C O IM B ATO R E IN S TITU TE O F

EN G IN EER IN G
A N D TEC H N O LO G Y
M A G N ETIC R EFR IG ER ATIO N

(3rd

Mechanical engineering

S.GANESH MURTHI
K.BALA MURUGAN
YEAR MECHANICAL ENGINEERING)

OBJECTIVE
To develop more efficient and cost-effective

small-scale H2 liquefiers as an alternative to

vapour-compression cycles using magnetic
refrigeration (adiabatic magnetization).

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CONTENTS:
Introduction to Refrigeration
Magnetic Refrigeration
Principle of Magnetic Refrigeration
Construction
Working
Requirements for practical applications
Applications
Comparison between Magnetic Refrigeration and Vapor Compression

Refrigeration

Advantages of Magnetic Refrigeration

Disadvantages of Vapor Compression and Vapor absorption refrigeration

Future developments
Conclusion

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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.

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Magnetic Refrigeration

Magnetic refrigeration is a cooling technology based

on the Magneto Caloric Effect

This technique can be used to attain extremely low

temperatures (well below 1 Kelvin)

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Principle of Magnetic Refrigeration

Magneto calorific effect is the basic principle on which the

cooling(Magnetic refrigeration) is achieved.

The Magneto caloric effect (MCE, from magnet and calorie) is a

magneto-thermodynamic phenomenon in which a reversible
change in temperature of a suitable material is caused by exposing
the material to a changing magnetic field
This is also known as adiabatic demagnetization by low
temperature physicists, due to the application of the process
specifically to affect a temperature drop.

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W O RKIN G PRIN CIPLE

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Construction
Components required for
construction

Magnets

Hot Heat exchanger

Cold Heat Exchanger

Drive

Magneto caloric wheel

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 Magnets: Magnets provide the magnetic field to the material so that they can loose
or gain the heat to the surrounding and from the space to be cooled respectively.
Hot Heat Exchanger: The hot heat exchanger absorbs the heat from the material
used and gives off to the surrounding. It makes the transfer of heat much effective.
Cold Heat Exchanger: The cold heat exchanger absorbs the heat from the space to
be cooled and gives it to the magnetic material. It helps to make the absorption of
heat effective.
Drive: Drive provides the right rotation to the Magneto caloric wheel. Due to this
heat flows in the right desired direction.
Magneto caloric Wheel: It forms the structure of the whole device. It joins both
the
two magnets to work properly.
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Working
(Thermo dynamic cycle)

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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 materials magnetic entropy and heat
capacity decreases.
The net result is that the item heats up
(T + Tad).
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Isomagnetic Enthalpic Transfer

This added heat can then be removed by a fluid like

water or helium
The magnetic field is held constant to prevent the

dipoles from reabsorbing the heat

Once sufficiently cooled, the magneto caloric

material and the coolant are separated (H=0).

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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).
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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)

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Requirements for practical applications

Magnetic Materials
Regenerators
Super Conducting Magnets
Active Magnetic Regenerators (AMR's)

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Magnetic Materials
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 (Gadolinium silicon germanium), La(Fe xSi1 x)13Hx and

MnFeP1 xAsx alloys are some of the most promising substitutes for
Gadolinium and its alloys
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Regenerators:
Magnetic refrigeration requires excellent heat transfer to and from the solid magnetic
material. Efficient heat transfer requires the large surface areas offered by porous materials.
When these porous solids are used in refrigerators, they are
referred to as Regenerators

Typical regenerator
geometries include:
a) Tubes
b) Perforated plates
c) Wire screens
d) Particle beds

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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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Active Magnetic Regenerators (AMR)

A regenerator that undergoes cyclic heat transfer operations
and the magneto caloric effect is called an Active Magnetic
Regenerator.
An AMR should be designed to possess the following
attributes

High heat transfer rate

High magneto caloric effect
Sufficient structural integrity
Low thermal conduction in the direction of fluid flow
Affordable materials
Ease of manufacture
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Applications
A rotary AMR liquefier:
This technology can be used
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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Comparison between Magnetic Refrigeration and Vapour

Compression Refrigeration

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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 todays
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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FUTURE D EVELO PM EN T
New research shows that nanocomposites from metallic glasses

could make promising magnetic refrigeration materials,

> These materials are as good as the best currently available magnetic

refrigerants with added advantages.

> This leads to environmental friendly and more efficient than the existing

devices that rely on a vapour cycle.

Energy effiiciency reaches up to 60 % . This saves 40% energy.
Working temperatures and operating range can be tailored by tuning the

composition and manipulating the microstructure.

Properties are similar to crystallized and amorphous materials due to unique

microstructure
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Future develoments
New research shows that nanocomposites from metallic glasses
could make promising magnetic refrigeration materials,
These materials are as good as the best currenly available magnetic
refrigerants with added adavantages.
This leads to environmental friendly and more efficient than the existing
devices that rely on a vapour cycle.
Energy effiiciency reaches upto 60 % . This saves 40% energy.
Working temperatures and operating range can be tailored by tuning the
composition and manipulating the microstructure.
Properties are similar to crystallized and amorphous materials due to unique
microstructure

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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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Thank you
QUERIES???
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