Magnetic Refrigeration System

Tahirhussain and Pratapdawadi

Department of Mechanical Engineering,
Reva Institute of Technology and Management
Address
tahirhussain199@yahoo.com

idawadpratap@gmail.com
AbstractThis is a concise review of possibilities and prospects for
magnetic refrigeration system over conventional vapour
compression refrigeration system.Modern society largely
depends on readily available refrigeration methods. Till now,
the conventional vapour compression refrigerators have been
mainly used for refrigeration applications. Nonetheless, the
conventional refrigerators based on gas compression and
expansion are not very efficient. The ultimate goal of this
technology would be to develop a standard refrigerator for
home use. The use of magnetic refrigeration has the potential
to reduce operating andmaintenance costs when compared to
the conventional method of compressor-basedrefrigeration.
Similarly its efficiency is exorbitantly high, i.e. efficiency
almost equal to that of Carnot Cycle. By eliminating the high
capital cost of the compressor and the high cost ofelectricity to
operate the compressor, magnetic refrigeration can efficiently
(andeconomically) replace compressor-based refrigeration
technology.
KeywordsBrayton Cycle, Coefficient of Performance, MagnetoCaloric Effect, Lanthanide-series, Gadolinium

I.

INTRODUCTION

Refrigeration can be defined simply as the

process of removing heat from a body to
maintain the temperature of the body below
that of that of its surrounding.
The science of refrigeration utilizes several
methods for providing low
temperatures.Everybody is familiar with the
vapour compression cycle, which is to date the
most popular cycle, used for refrigeration, both
for industrial & commercial purpose.Most cooling
equipment uses a vapour compression cycle, which relies
on the physical phenomenon of increasing the pressure of a
vapour to raise the condensing temperature at which it
releases heat and, subsequently, lowering the pressure of
the vapour to decrease the temperature at which it boils and
absorbs heat.However there are various
limitations in using vapour compression
system.
The major drawback of the vapour
compression system is that it requires a
compressor to compressor to compress a large
volume of refrigerant vapour which requires a
large power for its operation. In addition, it has

poor COP as compared with the Carnot cycle,

environmental hazards like Global warming,
limit to the lowest temperature reached as its
drawbacks. Hence we have to continuously
look for alternative methods for refrigeration.
On the other hand, refrigeration cycles or heat pumping
devices can be based on a range of physical phenomena
besides the vapour compression cycle, including a range of
gas compressionExpansion cycles, including:
The reverse Brayton, Stirling, and thermo-acoustic
cycles;
Peltier (thermoelectric) devices;
A recuperated liquid compression-expansion cycle (the
Malone cycle);
Shape memory alloy heat pumps;
Elastomeric compression-expansion cycles; and
Magnetic refrigeration cycles.
With respect to the coefficient of performance (COP),
i.e. the ratio of the heat pumped to the work input, the
idealized Carnot cycle represents the thermodynamic
maximum COP for pumping heat from a low-temperature
heat source to ahigher temperature heat sink. Thus, when
seeking an efficient refrigeration cycle, cycles whose ideal
embodiment match or closely approach the Carnot limit are
clearly desirable.
A large research is going on nonconventional refrigeration systems to produce
very low temperatures which include Thermoelectric refrigeration, Pulse tube refrigeration,
Vortex tube refrigeration etc. Magnetic
Refrigerationis one of such techniques, which
promises to be of practical importance. Even
though the concept is still into research, 20
years down the line we can expect it to be
widely used.
The study of magnetic refrigeration was started with
thediscovery of magneto caloric effect (MCE) 132 years
ago. It was first discovered by Warburg in 1881. Research
today is focused on improvements of magneto-caloric
materials, magnets and an optimal design of magnetic
refrigerator devices for room temperature applications.
In this study, the concept of magneto-caloric effect is
explained. The development of the magnetic material,
magnetic refrigeration cycles, magnetic field and the
refrigerator of room temperature magnetic refrigeration is
introduced. Finally some typical room temperature
magnetic refrigeration prototypes are reviewed and showed

the best magneto-caloric effect materials are presented and

some important points for room temperature applications of
magnetic refrigeration technologies are given.

gadolinium, silicon, and germanium are more efficient at

room temperature.

