Jove
Visualize
Contact Us
JoVE
x logofacebook logolinkedin logoyoutube logo
ABOUT JoVE
OverviewLeadershipBlogJoVE Help Center
AUTHORS
Publishing ProcessEditorial BoardScope & PoliciesPeer ReviewFAQSubmit
LIBRARIANS
TestimonialsSubscriptionsAccessResourcesLibrary Advisory BoardFAQ
RESEARCH
JoVE JournalMethods CollectionsJoVE Encyclopedia of ExperimentsArchive
EDUCATION
JoVE CoreJoVE BusinessJoVE Science EducationJoVE Lab ManualFaculty Resource CenterFaculty Site
Terms & Conditions of Use
Privacy Policy
Policies

Related Concept Videos

Refrigerators and Heat Pumps01:07

Refrigerators and Heat Pumps

2.5K
Refrigerators or heat pumps are heat engines operating in a reverse direction. For a refrigerator, the focus is on removing heat from a specific area, whereas, for a heat pump, the focus is on dumping heat into one particular area. A refrigerator (or heat pump) absorbs heat Qc from the cold reservoir at Kelvin temperature Tc and discards heat Qh to the hot reservoir at Kelvin temperature Th, while work W is done on the engine’s working substance.
A household refrigerator removes heat from...
2.5K
Heating and Cooling Curves02:44

Heating and Cooling Curves

24.5K
When a substance—isolated from its environment—is subjected to heat changes, corresponding changes in temperature and phase of the substance is observed; this is graphically represented by heating and cooling curves.
For instance, the addition of heat raises the temperature of a solid; the amount of heat absorbed depends on the heat capacity of the solid (q = mcsolidΔT). According to thermochemistry, the relation between the amount of heat absorbed or released by a substance, q, and its...
24.5K
Efficiency of The Carnot Cycle01:16

Efficiency of The Carnot Cycle

2.9K
The hypothetical Carnot cycle consists of an ideal gas subjected to two isothermal and two adiabatic processes. Since the internal energy of an ideal gas depends only on its temperature, which is the same before and after the completion of the Carnot cycle, there is no change in its internal energy. Hence, using the first law of thermodynamics, the total heat exchanged by the ideal gas equals the total work done. Thus, we can quantify the efficiency of the Carnot cycle via the heat exchanged...
2.9K
The Carnot Cycle01:30

The Carnot Cycle

3.3K
Converting work to heat is an irreversible process, and the purpose of a heat engine is to reverse the effect partially. Heat engines aim to increase the efficiency of the reversal, that is, maximize the work retrieved from heat. If the efficiency of a heat engine were 100%, it would imply reversing the process completely without introducing any other effect. Thus, it would violate the second law of thermodynamics.
What could be the theoretical limit to the efficiency of a heat engine? The...
3.3K
The Carnot Cycle and the Second Law of Thermodynamics01:20

The Carnot Cycle and the Second Law of Thermodynamics

3.0K
The Carnot engine works between two heat reservoirs of fixed temperatures. The Carnot cycle begs the following question: Is it possible to devise a heat engine that is more efficient than a Carnot engine between two fixed temperatures? The answer lies in designing a Carnot refrigerator.
Since the individual steps in a Carnot cycle can be reversed, the entire cycle is, thus, reversible. If a Carnot cycle is reversed, it becomes a Carnot refrigerator. It extracts heat Qc from a cold reservoir at...
3.0K
Temperature and Thermal Equilibrium01:11

Temperature and Thermal Equilibrium

7.6K
Heat and temperature are essential concepts for everyone every day. The study of heat and temperature is part of an area of physics known as thermodynamics. It is not always easy to distinguish heat and temperature.
The concept of temperature has evolved from the common concepts of hot and cold. The scientific definition of temperature explains more than just our sense of hot and cold. Temperature is operationally defined as the quantity measured with a thermometer. Furthermore, temperature is...
7.6K

You might also read

Related Articles

Articles linked to this work by shared authors, journal, and citation graph.

Sort by
Same author

Age-Dependent z Scores and eGFR-Adjusted Reference Ranges for Neurofilament Light: A Practical Approach for Clinical Laboratories.

Clinical chemistry·2026
Same author

Indirect optical geometry measurement based on optical tweezers in transparent microchannels.

Optics express·2026
Same author

Correction: Intraperitoneal Oil Application Causes Local Inflammation with Depletion of Resident Peritoneal Macrophages.

Molecular cancer research : MCR·2026
Same author

Identification of serum biomarkers linking myocardial fibrosis, systolic dysfunction and outcomes in patients with severe aortic stenosis.

Cardiovascular research·2026
Same author

Molecular characterization of cell decay in inflammation and topological assignment of released cfDNA for integrative laboratory and radiological outcome assessment.

