Senior researcher Kurt Engelbrecht from DTU Energy and former guest-student Jaime A. Lozano received the award 'Best Paper of the Year' (2012/2013) by the Editorial Board of the International Journal of Refrigeration (IJR) at the International Congress of Refrigeration 2015 in Yokohama, Japan.
The article ”Experimental results for a novel rotary active magnetic regenerator” was selected as the best article of over 500 articles submitted in the period May 2012-April 2013.
The two researchers received the award on behalf of the entire group behind the article, which includes Dan Eriksen, Christian R.H. Bahl, Rasmus Bjørk, Jørgen Geyti, Kaspar K. Nielsen, Finn Saxild, Anders Smith and Nini Pryds from DTU Energy. The award included certificates for the whole group, a minor monetary price and a series of small models of igloos to put on display on shelves and office tables.
The article was already chosen ‘Best Paper of the Year’ (2012) back in 2013, but the International Congress of Refrigeration only takes place every fourth year, so the main author Kurt Engelbrecht had to wait for two years before entering the podium on behalf of the group and receive the award under acclamations.
"At the last conference four years ago magnetic cooling was only mentioned as an alternative in one of the sessions and there were no workshops. This year the conference had three workshops and two sessions that dealt exclusively with magnetic refrigeration"
Kurt Engelbrecht, senior researcher, DTU Energy
The wait took almost just as long time as it took writing the article.
"The article was a long time coming, as it describes three to four years of research and work to make a prototype in magnetic cooling, including modeling, material research, design, construction and experiments. And unlike many other articles, it gives a detailed design consideration and experimental results over a range of operating conditions," says Kurt Engelbrecht.
The award was and is considered a ‘well done’ tribute to the research done by DTU Energy into magnetic refrigeration from a curious industry. The International Journal of Refrigeration (IJR) targets the entire refrigeration industry where magnetic refrigeration is a small but growing part and the curiosity is great.
Magnetic refrigeration is an emerging technology using solid, non-volatile magnetic materials as the active components and water or a water/glycol mixture as the medium for heat transport. It holds great potential for low energy consumption and environmentally friendly cooling at a competitive price, and DTU Energy is generally seen as frontrunner in the field of research in magnetic refrigeration.
”The award has contributed to promote the visibility of magnetic refrigeration within the industry, and we experienced an increased interest in magnetic cooling at the conference. At the last conference four years ago magnetic cooling was only mentioned as an alternative in one of the sessions and there were no workshops. This year the conference had three workshops and two sessions that dealt exclusively with magnetic refrigeration”, says Kurt Engelbrecht.
“We also experienced a lot of people just dropping by and showing great interest in the presentations and the workshops, asking in-depth questions about the technology. To me that is a good sign that the technology is gaining momentum, and combined with the award for Best Paper it shows that our work within this field of research is greatly appreciated by the industry. This makes all of us in the group very happy.”
The award was sponsored by Elsevier Ltd, publisher of the International Journal of Refrigeration.