Kaspar Kirstein Nielsen has received the EliteForsk travelling scholarship from Denmark’s Minister for Science, Technology and Innovation. This permits him to visit some of the world's leading scientists in the field of magnetic refrigeration. For the next four months, Kaspar is going to be at the University of Victoria, Canada. This is a unique opportunity to explore some of the interesting active areas of magnetic refrigeration with a team of leading scientists.
Promising technology, but far from fully developed
Refrigerating is possible when one use the so-called magnetocaloric materials which become hot when they are pushed into a magnetic field and cool down when they are pulled out (see a detailed description of the system here). This has been shown in several tests around the world, not least by scientists in Risø DTU's Fuel Cells and Solid State Chemistry Division under the project called MagCool. The division has achieved excellent results and is well on its way to a prototype that works. But the system is not yet competitive. To achieve the objective, calculations should be conducted as to how the system works when combined with different material compositions or system configuration.
"This is not groundbreaking physics, since we already know the different effects, but we still lack the model and the experiment to describe the whole process once and for all," says Kaspar Kirstein Nielsen who is contributing to making a new refrigeration technique possible without environmentally harmful coolants.
Four months in Canada
The EliteForsk travelling scholarship has made it possible for Kaspar Kirstein Nielsen to stay four months at the University of Victoria on Vancouver Island with Andrew Rowe, one of the world's leading scientists in the field of magnetic refrigeration. His experiment is slightly different than the one at Risø, as the coolant is pushed over some small movable magnetocaloric balls. At Risø the coolant flows between firm plates of magnetocaloric material lying on top of each other.
"So we could learn a lot from each other," says Kaspar Kirstein and looks forward to all the interesting calculations which are to describe the physical characteristics of many different magnetocaloric materials. He hopes to return home with a greater understanding of magnetic refrigeration. An understanding to be used to optimise Risø’s next prototype.
Read more about the EliteForsk awards on the website of the Ministry of Science, Technology and Innovation (in Danish)
Contact:
Kaspar Kirstein Nielsen, PhD student (+45 4677 4758) The Fuel Cells and Solid State Chemistry Division, email: kaki@risoe.dtu.dk
Nini Pryds, Head of Programme (+45 4677 5752) The Fuel Cells and Solid State Chemistry Division, email: nipr@risoe.dtu.dk
Jesper Henri Hattel, Professor (+45 4525 4710) DTU Mechanical Engineering
email: jhat@mek.dtu.dk
|