A method for producing a working component for a magnetic
heat exchanger, comprising: Selecting for each of the two or more sections of the working component of amounts of La, Fe, M and of one or more of the elements of T and R which are suitable to form a La 1-a R a (Fe 1-x-y T y M x ) 13 H z-phase, where T is one or more of the elements from the group consisting of Mn, Co, Ni and Cr, M is
silicon and optionally aluminum, and R is one or more of the elements from the group consisting of Ce, Nd, Y and Pr, where the amount of
silicon is within the range of 0.05 ≤ x ≤ 0.2 and the amount of one or more of the elements R and T is selected within the ranges 0 ≤ a ≤ 0.5 and 0.003 ≤ y ≤ 0.2, where the amount of the one or more elements of T and R and the amount of Si are selected for each of the two or more sections to provide the two or more sections with different
Curie temperatures and similar
sintering activities, Mixing the amount of the selected elements of T, R and M with La, Fe or alloys thereof in amounts suitable to produce the La 1-a R a (Fe 1-x-y T y M x ) 13 H z-phase to produce two or more precursor
powder mixtures, Producing a
green body from the two or more precursor
powder mixtures, Heat treatment of the
green body at a temperature T sinter and producing a working component having two or more sintered sections, each having a different T c and a density, d, within a range of ±5% or ±2% of the mean density, d av , a total number of sintered sections, wherein a single monolithic
green body is formed from two or more precursor
powder mixtures and
heat treated to form a single monolithic working component having two or more sintered sections.