Cold production from magnetic fields. Part II: Thermodynamic analysis

Abstract

In magnetic refrigeration a magnetic material undergoes temperature changes or heat interchanges with the environment when it is placed in a strong magnetic field. In this paper, a conventional cycle for magnetic refrigeration is analyzed. Expressions for the released and absorbed heat and the temperature changes at the different stages of the cycle are obtained from the first law of thermodynamics. Also, by means of the second law of the thermodynamics, equations for the work done, entropy change and ideal performance coefficient are obtained as a function of temperatures and magnetic material properties.