SRI International Advanced ER&D Developments
Below are just two of the many advanced ER&D projects by SRI International which is an independent nonprofit research institute headquartered in Menlo Park, California, with a rich history of supporting government and industry. For more than 75 years, they have collaborated across technical and scientific disciplines to discover and develop groundbreaking products and technologies and bring innovations and ideas to the marketplace.
Highly Efficient Electrocaloric Cooling with Electrostatic Actuation is a newly developed cooling device that has a high intrinsic thermodynamic efficiency using a flexible electrocaloric (EC) polymer.
film and an electrostatic actuation mechanism. Reversible electrostatic forces reduce parasitic power consumption and allow efficient heat transfer through good thermal contact with the heat source or heat sink.
Thermoelectric coolers based on the Peltier effect produced in bismuth antimony telluride ceramic elements have been found to have several applications. However, these systems typically exhibit a COP lower than vapor-compression refrigeration systems – Further, ceramic materials are expensive.
On the other hand, in the thermodynamic phenomenon, a reversible temperature change of a dielectric material is achieved through the modulation of its dipolar entropy under an applied electric field. For more information Click Highly efficient electrocaloric cooling with electrostatic actuation | Science.
Beyond Sensing: Wearables For Thermal Comfort And Human Strength Augmentation: The Target design is for efficient and compact cooling tech that fits in footwear with 10x more heat removal.
