From a magnet to a heat pump

The magnetocaloric effect (MCE) is the thermal response of a magnetic material to an applied magnetic field. Magnetic cooling is a promising alternative to conventional vapor compression technology in near room temperature applications and has experienced significant developments over the last five years. Although further improvements are necessary before the technology can be commercialized.Researchers were mainly focused on the development of materials and optimization of a flow system in order to increase the efficiency of magnetic heat pumps. The project, presented in this paper, is devoted to the improvement of heat pump and cooling technologies through simple tests of prospective regenerator designs. A brief literature review and expected results are presented in the paper. It is mainly focused on MCE technologies and provides a brief introduction to the magnetic cooling as an alternative for conventional vapor compression technology

Study of the magnetostructural transition in critical-element free Mn1−xNi1−xFe2xSi0.95Al0.05

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Magneto-elastic coupling in La(Fe, Mn, Si)₁₃H<i>y</i> within the Bean-Rodbell model

First order magnetic phase transition materials present a large magnetocaloric effect around the transition temperature, where these materials usually undergo a large volume or structural change. This may lead to some challenges for applications, as the material may break apart during field change, due to high internal stresses. A promising magnetocaloric material is La(Fe, Mn, Si)13Hy, where the transition temperature can be controlled through the Mn amount. In this work we use XRD measurements to evaluate the temperature dependence of the unit cell volume with a varying Mn amount. The system is modelled using the Bean-Rodbell model, which is based on the assumption that the spin-lattice coupling depends linearly on the unit cell volume. This coupling is defined by the model parameter η, where for η > 1 the material undergoes a first order transition and for η  ≤ 1 a second order transition. We superimpose a Gaussian distribution of the transition temperature with a standard deviation σ T 0 , in order to model the chemical inhomogeneity. Good agreement is obtained between measurements and model with values of η  ∼ 1.8 and σ(T0) = 1.0 K

Comparing superconducting and permanent magnets for magnetic refrigeration

We compare the cost of a high temperature superconducting (SC) tape-based solenoid with a permanent magnet (PM) Halbach cylinder for magnetic refrigeration. Assuming a five liter active magnetic regenerator volume, the price of each type of magnet is determined as a function of aspect ratio of the regenerator and desired internal magnetic field. It is shown that to produce a 1 T internal field in the regenerator a permanent magnet of hundreds of kilograms is needed or an area of superconducting tape of tens of square meters. The cost of cooling the SC solenoid is shown to be a small fraction of the cost of the SC tape. Assuming a cost of the SC tape of 6000 $/m2 and a price of the permanent magnet of 100$/kg, the superconducting solenoid is shown to be a factor of 0.3-3 times more expensive than the permanent magnet, for a desired field from 0.5-1.75 T and the geometrical aspect ratio of the regenerator. This factor decreases for increasing field strength, indicating that the superconducting solenoid could be suitable for high field, large cooling power applications

Magnetic levitation by rotation

A permanent magnet can be levitated simply by placing it in the vicinity of another permanent magnet that rotates in the order of 200 Hz. This surprising effect can be easily reproduced in the lab with off-the-shelf components. Here we investigate this novel type of magnetic levitation experimentally and clarify the underlying physics. Using a 19 mm diameter spherical NdFeB magnet as rotor magnet, we capture the detailed motion of levitating, spherical NdFeB magnets, denoted floater magnets. We find that as levitation occurs, the floater magnet frequency-locks with the rotor magnet, and, noticeably, that the magnetization of the floater is oriented close to the axis of rotation and towards the like pole of the rotor magnet. This is in contrast to what might be expected by the laws of magnetostatics as the floater is observed to align its magnetization essentially perpendicular to the magnetic field of the rotor. Moreover, we find that the size of the floater has a clear influence on the levitation: the smaller the floater, the higher the rotor speed necessary to achieve levitation, and the further away the levitation point shifts. We verify that magnetostatic interactions between the rotating magnets are responsible for creating the equilibrium position of the floater. Hence, this type of magnetic levitation does not rely on gravity as a balancing force to achieve an equilibrium position. Based on theoretical arguments and a numerical model, we show that a constant, vertical field and eddy-current enhanced damping is sufficient to produce levitation from rest. This enables a gyroscopically stabilised counter-intuitive steady-state moment orientation, and the resulting magnetostatically stable, mid-air equilibrium point. The numerical model display the same trends with respect to rotation speed and the floater magnet size as seen in the experiments.Comment: 15 pages, 6 figures, 10 videos + 8 pages supplementary material. Videos available at https://youtube.com/playlist?list=PLOfbFSFa_WoK4PgYQXhuNucS_WcIxXDE