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Magnetic cooling system based on shape memory alloys

07.10.2018

Modern refrigerators are quite different from their predecessors in their shape, the presence of touch screens and a richer set of functions. But inside the most modern refrigerators are all the same heat exchangers, piping, refrigerants and compressors, the operation of which provides a rather sensitive share in the total bills for the electricity used. Magnetic cooling technologies are considered one of the promising directions for the further development of refrigeration technologies, and recently a group of European researchers, having created an experimental magnetic system, showed that special alloys with the so-called shape memory can become a solution to most of the known problems.

Magnetic cooling systems work due to the magnetocaloric effect, which means that certain materials change their temperature when a magnetic field is applied to them. This technology, although it is considered a very promising direction, is still far from practical use due to the complexity of its implementation. Magnetic cooling systems often require magnets with superconducting windings, which themselves require expensive ultra-low temperature cooling.

To solve the above problems, researchers from the Technical University of Darmstadt and the Helmholtz-Zentrum Dresden-Rossendorf (HZDR), Germany, used a unique combination of magnets and special alloys. The magnets used were made from an alloy of iron, boron, and neodymium, while the shape memory alloys consisted of nickel, manganese, and indium.

The resulting magnets are the strongest permanent magnets in the world, capable of producing a magnetic field 40 times stronger than the Earth's magnetic field. And the special aforementioned alloy, meanwhile, provides the maximum temperature drop under the influence of a magnetic field. In addition, the alloy can return to its original shape after being deformed.

The operation cycle of the magnetic cooling system is rather complicated and consists of six steps. In the first step, which lasts only one millisecond, the alloy is exposed to a magnetic field and cools down. Then the influence of the magnetic field is removed and the alloy gives off its cold through the heat sink. The alloy heats up, but remains, at the same time, in a magnetized state. After that, the alloy is compressed by a special roller, which heats it even more, causes the internal structure of the material to change, which loses residual magnetization. After that, the alloy restores its original shape and becomes ready to repeat the cycle.

The prototype of the new magnetic cooling system is just a demonstration of how the use of shape memory alloys can reduce the number of permanent magnets required, the most expensive part of the technology. But by 2022, German scientists are already planning to build a larger-scale magnetic refrigeration unit of a new type, which will allow them to measure the parameters of its operation, including the depth of cooling, plus evaluate the energy and economic parameters of its operation.

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