Theory of the Ettingshausen Cooler

Abstract

A cooling system referred to here as the Ettingshausen cooler, based on the Ettingshausen and Nernst-Ettingshausen effects is studied. It is shown that under dynamic conditions, these two effects are coupled and provide a mechanism for producing a cooling effect. Thermodynamic analysis is carried out and the coefficient of performance is determined. The analysis produced a dimensionless thermomagnetic figure of merit, which sets the requirements on the material's properties. For effective cooling, materials with high thermomagnetic numbers are required. A brief review of the relevent transport processes is made, which shows that intrinsic semiconductors, within certain temperature ranges, are most suitable for the Ettingshausen cooler.