A review on magneto-caloric materials for room temperature refrigeration

Abstract

Magnetic refrigeration is an environment-friendly technology when compared to the conventional gas compression system known as vapor compression refrigeration system. Room temperature magnetic refrigeration is a technology which relies on a solid material known as the magneto-caloric material (MCM) which exhibits magneto-caloric effect (MCE) near room temperature. The magneto-caloric effect is the change in temperature of a magnetic material when that material is either magnetized/demagnetized adiabatically. This review is focused on the selection of a suitable MCM which exhibits near-room-temperature MCE. It also explains a methodology to estimate the amount of material required, based on the cooling load or refrigeration capacity (RC) calculation.