Thermo-Acoustic Unyielding Refrigerator

To address the Defense Advanced Research Projects Agency (DARPA)’s need for a compact and power efficient solid-state, multiferroic composite (MFC) based heat engine that outperforms a thermoelectric cooler by creating a 30-degree Celsius temperature difference, Physical Optics Corporation (POC) proposes to develop a new Thermo-Acoustic Unyielding Refrigerator (TAUR). This proposed device is based on adiabatic, magnetocaloric, and electrocaloric cooling in an electrically activated multiferroic composite. The innovation in a unique device design that implements a multiferroic composite with thermomagnetic adiabatic cooling and a new structure for the thermal contact enable the device to perform like a solid-state Stirling cycle heat pump. As a result, this device cools an individual soldier wearing chemical-biological protective gear by pumping 300 W of heat power from an internal heat exchanger at 21 degrees Celsius to an external heat exchanger at 50 degrees Celsius, which directly addresses the DARPA request and Chemical and Biological Defense (CBD) individual protection program. In Phase I, POC will define and develop key component technological milestones for the TAUR and establish its technical feasibility through quantitative physics-based modeling and benchtop prototyping. In Phase II, POC plans to build a TAUR prototype system unit and conduct extensive tests and optimization.