BASICS OF

MAGNETIC REFRIGERATION
& MATERIALS
By
RV KALMEKAR

Roll No- 10MS60-D05

DIFFERENCE BETWEEN OPTICAL & THERMAL CAMERA

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Second law of thermodynamics
Clausius statement
No process is possible whose sole result is the transfer of heat from a body of lower temperature to a body
of higher temperature
heat doesn't flow from cold to hot without work input

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Magnetic refrigeration
 dU=Tds-PdV-MdH
 M- magnetic moment,
 H=magnetic field
 Magnetic refrigeration was the first
method developed for cooling below
about 0.3 K
 Magnetic refrigeration is a cooling
technology based on the magneto
caloric effect
 A strong magnetic field is applied to the
refrigerant
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• High dT/dM
• substantial for normal ferromagnets which undergo a second order magnetic
transition
• Which have no magnetic or thermal hysteresis involved
• Eventually paramagnetic salts become either diamagnetic or ferromagnetic,
limiting the lowest temperature which can be reached using this method
• new alloy, composed of cobalt, manganese, silicon and germanium that can be
used for magnetic refrigeration. This has made the use of the expensive material
gadolinium redundant, and made the creation of domestic magnetic refrigerators
possible
• Magnetic fields above 2 T are difficult to produce with permanent magnets and
are produced by a superconducting magnet (1 T is about 20,000 times the
Earth's magnetic field)

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Working definition :
system which undergoes magnetic field induced first order
magneto-structural phase transition involving large increase
magnetization

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 Magnetocaloric Effect & Magnetic Refrigerator

Ordered
Magnetic refrigeration is an economic and spins
environmentally sound alternative to vapour-
cycle refrigerators and air conditioners.

It offers considerable operating cost savings

by eliminating the most inefficient part of the
existing refrigerators – the compressor

It uses a solid refrigerant and a common heat

transfer fluids (e.g. water, air or helium gas)
with
no ozone-depleting and global-warming
This solid refrigerant heats up when
effects.
magnetized and cools down when
demagnetized -- magnetocaloric effect
Random
(MCE). spins

The stronger the MCE the higher the efficiency of the

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 Magnetic refrigeration is a cooling technology based
on the Magneto Caloric Effect

 Thistechnique can be used to attain extremely low

temperatures (well below 1 kelvin)

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 Construction
Components required for
construction

 Magnets

 Hot Heat exchanger

 Cold Heat Exchanger

 Drive

 Magneto caloric wheel

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 A brief history of magnetocaloric effect Magnetocaloric Effect

A magnetic solid heats up when magnetized and cools down when

demagnetized .

Originally discovered in iron by E Warburg in 1881.

Thermodynamics of MCE was understood independently by

Debye (1926) and Giaque( 1927). Both of them suggested that
MCE could be used to reach low temperature in a process known
as adiabatic demagnetization.

An adiabatic demagnetization refrigerator was constructed and

utilized by Giauque and McDougal (1933) to reach 0.53, 0.34
and 0.25K starting at 3.4 , 2.0 and 1.5K , respectively using a
magnetic field of 0.8T and 61g of Gd2(So4)3.8H2O as the
magnetic refrigerant.

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 Steps of thermodynamic cycle -

 Adiabatic magnetization

 Isomagnetic enthalpic transfer

 Adiabatic demagnetization

 Isomagnetic entropic transfer

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Adiabatic Magnetization

 The substance is placed in an insulated

environment and magnetic field is applied.
 The increasing external magnetic field (+H)
causes the magnetic dipoles of the atoms to
align.
 As a result material’s magnetic entropy and heat
capacity decreases.
 The net result is that the item heats up
(T + ΔTad).

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 Working Materials
 Magneto caloric effect is an intrinsic property of
magnetic solid.
 Ease of application and removal of magnetic effect
is most desired propery of material. It is individual
characteristics and strongly depends on :
 Curie temperature
 Degree of freedom for magnetic dipoles during ordering
and randomization of particals.

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 The originally suggested refrigerant was
a paramagnetic salt, such as cerium
magnesium nitrate.
 Gadolinium and its alloys are the best
material available today for magnetic
refrigeration

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Two quantitative characteristics of MCE :

Isothermal entropy change,

SM(T)H = HI  HF (M(T,H)/ T)H dH

Adiabatic temperature change,

Tad(T)H = HI  HF (T/C(T,H))H (M(T,H)/ T)H dH

The material should have large (M(T,H)/ T)H

and low C at the temperature of interest.

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 Large (M(T,H)/ T)H  Large MCE

(M(T,H)/ T)H is large for a ferromagnet near its Curie temperature

( TC ).
So, one needs a ferromagnetic material with TC around
RT.

Gd with TC around 290K is a potential MCE material for RT refrigeration.

In 1998 Ames Lab. Iowa + Astronautics Technology Center in Madison,

Wisconsin, USA demonstrated a magnetic refrigeration unit that
operated at room temperature.

However, the device required a cryogenically cooled superconducting

magnet, making it impractical for homes. Also Gd is costly!

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 Materials with giant MCE: Newer Promise

Gd5(GexSi1-x)4 alloys ; discovered in late 1990s.

TC around room temperature ;MCE 2-4 times larger than Gd.

Giant MCE in Gd5(Ge,Si)4 is correlated with a first order

magneto-structural transition.

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 The magneto caloric effect is an intrinsic property of a magnetic material.

 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

 Gadolinium and its alloys are the best material available today for
magnetic refrigeration near room temperature since they undergo second-
order phase transitions which have no magnetic or thermal hysteresis
involved

 Gd5(SixGe1 − x)4, La(FexSi1 − x)13Hx and MnFeP1 − xAsx alloys are some of the
most promising substitutes for Gadolinium and its alloys

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 Super conducting magnets

Most practical magnetic refrigerators are

based on superconducting magnets
operating at cryogenic temperatures (i.e.,
at -269 C or 4 K)

These devices are electromagnets that

conduct electricity with essentially no
resistive losses

The superconducting wire most commonly

used is made of a Niobium-Titanium
alloy.

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Advantages of Magnetic
Refrigeration
 MG do not use hazardous or environmentally
damaging chemicals
 Purchase cost may be high, but running costs are
20% less than the conventional chillers
 Ozone depleting refrigerants are avoided in this
system, hence it more eco-friendly

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 Advantages of Magnetic Refrigeration
High efficiency: As the magneto caloric effect is highly reversible, the thermo
dynamic efficiency of the magnetic refrigerator is high. It is somewhat 50%
more than Vapor Compression cycle.

Reduced operating cost: As it eliminates the most inefficient part of today’s

refrigerator i.e. compressor. The operating cost reduces as a result.

Reliability: - Due to the absence of gas, it reduces concerns related to the

emission into the atmosphere and hence is reliable one.

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 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

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 Applications
A rotary AMR liquefier:

The Cryofuel Systems Group

is developing an AMR
refrigerator for the purpose
of liquefying natural gas. A
rotary configuration is used
to move magnetic material
into and out of a
superconducting magnet.

This technology can also be

extended to the liquefaction
of hydrogen.

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 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

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Thank You