Design and performance of a permanent-magnet rotary refrigerator

In order to demonstrate the potential of magnetic refrigeration to provide useful cooling near room temperature, Astronautics Corporation of America constructed a rotary magnetic refrigerator (RMR) in 2001. The RMR uses the active magnetic regenerator (AMR) cycle with an aqueous heat transfer fluid. The required change in magnetic field is produced by the rotation of a wheel packed with porous beds of magnetocaloric material through a 1.5 T Nd₂Fe₁₄B permanent magnet with steel flux concentration poles. A pump, and valves mounted to the wheel, control heat transfer fluid flow through the magnetocaloric beds and heat exchangers. This rotary design allows quiet, reliable operation over a range of frequencies (0.5–4 Hz), heat transfer fluid flow rates and cooling power. The performance of the device using Gd and Gd alloy spherical particles is reported and analyzed. We also describe the performance effects of introducing layered beds and an La(Fe_1−xSi_x)₁₃H_y alloy with a first order magnetic transition.     

Static and rotating active magnetic regenerators with porous heat exchangers for magnetic cooling

The operation behaviour of an active magnetic regenerator (AMR) with a wavy-structure, or a honeycomb-like regenerator bed was numerically investigated. The thermodynamic model was applied to a static regenerator and – in a generalized version – to a rotary type. The models take two-dimensional unsteady heat conduction in the magnetic material during the four basic processes of the AMR cycle into account. The numerical results were used to determine optimal arrangements of different magnetic materials in order to obtain larger temperature spans between both ends of the porous beds. Furthermore, a first study of magnetic flux lines in a porous rotary heat exchanger was performed.     

A practical model for analysis of active magnetic regenerative refrigerators for room temperature applications

In this paper, a practical model for predicting the performance and efficiency of active magnetic regenerative refrigerators (AMRRs) has been developed. With this model, the refrigeration capacity, the power consumption (including the power required to move regenerator cylinder and drive heat transfer fluid) and consequently the coefficient of performance (COP) of a real AMRR system can be predicted with different heat transfer fluids. A dimensionless parameter, utilization at maximum refrigeration capacity (UMRC), is used to numerically characterize the performance of an AMRR. The numerical results indicate that the UMRC increases with increasing number of transfer units (NTU) and eventually reaches its maximum. Increasing operating frequency increases the refrigeration capacity of the AMRR while causes a reduction in COP. The influences of the physical properties of transfer fluids on the AMRR performance are also studied. Liquid is more favorable than gas for being used as heat transfer fluid in AMRR systems.     

Experimental investigation on refrigeration performance of a reciprocating active magnetic regenerator of room temperature magnetic refrigeration

Room temperature magnetic refrigeration has been proved to be a feasible refrigerating technology and has a prosperous application potential. In this research, magnetocaloric effect (MCE) of metal gadolinium is measured and the metal is prepared from ingot to granular state by method of hydriding–ball milling–dehydriding. The other compound, Gd₅Si₂Ge₂ alloy, is also prepared into grains by mechanical comminuting and its magnetocaloric property is obtained. An experimental system of room temperature magnetic refrigeration is established, and three kinds of magnetic refrigerant (MR I: 0.3 mm mean diameter gadolinium particle, MR II: 0.55 mm mean diameter gadolinium particle and MR III: 0.3–0.75 mm Gd₅Si₂Ge₂ alloy particle) are employed in AMR. Performance experiments of AMR system under various temperature range, temperature span, flow rate, and flow period conditions are investigated. The results indicate that AMR adopting MR I, II, III can generate a maximum refrigerating capacity of 18.7 W, 17.8 W, and 10.3 W, respectively, under a 3 K temperature span. With the increasing temperature span, the capacity decreases. MR I and MR II have an equivalent refrigerating ability higher than MR III.     

