaluation of the equipment, it is necessary to measure the power loss of the equipment with high accuracy. In a previous study, a system to measure the power loss from the amount of heat emitted from power conversion devices using a Peltier device was proposed. In this study, aiming to improve the measurement accuracy, the temperature dependence of the thermal conductivity of a Peltier device, which was treated as a constant value in the previous study, was considered. The control system considering the temperature dependence of the thermal conductivity was designed based on operator theory, which is a nonlinear control theory. The simulation and experimental results show that the measurement accuracy was improved when the power loss was 10 W and 15 W compared to the case without considering the temperature dependence. In addition, the measurement time was reduced by about 100 s by considering the temperature dependence. The effectiveness of the proposed system was shown when the power loss was 10 W and 15 W.

Investigation of Water Condensation from Humid Air and The Feasibility Analysis of its Potable Characteristics

Freshwater scarcity will be one of the most challenging issues in the coming time. Atmospheric water harvesting could be a solution to such a problem in semi-arid and arid regions. This could help to fill the thirst as well as, improve irrigation. There are several methods available retrieve water vapour but research is needed for a cost-effective and efficient method with optimized parameters. This method utilizes the Peltier device for water condensation and in-depth experimental analysis has been done to investigate the optimal conditions for maximum water production from atmospheric moisture. The experimental setup was designed in such a way that during the condensation process, the online monitoring of water condensate was recorded for more than 10-12 hours each day using a digital electronic weighing balance with an accuracy of 0.01 gram. The produced water was tested for the physico-chemical parameters of condensed water, and the results were discussed with a comparison to the standard results. The rate of produced condensed water from humid air was achieved as 19 L/m2-day. This study will help us to develop applications in the field of alternative water resources near the coastal areas for potability.

FBG-Based Temperature Sensors for Liquid Identification and Liquid Level Estimation via Random Forest

This paper proposed a liquid level measurement and classification system based on a fiber Bragg grating (FBG) temperature sensor array. For the oil classification, the fluids were dichotomized into oil and nonoil, i.e., water and emulsion. Due to the low variability of the classes, the random forest (RF) algorithm was chosen for the classification. Three different fluids, namely water, mineral oil, and silicone oil (Kryo 51), were identified by three FBGs located at 21.5 cm, 10.5 cm, and 3 cm from the bottom. The fluids were heated by a Peltier device placed at the bottom of the beaker and maintained at a temperature of 318.15 K during the entire experiment. The fluid identification by the RF algorithm achieved an accuracy of 100%. An average root mean squared error (RMSE) of 0.2603 cm, with a maximum RMSE lower than 0.4 cm, was obtained in the fluid level measurement also using the RF algorithm. Thus, the proposed method is a feasible tool for fluid identification and level estimation under temperature variation conditions and provides important benefits in practical applications due to its easy assembly and straightforward operation.