Article made of a granular magnetocalorically active material for heat exchange

• US 9,175,885 B2
• Filed: 02/12/2007
• Issued: 11/03/2015
• Est. Priority Date: 02/12/2007
• Status: Active Grant

• Current Assignee: Vacuumschmelze GmbH & Company KG (Vectra Corp.)
• Original Assignee: Vacuumschmelze GmbH & Company KG (Vectra Corp.)
• Inventors: Katter, Matthias
• Primary Examiner(s): CIRIC, LJILJANA V
• Application Number:
  US12/523,199
• Publication Number:
  US 20100037625A1
• Time in Patent Office: 3,186 Days
• Field of Search: 62/31, 428/692.1, 428/693.1
• US Class Current: 1/1
• CPC Class Codes: F25B 21/00 Machines, plants or systems, using electric or magnetic effects
• CPC Class Codes: H01F 1/015 Metals or alloys
• CPC Class Codes: Y02B 30/00 Energy efficient heating, ventilation or air conditioning [HVAC]
• CPC Class Codes: Y10T 156/00 Adhesive bonding and miscellaneous chemical manufacture
• CPC Class Codes: Y10T 156/10 Methods of surface bonding and/or assembly therefor

Abstract

Article for magnetic heat exchange having a mantle enveloping at least one core, wherein the core comprises a plurality of grains having a magnetocalorically active material.

Claims

1. An article comprising:

at least one core, comprising a plurality of reactively sintered grains comprising a magnetocalorically active material; and

a mantle enveloping said at least one core.

2. The article according to claim 1, wherein the magnetocalorically active material has a Curie temperature in the range of 220K to 345K.

3. The article according to claim 1, wherein the magnetocalorically active material is one of Gd, a La(Fe.sub_1-bsub_b)₁₃-based phase, a Gd₅ (Si, Ge)₄-based phase, a Mn(As, Sb)-based phase, a MnFe(P, As)-based phase, a Tb—

Gd-based phase, a (Pr, Nd, Sr) MnO₃-based phase or a Pr_e(Fe, Co)₁₇-based phase.

4. The article according to claim 1, wherein adjacent grains of the plurality of grains are contiguous.

5. The article according to claim 1, wherein said at least one core comprises a plurality of cores enveloped by the mantle.

6. The article according to claim 5, further comprising a matrix in which the plurality of cores are embedded.

7. The article according to claim 6, wherein the matrix and the mantle comprise the same materials.

8. The article according to claim 6, wherein the matrix and the mantle comprise different materials.

9. The article according to claim 1, where the mantle is plastically deformable.

10. The article according to claim 1, where the mantle comprises two layers.

11. The article according to claim 1, wherein the mantle comprises copper or a copper alloy or aluminium or an aluminium-based alloy.

12. The article according to claim 1, wherein the article is elongate.

13. The article according to claim 12, wherein the article is in the form of a tape or a wire or a plate.

14. An article comprising:

at least one core, comprising a plurality of reactively sintered grains comprising a magnetocalorically active material; and

a mantle enveloping said at least one core, wherein the article is in the form of a solenoid coil, or is in the form of one or more pancake coils.

15. The article according to claim 14, wherein the article is wound in the form of a solenoid coil.

16. The article according to claim 14, wherein the article is wound in the form of a pancake coil.

17. The article according to claim 16, wherein the article further comprises a plurality of pancake wound coils.

18. The article according to claim 17, wherein each coil comprises a magnetocalorically active material having a different T_c.