PartagerUne chute de température de 45°C grâce à la technologie du froid magnétique (en anglais)
Des chercheurs travaillant dans les laboratoires de General Electric déclarent avoir été en mesure de geler de l'eau en utilisant la technologie du froid magnétique.
Researchers working in General Electric labs claim to have been able to freeze water using magnetic refrigeration technology.
The breakthrough system, which is projected to be 20% more efficient than current refrigeration technology, could be inside a fridge by the end of this decade, they predict.
The magnetocaloric effect was first observed in the 1880s by German physicist Emil Warburg. Thomas Edison also toyed with the concept of building a magnetocaloric heat pump and in the 1980s a team at the Los Alamos National Laboratory in New Mexico used expensive superconducting magnets to achieve a few degrees of refrigeration.
GE teams in the US and in Germany picked up the problem again 10 years ago. They decided to build a cascade from special magnetic materials, where each step could lower the temperature just slightly. It took them five years to achieve cooling of just 1°C.
A viable system was possible when materials scientists developed a new type of nickel-manganese alloys for magnets that could function at room temperatures. Design engineers arranged the magnets in a series of 50 cooling stages. Today, they are capable of reducing temperature by about 45°C.
The team is now working to achieve 55°C drop in temperature at low power.
The breakthrough system, which is projected to be 20% more efficient than current refrigeration technology, could be inside a fridge by the end of this decade, they predict.
The magnetocaloric effect was first observed in the 1880s by German physicist Emil Warburg. Thomas Edison also toyed with the concept of building a magnetocaloric heat pump and in the 1980s a team at the Los Alamos National Laboratory in New Mexico used expensive superconducting magnets to achieve a few degrees of refrigeration.
GE teams in the US and in Germany picked up the problem again 10 years ago. They decided to build a cascade from special magnetic materials, where each step could lower the temperature just slightly. It took them five years to achieve cooling of just 1°C.
A viable system was possible when materials scientists developed a new type of nickel-manganese alloys for magnets that could function at room temperatures. Design engineers arranged the magnets in a series of 50 cooling stages. Today, they are capable of reducing temperature by about 45°C.
The team is now working to achieve 55°C drop in temperature at low power.