Magnetic refrigeration opening

Ludwihshafen, Germany - German chemical company BASF and and power supply manufacturer Delta Electronics have unveiled a new magnetic refrigeration technology, which, they believe, could help reduce average household energy consumption by as much as 10%.

The technology follows the companies' research into ferromagnetic materials that could be used to replace existing compressor technology in refrigerators and cooling systems. These materials generate heat when introduced into a magnetic field and cool down once removed.

According to BASF, the researchers aim to harness this process by using a drive shaft to move these materials in and out of the magnetic field while pumping heat transfer fluid in place of a traditional compressor. This, it added, will benefit from recent improvements in magnetic refrigeration material have made it efficient enough to be used on a commercial scale.

The technology has the potential to be cheaper, quieter and more efficient than existing systems and can be used for any application that uses vapour compression technology, BASF claims. It also mitigates the environmental concerns associated with refrigerators and other cooling systems by eliminating the use of toxic substances, a company statement added.

Olaf Rogge, BASF's Magnetocalorics project leader said that his team had begun the production of economically feasible materials that had demonstrated a high magnetocaloric effect at low temperatures.

The most promising so far has been a chemically stable manganese-iron compound which has a low-volume expansion. If trials are successful, the company hopes to work with an industrial partners to commercialise the technology within the next few years.

Based on an article in The Engineer, a sister publication to Process Engineering.