Improving the Reliability, Longevity and Lifetime Performance of Magnetic Cooling Technology [Energy Catalyst: R3 Mid-Stage]

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Refrigeration and cooling consumes 15% of generated electricity (DEFRA); the largest component of this - ~33% - is related to domestic refrigeration, which is the focus of this proposal. In the home, domestic cooling appliances account for ~14.5% of total electricity usage. Currently only magnetic refrigeration technology is seen as a viable alternative to conventional compressor coolers: but there market access has thus far been halted by reliability issues. The overarching aims of this project, therefore, is to enable this 'green' technology by improving the reliability, longevity and the lifetime performance of magnetic cooling- to reach a point where manufacturers can test a baselined system; the step prior to IP licensing. Camfridge has a magnetic cooling platform, which is the most compact and cost-effective in the world, and the project will examining failure modes, taking both a bottom-up and top-down approach. Imperial College will focus specifically on the mechanism of degradation, the lifetime of the magnetic refrigerant and development of protection strategies; Camfridge (Lead Partner) will systematically improve the longevity and performance of components, and Arcelik (Beko), a major appliance manufacturer will examine cooling engine failure modes and performance from an integrated system (top-down) appliance perspective. The project will deliver a baseline design demonstrating the required levels of technology readiness necessary for widespread industrial testing; replicas of the baseline unit developed in this project will be made available to appliance manufacturers in target regional markets.