Hydrogen has been proposed as a way to remove our dependence on fossil fuels. Although generating hydrogen is energy intensive, it represents an effective fuel that can supplement or replace fossil fuels in applications like automobiles and combustion devices. One of the major challenges with hydrogen is storage because it must be either highly compressed (dangerous) or cooled to 20 K (about -424°F) to make a liquid.
These cooling systems are expensive, but an innovative technology developed at the University of Groningen in the Netherlands may make this easier. They created a magnetocaloric cooling system that uses magnetic fields to draw heat from materials. Scientists have previously done this before using compounds with rare Earth metals, which are expensive to mine and process. The new process uses cobalt, a more readily available mineral. The new system will reduce the cost of integrating hydrogen into our energy economy in the future. So, who knew that those refrigerator magnets you have may be the key to powering the refrigerator in the future? – Steve Terry, DTC HVAC & Refrigeration Instructor
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