HEATING AND COOLING
Magnetocaloric heat pumps are an environmental friendly solution for heating and cooling contributing to the renewable energy transition. In contrast to conventional technologies, magnetocaloric heat pumps do not use any toxic and strong greenhouse gasses. They also allow the design of a more compact and silent device compared to conventional heat pumps. Further, there is more design flexibility because the temperature span can be tuned with the material properties.
Magnetocaloric heat pumps consume significantly less energy compared to conventional technologies. Cooling efficiency using magnetocaloric materials can reach a theoretical limit of 60%, compared to only 40% in gas-compression refrigerators.
Strikingly, the efficiency of the first appliance employing a magnetocaloric “Wine Cooler” developed by BASF, Astronautics, Haier and TU Delft that has been presented 2015 at the Consumer Electronics Show in Las Vegas, outperformed all currently available Peltier coolers.
The material at the heart the magnetocaloric heat pump is based on magnetocaloric materials developed and patented by TU Delft.
WASTE HEAT TO POWER
Magnetocaloric materials form the heart of the thermomagnetic motor (TMM), which can generate electricity from one of the largest and not yet exploited energy sources on earth: Low temperature waste heat below 80°C.
The TMM can convert low-temperature waste heat from large-scale industries into mechanical power, which can further be converted into electricity. This has been demonstrated by Swiss Blue Energy who built the worlds first thermomagnetic motor achieving a power output in the kW range.
Using novel magnetocaloric materials by Magneto makes the TMM a viable technology, which allows the production of emission-free electricity from waste heat.
