Magnetic refrigerator designs near room temperature: A review from laboratory to commercialization

Magnetic refrigeration is emerging as a major eco-friendly alternative to traditional cooling systems based on polluting gases. This work provides a comprehensive review of the state of the art in magnetic refrigeration prototypes based on the magnetocaloric effect. The paper analyzes the evolution of thermal performance, energy efficiency, and regenerator geometry across various developed designs, evaluating their actual cooling capacity. Furthermore, the article highlights the economic and technical barriers related to different magnets and heat transfer fluids in different machine architectures, including rotary and linear configurations. Finally, a particular emphasis is placed on the transition of laboratory prototypes toward viable commercialization in competition with vapor compression systems.