The Olsen cycle is a pyroelectric cycle, which was developed between 1978 and 1986 by Olsen and Bruno,[1] by Olsen and Brown,[2] Olsen and Evans,[3] as well as by Olsen et al.[4] It has been called the Ericsson cycle. However, the Olsen cycle avoids the least confusion with its analogous process of the Ericsson cycle.[5] The Olsen cycle can generate electricity directly from heat when applied to a pyroelectric material,[6] and has been the most favorable method for the generation of electricity from heat using pyroelectric energy harvesting.[7] It consists of two isothermal and two isoelectric field processes in the displacement versus electric field diagram.[8]
It can be compared to the Ericsson cycle, where working fluid undergoes two isothermal and two isobaric processes in a pressure-volume diagram.[9][10] However, the Ericsson cycle does not include the hysteresis loop, which is essentially a lag between the input of an electric field and the material's output.
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