Magnetocaloric Effect In Gdni2 For Cryogenic Gas Liquefaction Studied In Magnetic Fields Up To 50t

Natural gases have played a significant role in different sectors of the global economy. Recent analyses have shown that the world's gas consumption doubled over the last three decades; further growth of the gas consumption is predicted, rising to be 23%-28% of the total primary energy demand by 2030. Therefore, liquefaction of natural gases rapidly gains global importance. In this context, magnetic refrigeration emerges as a modern energy-saving technique, which is an alternative to the traditional gas-compression refrigeration. This paper is devoted to the study of the magnetocaloric effect in magnetic fields up to 10T on a representative of the Laves phase alloys, GdNi2, which is considered as a perspective material for liquefaction of natural gases. For a magnetic field change of 10T, the magnetic entropy change Delta S-m approximate to-17J/kgK and the adiabatic temperature change Delta T-ad approximate to 6.8K was attained around Curie temperature T-C=70K. The maximal value of the adiabatic temperature change measured directly in pulsed magnetic fields up to 50T is Delta T-ad approximate to 15K.