Overview on Magnetic Refrigeration

Abstract Active magnetic regeneration is an alternative heat pumping and refrigeration technology with applications around and below room temperature. A magnetic cooling system replaces the compressor and gaseous refrigerant by a variable magnetic field source and a solid material with a large magnetocaloric effect (MCE) around its transition temperature. This article presents an overview of magnetic cooling systems, including fundamentals, basic components, thermodynamic cycles and the most prominent prototypes developed so far.