Impact of cycle-hysteresis interactions on the performance of giant magnetocaloric effect refrigerants

Magnetic refrigeration technology based on the giant magnetocaloric effect in solid-state refrigerants is known qualitatively to be limited by dissipative mechanisms accompanying hysteresis in the magneto-structural solid-solid phase transition. In this paper, we quantitatively explore the dependence of cycle performance metrics (cooling power, temperature span, work input, and fractional Carnot efficiency) on hysteresis properties (thermal hysteresis, one-way transition width) of the magneto-structural phase transition in a Ni45Co5Mn36.6In13.4 alloy system. We investigate a variety of Ericsson-type magnetic refrigeration cycles, using a Preisach-based non-equilibrium thermodynamic framework to model the evolution of the alloy's magnetic and thermal properties. Performance metrics are found to depend strongly on hysteresis parameters, regardless of the cycle chosen. However, for a given hysteresis parameter set, the material's transformation temperatures determine a unique cycle that maximizes efficiency. For the model system used undergoing Ericsson cycles with 5 and 1.5 T maximum field constraint, fractional Carnot efficiencies in excess of 0.9 require thermal hysteresis below 1.5 K and 0.5 K, respectively. We conclude briefly with some general materials considerations for mitigating these hysteresis inefficiencies through microstructure design and other materials processing strategies.