This is the revolutionary heat pump that heats your home with less consumption and greater safety

We still have a lot of winter ahead of us in Spain, and as a result, there is high energy consumption in homes to keep them warm at the expense of increased electricity and gas bills at the end of the month. In response to this problem, Technology is evolving to provide increasingly effective and sustainable solutions, andA Be with Inventions to enhance the heat of radiators S To heat large rooms in minutes. between Systems that offer the greatest savings include heat pumps. It is a technology that is more than a century old and could be replaced in the future by more efficient and safer variants such as the thermomagnetic bomb designed by American researchers.

It was developed by a team of researchers at the US Department of Energy’s Ames National Laboratory Magnetic heat pump matches vapor compression heat pumps current in terms of weight, cost and performance. Match these qualities, improve others, and pave the way to a more sustainable future.

The scientific and industrial community is focused on achieving more energy-efficient compact heat pumps. Some have chosen geothermal technology, while others have suggested the use of magnets and a magnetic field, as in this case.

Current heating and cooling devices such as heat pumps are based on vapor compression technology and rely on the use of refrigerants. These systems are usually safe and there are ways to recover the refrigerant when the system is disassembled, but in the event of an accident, These chemicals produce carbon emissions and harm people and the environment.

The Ames Laboratory claims soQ Magnetic heat pumps are considered a “promising alternative for cooling and heating.” Among its advantages will be the possibility The elimination of refrigerant emissions and the fact that this new technology requires less energy to operate. Hence the importance of this new work, which claims in a scientific publication to equal the positive qualities of traditional heat pumps.

Understanding Magnetic Calories

Traditional heat pumps, such as those you may have at home, They work by changing the pressure of the coolant. In winter, the gas is compressed to heat it and distribute the warm air inside the house. This element is taken outside the house and decompressed again to expel the cold that has been absorbed from inside into the street, closing the circuit.

Austrian scientist Peter von Rettinger established the inner workings of today’s heat pumps in the 1850s. Originally applied to industrial processes before moving into residential use around the 1920s, his invention is a technology that exists in multiple systems and could be replaced by a newer one.

In the case of magnetic heat pumps, the compression and decompression process that adjusts the temperature of the refrigerant is replaced by A core of a solid that is cooled and heated to extreme temperatures through the use of a magnetic field.

This central element is responsible for heating or cooling the refrigerant being circulated through the system, as necessary at each time of the year. One advantage is that this coolant can be based on water instead of greenhouse gases.

New design

Although MCHPs or Magnetic Heat Pumps have proven their ability to generate the temperature ranges and efficiency needed to be part of various heating and cooling mechanisms, This technology currently faces difficulties in being commercially viable Due to its large size and high production cost.

The American researchers behind this project have succeeded in achieving this Reduce the amount of material used in permanent magnets The magnetic steel needed to operate the pump efficiently. These efforts helped essential system parts match the weight of today’s compressors.

The core of the device involves rotating a permanent magnet relative to the thermomagnetic material and using magnetic steel to keep the magnetic field contained. The arrangement of these three pieces was key to the project’s approach to making the heat pump more energy dense.

Another part of his research consists of evaluation They are the two most common thermomagnetic materials Used in these heat pumps: gadolinium, silicon hydride, iron and lanthanum. Finally, they chose gadolinium, because although the combination of lanthanum, iron and silicon is known for its high energy density, “it is harder to obtain and requires more materials to perform well,” explains Julie Slaughter, research team leader at the University of California AmesLab statement.

Gadolinium is the substance found inside the heart Which heats up when the magnetic field around it is activated and cools when the magnetism is turned off, affecting the temperature of the coolant passing through that core.

The result was presented in the scientific journal Direct Science. The team states in its deliberations that its modifications increase the expected energy density of the system by a factor of three. Moreover, estimates indicate a Maximum power density 114 W/kg For similar thermomagnetic devices.

Although the project is still in its early stages, this innovation could represent a significant change for heating systems around the world. Without refrigerants and with greater energy efficiency, magnetic heat pumps are presented as a possible way to significantly reduce environmental impact every summer and winter.