Magnetocaloric effect in GdNi₂ for cryogenic gas liquefaction studied in magnetic fields up to 50 T

Natural gases have played a significant role in different sectors of the global economy. Recent analyses have shown that the world's gas consumption doubled over the last three decades; further growth of the gas consumption is predicted, rising to be 23%–28% of the total primary energy demand by 2030. Therefore, liquefaction of natural gases rapidly gains global importance. In this context, magnetic refrigeration emerges as a modern energy-saving technique, which is an alternative to the traditional gas-compression refrigeration. This paper is devoted to the study of the magnetocaloric effect in magnetic fields up to 10 T on a representative of the Laves phase alloys, GdNi₂, which is considered as a perspective material for liquefaction of natural gases. For a magnetic field change of 10 T, the magnetic entropy change ΔS_m ≈ −17 J/kg K and the adiabatic temperature change ΔT_ad ≈ 6.8 K was attained around Curie temperature T_C = 70 K. The maximal value of the adiabatic temperature change measured directly in pulsed magnetic fields up to 50 T is ΔT_ad ≈ 15 K.