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Due to being protected by NDA, this project is only partially available for publishing online. Some details have been provided to give you an idea of the scope of the project. If you would like to discuss anything further please don't hesitate to contact me and I will provide what information I can.

A NEW MAGNETOCALORIC MATERIAL

By Specific Magnetic Industries

Refrigeration and cooling account for 20% of the world's total energy consumption. Furthermore, the use of conventional refrigerants, namely hydrochlorofluorocarbons and hydrofluorocarbons, contributes to the deterioration of the ozone layer and intensification of greenhouse gases in the atmosphere.

Advances in the field of magnetocaloric materials, which undergo a large temperature change when exposed to a strong magnetic field, suggest they are a promising alternative to conventional refrigerants.

This project aims to design a processing route for a powderized magnetocaloric La-Fe-Si alloy with a primarily NaZn13 crystal structure that can be used as a refrigerant. The final product mixes # powders with different compositions in a specific ratio, aiming to optimize working temperature range (WTR) and magnitude of the powder’s magnetocaloric effect (MCE) while maximizing ease of processing.

There are four main stages in the manufacturing process for this product: mixing, melting, powderizing, annealing, mixing again to form the final product.

We had a comprehensive analysis on the technical and economic aspects of the process, including mass and energy balances, equipment selection, environmental and safety considerations, and a profitability analysis over a 10-year operating period. It was concluded that the project is profitable, and that it is recommended to proceed to the next stage, where further investigation of the major assumptions is conducted to confirm whether the project remains sufficiently feasible.