GEs New Refrigerator

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GE Appliances have invented a magnetic refrigeration technology. This technology represents a
step-change in the efficiency of refrigerator appliances and will significantly reduce electricity
demand when it is widely adopted. These refrigerators also completely avoid using
ozone-depleting chemicals like halocarbons that also contribute to climate change. The key
component of magnetic refrigerators is a special type of alloy known as a magnetocaloric
material.
Refrigeration technology, whether youre talking about an air conditioner or the refrigerator in your
kitchen, is all about heat exchange. Thermodynamics doesnt allow us to to simply destroy
energy, so we move it from one place to another through vapor-compression. When a refrigerant
is compressed, it gets warmer (absorbs heat from inside the refrigerator). That heat is then
expelled outside of the system when the vapor is allowed to expand (heats the air in your
kitchen). Magnetocaloric technology is operating a very similar heat pump, but its driven by
magnetism rather than compression.

Below is about the history of magnetic refrigeration technology.

In the 1880's, physicists began to study the interaction of heat and magnetic fields in metals
such as Iron. The fraction of the heating that was reversible was later called the "magnetocaloric
effect". All magnetic materials display this effect to some degree. At the same time, Thomas
Edison and Nikola Tesla read about this effect and immediately saw the application in both
motors and generators. They were awarded three patents, but their experiments were unable to
produce a practical device.
So what has changed since the days of Edison and Tesla? Simply put, they were ahead of their
time. We can now take advantage of over a century of development in quantum physics,
thermodynamics, and materials science to realize the full potential of this technology.
In a conventional refrigerator, a compressor is used to compress and heat refrigerant gas and
deliver it to a condenser where it cools off by dumping heat to ambient air. When the refrigerant
has given up enough heat it becomes a liquid. It then flows through a tight passage called an
expander or capillary tube and drops in pressure and turns into cold liquid at a lower pressure.
After exiting the expander it is in an evaporator, really cold, and ready to accept heat from the
space it is in, the freezer. When it accepts enough heat it is boiled into gas and is then ready to
enter the compressor again. This cycle continues as long as the compressor runs. The
magnetocaloric effect is similar except that it occurs entirely in the solid state. The magnetism
"evaporates" when heated above a certain temperatures and "condenses" back upon cooling. A
magnetic field can be used to drive this reaction and "pump" heat from low to high temperatures,
providing the cooling effect.
Unfortunately for Edison and Tesla, the transition temperature for Iron is many hundreds of
degrees above room temperature (the Iron has to be red hot!), which explains why their
inventions weren't useful at the time. The only metal with a transition temperature near room
temperature is Gadolinium, and it wasn't available in significant quantities until after World War II.
Magnetic cooling devices that operate near absolute zero temperature were developed for
scientific work, but it wasn't until the 1970's that a device using Gadolinium was demonstrated
operating near room temperature. Unfortunately this device needed an expensive
superconducting magnet to operate and was purely for laboratory work only.
In the early 1980's, a major advance occurred with the development of very high strength
rare-earth permanent magnets. These magnets were also less expensive than previous magnet
compositions and so the development of cost-effective magnetic refrigeration systems came
within reach. Several more prototypes were built, but now the shortcomings of Gadolinium came
into focus. The magnetocaloric effect in Gadolinium appears to be too small, and its temperature

range too limited, to make a refrigerator that can compete with vapor compression refrigerators
on the market today.
Finally, in 1997, the final pieces of the puzzle began to fall into place. Scientists at the federal
Ames Laboratory in Iowa reported a new alloy that showed what was called a "giant"
magnetocaloric effect. It was found that this effect could be controlled by tuning the composition
and heat treatment of the alloy. This discovery launched a worldwide search for other giant
magnetocaloric materials. Today there are about half a dozen material system have been found
to be potentially useful as magnetic refrigerants.
Much work has been done since 1997 in the development of magnetic refrigerators. The
metallurgy of the giant magnetocaloric materials was tuned so that the effect was fully reversible
in the magnetic field available from rare earth permanent magnets. (The theory that explains
some giant magnetocaloric materials was developed in the 1960's by two GE physicists,
Charles Bean and Donald Rodbell) Important advances have been made in the design and
configuration of the various components of magnetic refrigerators, such as permanent magnets,
heat exchangers, and hydraulic pumps and seals. Finally, manufacturing technology has
advanced to the point where large scale production of magnetocaloric materials is feasible.
While a few years of work remains to be done, we appear to be at the cusp of the introduction of
magnetic refrigerator appliances as a new product in the global marketplace. We will likely see
the technology spread into other domains that require cooling, such as air conditioning, thermal
management of electronics, industrial process cooling, and liquefaction of natural gas. If
successful this technology will make a measurable improvement in the sustainability of our
energy supply and contribute to the effort to reduce climate change.

Additional Information:
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=7CNiE1lGubo

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