Heat Pump via Charge Incompressibility in a Collisional Magnetized Multi-Ion Plasma

TL;DR

This paper reveals a novel heat pump effect in magnetized multi-ion plasmas caused by charge incompressibility and the Ettingshausen effect, enabling heat transfer between ion species and regions, with potential technological applications.

Contribution

It introduces the first identification of a heat pump effect in such plasmas driven by charge incompressibility and related mechanisms.

Findings

Heat transfer occurs between ion species and regions.

Charge incompressibility and Ettingshausen effect are key mechanisms.

Potential applications in plasma technology involving rotation or compression.

Abstract

Stratification due to ion-ion friction in a magnetized multiple-ion species plasma is shown to be accompanied by a heat pump effect, identified for the first time here, transferring heat from one ion species to another as well as from one region of space to another. The heat pump is produced via newly identified heating mechanisms associated with charge incompressibility and the Ettingshausen effect. Besides their academic interest, these new effects may have useful applications to plasma technologies that involve rotation or compression.