III.
II.

PRINCIPLE BEHIND MAGNETIC

REFRIGERATION

Magnetic refrigeration is based on the "MagnetoCaloric Effect"; the ability of some metals to heat when
magnetized and cool when removed from the magnetic
field. Using these materials as refrigerants provides an
environmentally friendly alternative to the volatile liquid
chemicals, such as chlorofluorocarbons and hydrochlorofluorocarbons, which are used in traditional vapourcycle cooling.
A. MAGNETO-CALORIC EFFECT
Magneto-caloric effect is defined as the response of a
solid to an appliedmagnetic field which is apparent as a
change in its temperature. This effect is obeyedby all
transitionmetals and lanthanide-series elements. When a
magnetic field isapplied, these metals, known as ferromagnets, tend to heat up. As heat is applied, the magnetic
moments align. When the field is removed, the ferromagnet cools down asthe magnetic moments become
randomly oriented. When a strong magnetic field is applied
to the magneto-caloric material, themagnetic moments of
its atoms become aligned, making the system more
ordered.When the strong magnetic field is removed, the
party is forced to cool down.The magnetic moments return
to their random directions, entropy increases and
thematerial cools. Upon the removal of a magnetic field
from a material, the resultingreduction in magnetic spin
alignment represents an increase in the material's
spinentropy (delta S). If the field reduction is performed
adiabatically so that the totalentropy change is zero, then
the increased spin entropy is offset by an equal decreasein
lattice entropy, as reflected by a decrease in the temperature
of the material. Thisdelta T is called the magneto-caloric
effect.
B. GADOLINIUM AND ITS ALLOYS
Since the discovery of the magneto-caloric effect in pure
iron by E. Warburg in 1881, it has been measured
experimentally on many magnetic metals and
compounds.Gadolinium, a rare-earth metal, exhibits one of
the largest known magneto-caloric effects. It was used as
the refrigerant for many of the early magnetic refrigeration
designs. The problem with using pure gadolinium as the
refrigerant material is that it does not exhibit a strong
magneto-caloric effect at room temperature. More recently,
however, it has been discovered that arc-melted alloys of

MAGNETIC REFRIGERATION
SYSTEM

With this background of the principal behind the system,

let's take a look at the schematic diagram of the theoretical
magnetic refrigeration system & its vapour compression
counterpart.
The conventional vapour compression system makes use
of a compressor, two heat exchangers- evaporator &
condenser, a throttling device. The refrigerant picks up heat
from the space to be refrigerated in the evaporator where it
is converted into vapour state. This vapour then passes
through the compressor where its pressure &temperature is
increased. Refrigerant then gives out its heat in a condenser
& gets converted into a liquid. The throttling device is used
to reduce the pressure of the refrigerant to the evaporator
pressure.
As compared with this the magnetic system does away
with the compressor. Instead it makes use of magnets,
either permanent or superconducting, to effect a change in
magnetic field. The CFC or HFC refrigerant in the
conventional system is replaced by a working substance i.e.
a magneto-caloric material. The two heat exchangers are
off course still present to affect heat exchange between
working material & a heat transfer fluid.
As before, in the cold heat exchanger the working
substance picks up heat from the space to be refrigerated.
Then the working substance is brought into a strong
magnetic field or it is magnetised so that due to magnetocaloric effect its temperature is increased. Working
substance then gives out its heat to the heat transfer fluid in
a hot heat exchanger. The magnetic field is then reduced,
thereby decreasing its temperature again using the
magneto-caloric effect, so that it can pick up heat in a cold
heat exchanger.
In the conventional system compressor is used to
increase mainly the temperature of the refrigerant so that it
can exchange heat with the atmospheric air. The throttling
device is used to reduce this pressure to evaporator level. In
the magnetic system this is achieved by making use
magneto-caloric effect. Thus the system can do away with
both compressor & throttling device.

point of view, the new system comes as a good substitute

for the conventional system.
IV.

HEAT FLOW SYSTEM

The heat transfer fluid for the magnetic refrigeration

system is aliquid alcohol-water mixture. The mixture used
in the design consists of 60 % ethanol and 40 % water. This
mixture has a freezing point of 40F, assuring that the
mixture does not freeze at the set operating temperatures.
This heat transfer fluid is cheaper than traditional
refrigerants and also eliminates the environmental damage
produced from these refrigerants.
Fig.1. Vapour Compression System

Fig.2. Magnetic Refrigeration System

For comparison purpose the temperature limits for both

systems are taken assame. As can be seen from the chart
the compression process in a vapour compression is never
isentropic. An isentropic process is believed to be the most
efficient path for carrying out any process. This is because
entropy is a property of the system, which measures the
disorder in a system. Thus higher the amount of disorder in
a system more will be its entropy. For higher efficiency we
need minimum disorder in system i.e. minimum entropy.
To have minimum entropy it is necessary to carry out a
process in a reversible manner i.e. the system must be able
to be restored to its original state by an infinitesimal change
in its parameter. Under these conditions, the entropy
generation, which is the sum of entropy of the system &
entropy of the universe, is zero. During compression
process in a vapour compression system there are much
irreversibilities involved like friction, heat exchange of the
hot refrigerant with the surrounding air, which increases the
entropy of the system. Consequently, the process is not the
most efficient process & energy is wasted. As compared
with this in a magnetic system the process of increasing
temperature of the working substance is completely
reversible, since magneto-caloric effect is entirely
reversible. This is because bringing the material out of the
magnetic field can lower the temperature of the magnetocaloric salt. As a result of this the entropy generation
during both processes 1-2 & 3-4 is zero. Thus, the cycle
approaches the Carnot cycle, which is believed to be the
most efficient cycle.As a result of this, even from C.O.P.

