On Thu, Jul 09, 2009 at 11:41:49AM -0500, ken wrote: > Ben Okopnik wrote: > > but there still seems to be no working > > prototype, at least not that I could find with a quick Google search. > > > > "A Cambridge University spin-out company, Camfridge Ltd, has built two > prototype magnetic fridges that use gadolinium." > > From; http://www.e-refrigeration.com/index.php?page=magnetic-refrigeration
I saw that one, and it's easy to misread that way (most of their promo materials are written in the standard easy-to-misread, ad-hype style, which makes me at least a little suspicious.) The Gd-based cooling tech has been known for a while, but it is actually _not_ what Camfridge is promoting: A Cambridge University spin-out company, Camfridge Ltd, has built two prototype magnetic fridges that use gadolinium. This element is very expensive so now Professor Derek Fray, a leading expert in materials chemistry is working on an alloy that has a negative magnetocaloric effect - it cools in a magnetic field. This could also be harnessed for fridges through a heat exchange process. This technology will bring a new revolution in fridge and cooling appliance industry and will surely be appreciated by the consumers as it is a green technology and promises reduced power consumption. -- * Ben Okopnik * Editor-in-Chief, Linux Gazette * http://LinuxGazette.NET * _______________________________________________ Liveaboard mailing list [email protected] To adjust your membership settings over the web http://www.liveaboardnow.org/mailman/listinfo/liveaboard To subscribe send an email to [email protected] To unsubscribe send an email to [email protected] The archives are at http://www.liveaboardnow.org/pipermail/liveaboard/ To search the archives http://www.mail-archive.com/[email protected] The Mailman Users Guide can be found here http://www.gnu.org/software/mailman/mailman-member/index.html
