arXiv · 0912.4818
On the exploitability of thermo-charged capacitors
Abstract
Recently [Physics Letters A, 374, (2010) 1801] the concept of vacuum capacitor spontaneously charged harnessing the heat from a single thermal reservoir at room temperature has been introduced, along with a mathematical description of its functioning and a discussion on the main paradoxical feature that seems to violate the Second Law of Thermodynamics. In the present paper we investigate the theoretical and practical possibility of exploiting a such thermo-charged capacitor as voltage/current generator: we show that if very weak provisos on the physical characteristics of the capacitor are fulfilled, then a non-zero current should flow across the device, allowing the generation of potentially usable voltage, current and electric power out of a single thermal source at room temperature. Preliminary results show that the power output is tiny but non-zero.
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Germano D'Abramo. 2013-05-23. On the exploitability of thermo-charged capacitors. https://doi.org/10.1016/j.physa.2010.10.031
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