Magnetic fridge cuts electricity bill in half
Baku, May 31 (AZERTAC). Using magnetism to create a cooling effect requires very little energy. It`s also possible to use water instead of harmful greenhouse gases to transport heat and cold.
The term `refrigerator magnets` has been given a completely new meaning.
Using powerful magnets, Danish scientists claim to be the first in the world to lower temperatures by 20.5 degrees Celsius, while at the same time producing 100 W of cooling power.
“No other research groups that work with magnetic cooling have managed to do that,” says Christian Bahl, a senior scientist at the Energy Conversion department at Denmark`s Technical University (DTU), who was one of the researchers behind the so-called MagCool project.
Refrigerators are a lot more energy efficient than they used to be. However, they are still one of the most energy-guzzling appliances in the home, at supermarkets and in restaurants.
Conventional fridges use pressurized gas to achieve the cooling effect. This requires electricity, and even though the past 10-15 years of development have led to more energy efficient compressors, there is a limit to how much more can be saved on power consumption.
Magnetic cooling could be the technology that makes this possible. The magnetic effect is reversible - i.e. only minimal amounts of energy are required as the magnets do not lose energy while creating the cooling effect and thereby create the effect by themselves. However, tiny amounts of energy are needed for pumping cooling water through the system and for other minor operations.
The researchers reckon that switching to magnetic refrigeration could cut power consumption by at least 30-40 percent. This technology has the added benefit of avoiding the greenhouse gases that many of today`s fridges still use.
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