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Old 12-05-08, 03:52 PM   #1
Daox
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Default Magnetic refridgerator requires no electricity

I found this very interesting. It somehow uses magnets to cool itself. Don't ask me how.

Magnetic Refrigerator Needs No Electricity | Got2BeGreen

So, I googled magnetic refrigerator and found a wiki page dedicated to magnetic refrigeration... Very interesting. I haven't read much of it yet, but its on the to do list!

Magnetic refrigeration - Wikipedia, the free encyclopedia

Free refrigeration would be a pretty sweet. You might never have to replace your fridge?

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Old 12-10-08, 02:16 PM   #2
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1K is a little cooler than i need my Beer to be.
: )
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Old 12-11-08, 12:38 AM   #3
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I read the linked wikipedia article. My brain hurts but I think I understood the gist of it. It requires the use of some very powerful magnets and incredibly rare metals. So it isn't going to be feasible any time soon. However, once we get some room temperature superconducting magnets it should be quite simple to manufacture.
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Old 12-22-08, 10:14 PM   #4
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Moving heat from a low temperature to a high temperature requires energy by all laws of thermodynamics so this definitely isn't "free." Even the wikipedia article states:

"The magnetocaloric refrigeration system is composed of pumps, electric motors, secondary fluids, heat exchangers of different types, magnets and magnetic materials. These processes are greatly affected by irreversibilities and should be adequately considered."

Irreversibility is "the cause" of poor efficiency so we can infer it's not even that efficient right now. And right now the technology only works to cool a system already at near-cryogenic temperatures to one much colder.

If you want to look for future refrigeration technologies our best efforts are probably placed in thermoelectric modules which use the Peltier effect. They can also heat and generate power all using the exact same device. Right now they are 1/4 to 1/5 as efficient as standard refrigeration but they are solid-state and hampered primarily by ohmic resistance in the thermocouple pellets. They, however, can really be improved with some new material improvements and DARPA has just the projects out there, investing in "high Z materials." Most of their uses are in environments were extreme reliability is needed - I.E. deep space power generation for probes from heat expelled from a radioactive source - and cooling photonic equipment due to the precise temperatures needed.
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Old 08-26-10, 08:24 PM   #5
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This magnetic refrigerator was a very great invention, I think. Know why? Because base on the article that I have read, this magnetic refrigerator will allow for refrigerators to replace existing electric refrigerators in homes and businesses with a fully environmentally friendly power source.
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Old 08-27-10, 10:33 AM   #6
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I wonder if there is any harm to the human body. Powerful magnets can screw with our systems, so I wonder if there's any side effects to having one of these. If not I'm all for it.
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Old 08-28-10, 05:16 PM   #7
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They don't seem to say at any point how this system would work with rare earth magnets, if they are strong enough to produce a reaction or if it would be to slow or weak, so then you are stuck using electro magnets, they also point out that there is no good way to make one that uses a fluid, so you are stuck moving a solid, the working examples either use a disk or a reciprocating device.
But in most of the artical they talk about using liquid helium as a coolant, I realize we all have tanks of that around.
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Old 08-30-10, 02:00 PM   #8
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Thats awesome! Now if I could find a washer and dryer that doesn't use electricity.
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Old 08-30-10, 04:55 PM   #9
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Of course it's going to use electricity! You can't 'pump' heat without using power.
Unless you build a very small hand-cranked frig..

I tried to find some info, but ran into a bunch of bad links..

Here's one good link, from December 7, 2001 .. Magnetic Refrigerator Successfully Tested
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Old 08-31-10, 11:05 PM   #10
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Well, there is thermo-siphon, where part of the energy of the heated material actually creates the flow of air/fluid/whatever. So that wouldn't require electricity. Then again, there probably wouldn't be enough flow, then, to actually cool the fridge. You'd have a nice, technological paperweight, though!

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