Why Small Differences in Materials Lead to Big Energy Savings?
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Even small statistical variations in the magnetic properties of magnetocaloric materials have a major impact on the performance of future environmentally friendly cooling systems, researchers from the UL Faculty of Mechanical Engineering observe. These findings support the development of robust and reliable cooling devices and heat pumps that operate without harmful refrigerants.
Magnetocaloric technology is a cooling and heating technology that exploits the magnetocaloric effect—the property of certain materials to heat up or cool down when exposed to a changing magnetic field. It is considered a promising alternative to conventional vapor-compression cooling systems, as it does not rely on environmentally detrimental refrigerants and can achieve high energy efficiency. However, it currently faces two major challenges: the narrow operational temperature span of magnetocaloric materials and the reliance on expensive and rare elements.
One solution is the use of multilayer magnetocaloric regenerators, in which each layer of the material has a different Curie temperature - the temperature at which a material loses its magnetism. This enables the device to cover a wider temperature range and deliver higher cooling power. Yet for reliable performance, it is crucial to understand how precisely the material properties must be controlled.
Researchers from the Laboratory for Refrigeration and District Energy — in collaboration with the Federal University of Santa Catarina (Brazil) and the Technical University of Denmark — were the first to thoroughly investigate the influence of statistical variations in Curie temperature on the performance of multilayer magnetocaloric regenerators.
Using a 1D numerical model combined with artificial neural networks, the team analyzed regenerators made of the La–Fe–Co–Si magnetocaloric alloy. The results show that while increasing the number of layers enhances the cooling power, it also increases the system’s sensitivity to minor deviations in magnetic properties. Differences exceeding 1 K in the predicted Curie temperature can lead to significant reductions in the expected performance.
“For magnetocaloric cooling to successfully reach practical applications, high precision in manufacturing magnetocaloric materials will be crucial.,” emphasizes assist. prof. dr. Urban Tomc, lead author of the study.
This research marks an important step toward the development of efficient, reliable, and commercially viable magnetocaloric cooling devices and heat pumps that can contribute to a low-carbon future. It was published in the article Influence of Layering and Curie Temperature Uncertainty on the Performance of Magnetocaloric Regenerators in the prestigious journal Advanced Functional Materials.
Article Link: Advanced Functional Materials
