A comparison of projected thermoelectric and thermionic refrigerators
- 15 April 1999
- journal article
- Published by AIP Publishing in Journal of Applied Physics
- Vol. 85 (8) , 4066-4070
- https://doi.org/10.1063/1.370311
Abstract
Expressions for the coefficient of performance and the cooling power of a thermionic refrigerator are derived taking into account the losses associated with thermal radiation and the need for a so-called passive conductor in the electrical circuit. Specific calculations are made for a thermionic device with a work function of 0.3 eV and it is shown that the performance is generally superior to that of a thermoelectric refrigerator made from materials with a dimensionless figure of merit ZT equal to 4.This publication has 7 references indexed in Scilit:
- Semiconducting Ge clathrates: Promising candidates for thermoelectric applicationsApplied Physics Letters, 1998
- Multilayer thermionic refrigerator and generatorJournal of Applied Physics, 1998
- Design Concepts for Improved Thermoelectric MaterialsMRS Proceedings, 1997
- Thermionic refrigerationJournal of Applied Physics, 1994
- Low temperature (−80°C) thermionic electron emission from alkalides and electridesChemical Physics Letters, 1990
- High-Tcsuperconductors as passive thermo-elementsJournal of Physics D: Applied Physics, 1988
- Materials for thermoelectric refrigerationJournal of Physics and Chemistry of Solids, 1959