Innovative ideas for future research on magnetocaloric technologies

Magnetic heating, refrigeration and energy conversion have caused awareness of being promising future environmentally benign technologies with much potential to enter some existing markets. An increased research activity is observed, which to the end of the year 2010 lead to approximately forty-two prototypes. As most of these machines contain solid linear moving or rotating beds – consisting of magnetocaloric material - through static magnetic fields or moving magnets, which sweep a magnetic field over a static bed, all researchers face more or less the same problems. These concern materials, fluids, design and the operation characteristics. In this article innovative new system ideas are presented, which may have the potential to overcome existing barriers. The article is a proposal to the research community in the field of magnetocaloric technologies for future R&D activities. Taking into account all the limits and problems that researchers are facing at present, the best chance to bring magnetocaloric technologies to the market is to try some substantially new approaches that go beyond the present state-of-the-art.