MAGNETIC

REFRIGERATI
ON

ACHYUTH TG
11BE6ME005

Contents
Objective
Introduction
Magnetic

to refrigeration

refrigeration

Principle
Thermodynamic

cycle

Advantages
Disadvantages
Future

applications

conclusion

OBJECTIVE

To develop more efficient and cost-effective small-scale H 2

liquefiers as an alternative to vapour-compression cycles using
Magnetic refrigeration (adiabatic magnetization)

To understand the Principle and mechanism for generating

cooling effect using the magnet.

Introduction to Refrigeration

Refrigeration is the process of removing heat from an enclosed

space or from a substance and moving it to a place where it is
unobjectionable.

The primary purpose of refrigeration is lowering the temperature

of the enclosed space or substance and then maintaining that
lower temperature.

The two basic principles used in refrigeration are vapour

absorption and vapour compression cycle.

MAGNETIC REFRIGERATION

Magnetic refrigeration is a cooling technology based on the magneto

caloric effect. This technique can be used to attain extremely low
temperatures as well as the ranges used in common refrigerators,
depending on the design of the system.

It is a physical process that exploits the magnetic properties of certain

solid materials to produce refrigeration.

It gives cooling nearest to absolute zero than any other method hence it
made liquidification of gases easier.

History

Magneto caloric effect was discovered in pure iron in

1881 by E. Warburg.

DeDebye (1926) & Giauque (1927) proposed a improved

technique of cooling via adiabatic demagnetization
independently.

The cooling technology was first demonstrated

experimentally in 1933 by chemist Nobel Laureate
William F.Giauque & his colleague Dr.D.P. MacDougall for
cryogenic purposes.

Magneto caloric effect

Magneto caloric effect is the basic principle on which the

cooling(Magnetic refrigeration) is achieved.

MCE is a magneto-thermodynamic phenomenon in which

a reversible change in temperature of a suitable material is
caused by exposing the material to changing magnetic field.

All magnets bears a property called Curie effect i.e. If a

temperature of magnet is increased from lower to higher
range at certain temperature magnet looses the magnetic
field.

Curie temperature Depends on individual property of each

material.

Working Principle

THERMODYNAMIC CYCLE

Details of Thermodynamic Cycle

Process is similar to gas
compression and expansion cycle
as used in regular refrigeration
cycle.
Steps of thermodynamic Cycle :->
1. Adiabatic Magnetization.
2. Isomagnetic Enthalpy Transfer.
3. Adiabatic demagnetization.
4. Isomagnetic Entropic Transfer.

Adiabatic Magnetization

The substance is placed in an insulated environment and magnetic

field is applied.

The increasing magnetic field (+H) causes magnetic dipoles of the

atoms to align.

As a result materials magnetic entropy and heat capacity

decreases.

Isomagnetic Enthalpic
Transfer

This added heat can then be removed by a fluid like water or

helium (-Q).

The magnetic field is held constant to prevent the dipoles from

reabsorbing the heat

Once sufficiently cooled, the magnetocaloric material and the

coolant are separated (H=0).

Adiabatic Demagnetization

The substance is returned to another adiabatic (insulated) condition

so that total entropy remains constant

The applied magnetic field is decreased, the thermal energy causes

the domains to overcome the field, and thus the sample cools

Energy (and entropy) transfers from thermal entropy to magnetic

entropy (disorder of the magnetic dipoles).

Isomagnetic Entropic
Transfer

The magnetic field is held constant to prevent the

material from heating up back.

The material is placed in thermal contact with the

environment being refrigerated.

Because the working material is cooler than the

refrigerated environment heat energy migrates into
the working material (+Q)

Comparison

Benefits
TECHNICAL

SOCIO-ECONOMIC
Competition in Global Market

High Efficiency

Reduced Operating Cost

Low Capital Cost

Compactness

Key Factor to new technologies

Reliability

Advantages

Purchase cost may be high, but running costs are 20% less than the
conventional chillers.

Thus life cycle cost is much less.

Ozone depleting refrigerants are avoided in this system, hence it more

Energy conservation and reducing the energy costs are added advantages.

The efficiency of magnetic refrigeration is 60% to 70% as compared to Carnot cycle.

Magnetic refrigeration is totally maintenance free & mechanically simple in

construction.

eco-friendly.

Disadvantages

The initial investment is more as compared with

conventional refrigeration.

The magneto caloric materials are rare earth materials

hence their availability also adds up an disadvantage in
MAGNETIC REFRIGERATION.

There are still some thermal and magnetic hysteresis

problems to be solved for the materials that exhibit the MCE

Future Applications

At the present stage of the development of magnetic refrigerators with

permanent magnets, hardly any freezing applications are feasible
Some of the future applications are:

Magnetic household refrigeration appliances

Magnetic cooling and air conditioning in buildings and houses

Central cooling system

Refrigeration in medicine

Cooling in food industry and storage

Cooling in transportation

Cooling of electronic equipments

Working
Materials

The magneto caloric effect is an intrinsic property of a magnetic

material.

Alloys of gadolinium produce 3 to 4 K per tesla of change in magnetic

field are used for magnetic refrigeration or power generation purposes.

Gd5(SixGe1 x)4, La(FexSi1 x)13Hx and MnFeP1 xAsx alloys are

some of the most promising substitutes for Gadolinium and its alloys.

The magnitudes of the magnetic entropy and the adiabatic temperature

changes are strongly dependent upon the magnetic order process: the
magnitude is generally small in antiferromagnets, ferrimagnets and spin
glass systems,hence not used.

The total entropy can be

written as a function of
temperature, T,

MCE increases with field

strength, superconducting
magnets were used almost
exclusively in MR devices

conclusion

Magnetic refrigeration is a technology that has proven to

be environmentally safe. Computer models have shown
25% efficiency improvement over vapor compression
systems.

In order to make the Magnetic Refrigerator commercially

viable, scientists need to know how to achieve larger
temperature swings and also permanent magnets which can
produce strong magnetic fields of order 10 tesla

There are still some thermal and magnetic hysteresis problems

to be
solved for the materials that exhibit the MCE to become really
useful

Bibliography

http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Magnetic refrigeration

http://nptel.ac.in/courses/112105129/pdf/RAC
%20Lecture%208.pdf

Lets go green

Thank you