Magnetic Fridge

Ian Finlay writes: "Scientists at the Ames Laboratory say they have created the world's first magnetic refrigerator, which someday may save consumers money on energy bills and be better for the environment. The AP story is on Yahoo at the usual place."

Cool. Now the question is:

[Stone Rhino]

Is it practical, easily manufacturable, and affordable?

Re:Cool. Now the question is:

[zcat_NZ]

Is it practical, easily manufacturable, and affordable?

No, it's experimental, protype-only and very expensive. Read the article :)

A virtually silent air conditioner would be nice too. I dodn't really care for a silent fridge that much, since I don't tend to work or sleep in my kitchen very often..

Silence...

[martyb]

A virtually silent air conditioner would be nice too.

That would be GREAT, except that there's also the noise generated by the fan which circulates the cooled air into the room. Granted, it would be much quieter, but I doubt it would be silent. :(

I don't really care for a silent fridge that much, since I don't tend to work or sleep in my kitchen very often..

Yes, BUT I'd have really appreciated a nearly silent fridge in my college dorm room! Or, even today, to have a small fridge in a cubicle at work would be a real plus!

Quiet PC? I'm drooling to think about someday using one of these to cool my PC! Silence IS golden.

Re:Silence...

[wsloand]

Quiet PC? I'm drooling to think about someday using one of these to cool my PC! Silence IS golden.

Assuming that this is in reference to the article, I really doubt that you would want a magnet cooling your computer unless there were some rather radical changes in CPU design that would makt it not involve electricity or NMR quantum computing.

Re:Silence...

[martyb]

Assuming that this is in reference to the article, I really doubt that you would want a magnet cooling your computer unless there were some rather radical changes in CPU design that would makt it not involve electricity or NMR quantum computing.

Good point, but nothing says the "magnetic fridge" needs to be located within the PC's case. Insulated tubing could run from the external fridge into a heat exchanger within the case and back to the magnetic fridge (MF). Maybe not so convenient for a single PC. I saw no mention in the article as to efficiency compared to conventional cooling technology, but if this should prove to be more efficient, such a unit could become a standard component within a rack (e.g. in a hosting facility).

Re:Silence...

[LUDO54]

I took a tour of Ames lab 2 summers ago and we got to talk to the guys working on this. Saw a little demonstration of the alloy at work too. Pretty nifty, just a little metal tab that you inserted between two magnets and pulled out again. They had thermocouplers attached to the thing, got a difference of about 5-10 degrees after a about a minute. At the time they said they were expecting to reach a Carnot efficiency of 99% (the most efficient refrigeration units are about 30% efficient by comparison). I think they were saying it would be 70% efficient at first (not too sure though). I was wondering if the engine could be reversed to create an amazingly efficient generator. I have no idea. Damn cool stuff though.(no pun intended)

Yes...

[jo42]

But will you still be able to use fridge magnets on them?

Re:Yes...

[zcat_NZ]

Well; until now I've been using old speaker magnets as fridge magnets because they don't fall off or slide down the door like regular fridge magnets.

Perhaps in another ten-odd years I'll be able to use old fridge magnets as.. umm.. fridge magnets..

Re:Ha Ha

[zcat_NZ]

And I laugh at your gross misinterpretation of my post. a) It's not a first post, it's about fourth and a reply to a post. b) Think about it; speakers aren't 'made of' magnets either, they just happen to contain a large and fairly powerful magnet. The new heatpump referred to in the article isn't 'made of' magnets, but it happens to contain a large and powerful magnet which would be ideal for sticking things to refrigerators (you know.. reminders, floppy disks, backup tapes, etc.. the usual stuff :)

Anyway, I really want to know what chemical or mechanical process makes this work.. I'm guessing that the magnetic field somehow reduces the randomness (entropy!) of the structure, so it has to absorb heat to get back to it's natural random state. Kind of like how icey slush goes much colder when you mix some salt into it?

Meccano heaven!

[billcopc]

Now any piece of scrap metal can stick to your fridge. Attach a fridge-bot to the door, to keep that pesky roommate from stealing all your beer.

Family Issues

[Renraku]

"Reports are in from all over that refridgerator magnets are cancelled by the magnet in the machine. In other news, parents everywhere are forgetting about their kids"

From field/alloy interaction.

[Christopher Thomas]

Does the energy that does the work to remove the heat from the refridgerated side of the setup come from the work being done to insert the Gadolinium alloy into the magnetic field(and to remove it) or is the energy input done simply by the circulation of coolant fluid through the heated/cooled alloy.

If the alloy changes temperature based on its magnetic field environment, then the work that goes into the heating and cooling is from the force needed to move the alloy through the magnetic field in the rig they're using.

Re:From field/alloy interaction.

[Christopher Thomas]

But the question that has to be asked is why spin a disc through a permanent magnet? Why not use a series of electro-magnets to produce a moving magnetic field?

Because a motor and one permanent manget are a lot simpler and cheaper than a stack of electromagnets.

Having one hot location (by the magnet) and one cold location (far from the magnet) also makes the heat exchanger rig simpler. With electromagnets, any fixed position near the magnets would alternately be hot and cold (not easy to pump heat with).

In short, it's because there's lots of extra complexity and no real benefit from using electromagnets for the fridge.

Ahoy trolls! Listen up

[Compact Dick]

A couple months ago or so, someone posted a briliant tale of Hemos and Jon Katz(?) brutally raping and murdering a lab rabbit. If you have a copy of this, please attach as a reply. TIA!

Rockin processor cooler.. or..

[josquint]

even a HARD DRIVE COOLER!!!!

er...

wait.. no.. probably not a good idea

;-) get it? its a JOKE!