Fig.3. Cycle of magnetic refrigeration

The process flow diagram for the magnetic refrigeration

system is shown in fig.3. The fluid first passes through the
hot heat exchanger, which uses air totransfer heat to the
atmosphere. The fluid then passes through the copper
platesattached to the non-magnetized cooler magnetocaloric beds and loses heat. A fan blows air past this cold
fluid into the freezer to keep the freezer temperature at
approximately 0F. The heat transfer fluid then gets heated
up to 80F as it passes through the copper plates adjoined

by the magnetized warmer magneto-caloric beds, where it

continues to cycle around the loop. However, the magnetocaloric beds simultaneously move up and down, into and
out of the magnetic field. The second position of the beds is
shown in Figure 5. The temperature of the refrigerator
section is kept around 39F.
The temperature of the fluid throughout the cycle ranges
from 12F to 80F. The heat transfer fluid at
approximately 70F gets cooled to 12F by the nonmagnetized cold set of beds. This cooled fluid is then sent
to the cold heat exchanger, E-102, where it absorbs the
excess heat from the freezer. This fluid leaves the freezer at
0F. The warm fluid then flows through the opposite
magnetized set of beds, where it is heated up to 80F. This
hot stream is now cooled by room temperature air in the
hot heat exchanger, E-101, to 70F. The cycle then repeats
itself every three seconds after the beds have switched
positions. Copper tubing is used throughout the loop and in
the two heat exchangers.
The two sets of beds, B-101 and B-102, contain the small
spheres of magneto-caloric material. The beds are
alternated in and out of the magnetic field using a chain
and sprocket drive shaft. The drive shaft rotates the beds
back and forth while still keeping them in contact with the
heat transfer plates.
V.

CHALLENGES AHEAD FOR MAGNETIC

REFRIGERATION
Despite all its promise, magnetic refrigeration technology
still has hurdles to overcome if it is to ever give
conventional vapour-based technology a run for the money.
A few of these hurdles are as follows: Small Temperature Spans:- When it comes to a
small temperature span, such asthe range of
temperature in cooling a home or car, the
conventional refrigeration still leads the race.
Size Of The System:- An important consideration
in applications as domesticrefrigerators, car airconditioners is the size of the system. The first
successfulmagnetic refrigerator developed by
Ames lab & ACA makes use of
superconductingmagnet, which makes the system
bulky & big in size. Though the permanent
magnetvariety has been developed, it is still under
testing & the presence of big sized bulkymagnets
makes the system size quite big.
Cost Of The System:- With all the cost saving in
running a magnetic system, thecapital cost of a
magnetic refrigeration system promises to be quite
high. Thus, thesystem may prove to be costly.
Secondly the system has to really
deliverperformance under actual condition similar
to test condition. Otherwise thistechnology will
lose its important advantage of cost saving.
High Reliability Of The Conventional System:Besides the above the otherchallenge faced by the
technology are the high reliability & popularity

due towidespread use of vapour compression

systems. Vapour compression systems havebeen in
use for many years now & have proved to be most
popular method ofrefrigeration
Magneticrefrigeration systems will have to prove
that they are really reliable under normal use.
Thus in future the extensive use of magnetic
systems will be subject to howwell the technology
can sustain growth in various technical areas such
as magnets, magneto-caloric materials, heat
exchangers & other circuitry.
VI.

AREAS OF APPLICATION

With all its promise we can hope to see the use of magnetic
refrigeration systems in the following applications: Liquefaction Of Gases such as Hydrogen,
Nitrogen etc.,
Re-liquefaction of helium in hospital MRI
(magnetic resonance imaging) ,
Large Scale refrigeration applications such as
food-storage,
Industrial air-conditioning applications such as
large restaurants, large shoppingcomplex,
commercial establishments, hospitals etc.,
Industries with specific temperature applications
such as paper pulp industry cloth mills, food
industries, cassette industry etc.,
Low temperature applications such as Cryogenics,
Commercial applications such as household
refrigerator,
Automobile applications such as car airconditioners especially Electric vehicles.
Besides these the technology has a potential to be of
practical importance in almost all applications of
refrigeration & air-conditioning.
CONCLUSION
Magnetic Refrigeration is a clean, environmentally friendly
technology, which replaces the environmentally hazardous
refrigerants in a vapour compression system with a
magneto-caloric substance & a heat transfer fluid, which
are environmentally friendly. With the ever increasing
concern about environmental hazards it promises to be a
technology of the future. However, before the widespread
use of magnetic refrigerators can begin in both industrial &
commercial application, the technology has to cross a few
technical hurdles & prove it is worth. But it won't be long
before we will see magnetic refrigerators take over from
the conventional vapour compression system in all the
fields of application.
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