Energetic analysis of a non-isothermal linear energy converter operated in reverse mode (I-LEC): heat pump

Abstract In this paper, we perform an energetic analysis of a non-isothermal linear energy converter operated in inverse mode (refrigerator and heat pump). This is done within the framework of linear irreversible thermodynamics (LIT), starting from the model of an inverse linear energy converter (I-LEC) proposed by S. Gonzalez et al. (S. Gonzalez-Hernandez and L.-A. Arias-Hernandez, “Thermoelectric thomson relations revisited for a linear energy converter,” J. Non-Equilibrium Thermodyn. , vol. 44, no. 3, pp. 315–332, 2019). We extend this model to the case of heat pumps, considering different objective functions and performing their respective analyses. We particularly focus on the coefficient of performance (COP) of heating, ϵ H . Additionally, we propose other energetic functions that may be of interest in the analysis of heat pumps, drawing analogies with the well-known functions for refrigerators and heat engines. Finally, we present a brief description of thermoelectric phenomena, focusing primarily on the Peltier effect. A brief analysis of the results obtained in the context of thermoelectric cooling and heating is presented for a non-isothermal LEC.