Frontiers in cellular and infection microbiology·2026
Same author

Perioperative laboratory profiles predict complications after extensive head and neck reconstruction: a proof-of-concept study.

Frontiers in oncology·2026
Same journal

Research on a Regional Availability Evaluation Model for Road-Area High-Entropy Energy Based on Synergy Factors.

Entropy (Basel, Switzerland)·2026
Same journal

Atmospheric Turbulence Channel Modeling and Performance Analysis of a CO-ZP-OFDM Coherent Optical Communication System for UAV Air-to-Ground Scenarios.

Entropy (Basel, Switzerland)·2026
Same journal

Information Geometry and Asymptotic Theory for SMML Estimators.

Entropy (Basel, Switzerland)·2026
Same journal

Correlation Entropy and Power-Law Kinetics.

Entropy (Basel, Switzerland)·2026
Same journal

Research on the Contagion of Systemic Financial Risk Under the Impact of Climate Risks-From the Perspective of Complex Networks and Machine Learning.

Entropy (Basel, Switzerland)·2026
Same journal

The Statistical-Mechanical Meaning of the Wave Function of Quantum Mechanics.

Entropy (Basel, Switzerland)·2026
See all related articles

Related Experiment Video

Updated: Oct 9, 2025

Experimental Methods for Investigation of Shape Memory Based Elastocaloric Cooling Processes and Model Validation
11:11

Experimental Methods for Investigation of Shape Memory Based Elastocaloric Cooling Processes and Model Validation

Published on: May 2, 2016

11.2K

Cooling Cycle Optimization for a Vuilleumier Refrigerator.

Raphael Paul1, Abdellah Khodja1, Andreas Fischer1

  • 1Institut für Physik, Technische Universität Chemnitz, 09107 Chemnitz, Germany.

Entropy (Basel, Switzerland)
|December 24, 2021
PubMed
Summary
This summary is machine-generated.

Researchers improved Vuilleumier refrigerator performance by optimizing piston motion. This thermodynamic cycle enhancement yielded over 15% more cooling power, utilizing waste heat effectively.

Keywords:
Stirling engineefficiencyendoreversible thermodynamicsirreversibilityoptimizationpiston motion optimizationpower

More Related Videos

Evaluation of the Impact of a New Cooling Cell Processor System on Islet Cell Isolation Facility
05:21

Evaluation of the Impact of a New Cooling Cell Processor System on Islet Cell Isolation Facility

Published on: August 11, 2023

361
Cooling an Optically Trapped Ultracold Fermi Gas by Periodical Driving
11:21

Cooling an Optically Trapped Ultracold Fermi Gas by Periodical Driving

Published on: March 30, 2017

7.6K

Related Experiment Videos

Last Updated: Oct 9, 2025

Experimental Methods for Investigation of Shape Memory Based Elastocaloric Cooling Processes and Model Validation
11:11

Experimental Methods for Investigation of Shape Memory Based Elastocaloric Cooling Processes and Model Validation

Published on: May 2, 2016

11.2K
Evaluation of the Impact of a New Cooling Cell Processor System on Islet Cell Isolation Facility
05:21

Evaluation of the Impact of a New Cooling Cell Processor System on Islet Cell Isolation Facility

Published on: August 11, 2023

361
Cooling an Optically Trapped Ultracold Fermi Gas by Periodical Driving
11:21

Cooling an Optically Trapped Ultracold Fermi Gas by Periodical Driving

Published on: March 30, 2017

7.6K

Area of Science:

  • Thermodynamics
  • Mechanical Engineering
  • Refrigeration Technology

Background:

  • Vuilleumier refrigerators are heat-driven cooling machines utilizing waste heat.
  • They pump heat from a cold reservoir to an intermediate environment.
  • Auxiliary electrical energy can enhance their operation.

Purpose of the Study:

  • To investigate methods for improving Vuilleumier refrigerator performance.
  • Focus on optimizing piston motion and the thermodynamic cycle.
  • Quantify potential cooling power gains.

Main Methods:

  • Analysis of a specific piston movement class (AS motion).
  • Application of AS motion principles, previously successful in Stirling engines.
  • Thermodynamic modeling to estimate cooling power.

Main Results:

  • Identified specific piston motion strategies for performance enhancement.
  • Achieved a cooling power improvement exceeding 15%.
  • Demonstrated the effectiveness of AS motion in Vuilleumier refrigerators.

Conclusions:

  • Optimized piston motion significantly boosts Vuilleumier refrigerator cooling power.
  • The AS motion class offers a viable strategy for enhancing thermodynamic cycles.
  • This research provides a pathway for more efficient waste heat utilization in cooling applications.