Magnetics Business & Technology - July/August 2024 - 6

FEATURE ARTICLE
MagnoTherm Wows the Sustainability Movement with Magnetocaloric Refrigerator
Polaris (pictured at left) is driven 100% magnetically and cools
down up to 150 beverages to 5°C. Cooling with the power of
magnets, the beverage cooler contains a special metal which
cools down by magnetic fields. Water spreads the cold of the
metal within the device. Voila! Cool drinks, no refrigerator compressor
needed.
Their products range from refrigeration systems for supermarkets
and hydrogen liquefaction to their unique Polaris series, branded
as the world's first magnetic beverage cooler available for rent
and sale in Europe which it demonstrated at ChangeNOW.
Science meets cool. The Polaris magnetocaloric beverage cooler from
MagnoTherm was a popular showstopper at sustainability event
ChangeNow in Paris.
Very few companies have mastered the science of magnetocalorics
sufficiently to develop a commercial refrigerator, but perhaps
none have also been successful in making the concept " cool "
from a marketing standpoint. Now, though, a young academic
spinoff company from Darmstadt, Germany is changing the landscape
with its Polaris beverage refrigerator.
The company is MagnoTherm Solutions GmbH, a pioneering
upstart in sustainable cooling. It recently took part in ChangeNOW
in Paris, a global event that unites change-makers from
around the world to drive positive transformation for our planet.
Dedicated to developing innovative solutions for a greener future,
the company's cutting-edge magnetocaloric materials have the
potential to revolutionize cooling technologies, making them more
efficient and sustainable.
Other products from
MagnoTherm include
the MS90 materials
testbench for testing
magnetocaloric
materials under real
time conditions. The
device is equipped with
easily interchangeable
material holders for
testing various types
of materials in active
magnetic regenerators
(AMR). The magnetic
field source is a nested
Halbach setup and
achieves 1.15 T. The
fluid flow of the heat
exchange fluid as well
as its phase shift in acMS90
for testing magnetocaloric materials
cordance to the magnetic field can be adjusted mechanically. The
temperature change of the AMR is recorded via thermocouples
which can be inserted into the material cartridges.
Another product by MagnoTherm is the MS30 for demonstrating
the magnetocaloric effect. The device is driven by a hand crank.
A magnet is moved over a capsule with magnetocaloric material
while water is pumped through the system with a mechanically
coupled piston pump. The magnetic field source is a Halbach
permanent magnet and the magnetocaloric material is Gadolinium.
A temperature span of 15K can be achieved within 60
seconds by cranking. The temperature change of the device is
displayed on an integrated monitor.
Magnetocaloric raw material
Basically, certain materials heat up when brought into a magnetic
field, a phenomenon called the magnetocaloric effect. Materials
endowing this effect are called magnetocaloric materials. Using
the magnetocaloric effect, a magnetic cooling cycle near room
temperature is possible. Magnetocaloric materials include pure
elements such as Gadolinium or alloys such as Lanthanum-ironsilicon
(LaFeSi) or Iron-phosphorus (Fe2P).
6 Magnetics Business & Technology * July/August 2024
MS 30 magnetocaloric effect demonstrator
www.MagneticsMag.com
http://www.MagneticsMag.com
Magnetics Business & Technology - July/August 2024

Table of Contents for the Digital Edition of Magnetics Business & Technology - July/August 2024
