Already tested successfully in preservation of camel milk and mango juice, magnetic refrigeration is a potential alternative to electrical refrigeration.
“Electricity is not cheap, and we are developing an alternative energy source using powerful magnets for a strong magnetic field,” says computational physicist Dr. Winfred Mueni Mulwa, Egerton University, Kenya. She heads a project on density functional theory (DFT) investigation on P-type iron (Fe2 P-type) materials for near-room temperature refrigeration.
The foundation for the research was laid in 2019, when Dr. Mulwa won an innovation grant from KENET, the national research and education network (NREN) of Kenya. The grant allowed her to establish the first computational laboratory at Egerton University.
Innovation grant funded a new lab
Especially in areas with no or unreliable power supply, magnetic refrigeration would be an attractive alternative to conventional electrical refrigeration. The technology is still in its preliminary stages, but in laboratory tests the magnets proved able to reduce the temperature to 4 degrees Celsius. This is sufficiently cold, meaning that most common products can be preserved for a suitable time. In the trials, camel milk and mango juice was preserved with satisfactory results.
The KENET Innovation Grant provided the necessary funds to equip the new computational laboratory with high-quality equipment, explains Dr. Mulwa:
“This was my first time winning a grant, and KENET managed it perfectly. They were always there when I needed the funds, and they even trained me to manage grants on my own.”
Advancing computational physics
Besides the possible applications in magnetic refrigeration, the activities of the computational laboratory have raised the general level of computational physics – even beyond Egerton University.
“I supervise students from various universities that do not have a computational physics lecturer. They visit my lab at Egerton to work on their projects, thanks to the infrastructure provided by KENET,” says Dr. Mulwa, continuing:
“The KENET grant was a seed grant that helped me start my lab. Now, I am looking to apply for a higher grant to improve the lab’s maintenance and growth.”
The text is inspired by the article “Pioneering computational physics: Dr. Winfred Mueni Mulwa’s journey with KENET’s innovation grant” at the KENET website.
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