MAGCCINE ENG

Magccine: clean and efficient cooling in vaccine transportation using rotating magnetocaloric effect

Project name: CLEAN AND EFFICIENT COOLING IN VACCINE TRANSPORTATION USING ROTATING MAGNETOCALORIC EFFECT
Project acronym: MAGCCINE
Project Duration: 1.10.2024 – 30.09.2028
Funded by: The European Union under the EIC Pathfinder Challenge: Clean and efficient cooling, managed by @European Innovation Council.
Project coordinator: University of Porto (Portugal)
Partners of the project: CNRS (France), University of Sevilla (Spain), University of Aveiro (Portugal), MagREEsource and Helium3 Technologies.
Project website: www.magccine.pt

Every year, 1.5 million lives are lost globally due to limited access to vaccinations. At the same time, over 50% of produced vaccines are wasted, primarily because of ineffective temperature control during storage and transportation. The vaccine cold chain faces several critical challenges: increasingly strict regulations on aerial transport due to the hazards of refrigerant gases, the high energy demands of refrigeration devices in areas with unreliable electricity, and the significant carbon footprint of high global warming potential (GWP) refrigerants.

The MAGCCINE project aims to transform the vaccine cold chain by developing a clean, efficient, solid-state magnetic refrigeration system based on the innovative rotating magnetocaloric effect (RMCE). This technology, patented in 2023 by project partners, reduces the need for permanent magnets, significantly lowering production costs, volume, and weight while enhancing efficiency. By eliminating harmful refrigerant gases, RMCE presents a sustainable solution to the pressing challenges of vaccine transportation.

The final goal of this project is to design and optimize a fully operational vaccine refrigeration prototype that maintains the critical 2-8 ºC temperature range required by most vaccines.