A 2D hybrid model of the fluid flow and heat transfer in a reciprocating active magnetic regenerator

This paper evaluates the thermal behavior of a magnetic-Brayton-based parallel plate reciprocating active magnetic regenerator (AMR). A time-dependent, 2D model of the fluid flow and the coupled heat transfer between the working fluid and the solid refrigerant (gadolinium) is proposed. A hybrid calculation method which consists of an analytical solution for the flow and a numerical solution for the thermal field has been adopted. Results for the cooling capacity as a function of the temperature span and mass flow rate agree well with trends observed in experimental data and other theoretical models available in the literature. The volume of fluid displaced through the channels during the isofield processes influences significantly the AMR performance. For a cycle frequency of 1 Hz, the cycle-averaged cooling capacity reaches a maximum when the utilization factor is 0.1 and the displaced fluid volume equals 62% of the fluid volume of the AMR.     

Experimental study on the performance of a room temperature magnetic refrigerator using permanent magnets

An investigation of a room temperature active magnetic refrigerator was carried out in this work. An experimental rig was built, in which two reciprocating regenerative beds packed with 1167.4 g of gadolinium were used, helium gas was used as a heat transfer fluid, and an average 1.5 T magnetic field was supplied by permanent magnets. With this apparatus, the influence of the gas pressure, the operating frequency and the temperature range were studied systematically. The lowest no heat load temperature of −2.79 °C at the cold end heat exchanger and a maximum no heat load temperature span of 42.28 °C were obtained. A maximum cooling power of 51.3 W was achieved over a temperature span of 18.16 °C. The results in this study provide useful data for future design and development of room temperature magnetic refrigerators.     

The influence of the magnetic field on the performance of an active magnetic regenerator (AMR)

The influence of the time variation of the magnetic field, termed the magnetic field profile, on the performance of a magnetocaloric refrigeration device using the active magnetic regeneration (AMR) cycle is studied for a number of process parameters for both a parallel plate and packed bed regenerator using a numerical model. The cooling curve of the AMR is shown to be almost linear far from the Curie temperature of the magnetocaloric material. It is shown that a magnetic field profile that is 10% of the cycle time out of sync with the flow profile leads to a drop in both the maximum temperature span and the maximum cooling capacity of 20-40% for both parallel plate and packed bed regenerators. The maximum cooling capacity is shown to depend very weakly on the ramp rate of the magnetic field. Reducing the temporal width of the high field portion of the magnetic field profile by 10% leads to a drop in maximum temperature span and maximum cooling capacity of 5-20%. An increase of the magnetic field from 1 T to 1.5 T increases the maximum cooling capacity by 30-50% but the maximum temperature span by only 20-30%. Finally, it was seen that the influence of changing the magnetic field was more or less the same for the different regenerator geometries and operating parameters studied here. This means that the design of the magnet can be done independently of the regenerator geometry.     

Numerical investigations on internal temperature distribution and refrigeration performance of reciprocating active magnetic regenerator of room temperature magnetic refrigeration

A two-dimension porous medium model for a reciprocating active magnetic regenerator (AMR) of room temperature magnetic refrigeration has been developed. The thermal diffusion effect, heat flux boundary effect and variable fluid physical properties are considered in the model. In the paper, we compare the numerical results of the porous medium model with the experimental data and the calculation results of one-dimension Schumann model to validate our model. Our model can simulate the operation of the reciprocating AMR effectively. With the present model, the internal heat exchange between the two phases is numerically investigated. The two dimensional temperature distributions of the magnetic refrigerant and the refrigeration performance of AMR are obtained, and the influence of the heat flux boundary effect and the variable fluid properties on them is discussed. AMR can achieve a maximum refrigeration capacity of 293.7 W with a corresponding coefficient of performance (COP) of 5.4.     

Thermal investigations of an experimental active magnetic regenerative refrigerator operating near room temperature

In this paper, numerical and experimental investigations on a magnetic refrigeration device based upon the active magnetic regeneration (AMR) cycle operating near room temperature are presented. A numerical 1D model based on the transient energy equations is proposed for modelling the heat exchange between the magnetocaloric material and the carrier fluid in the regenerator bed. The validity of 1D AMR-numerical model is investigated through the recently developed magnetic cooling demonstrator by Clean Cooling Systems SA (CCS) at the University of Applied Sciences of western Switzerland (HES−SO). The obtained results including the temperature span, the coefficient of performance and the cooling power are presented and discussed. In general, good agreements have been noted between the experimental and numerical results.     

Review on numerical modeling of active magnetic regenerators for room temperature applications

The active magnetic regenerator (AMR) is an alternative refrigeration cycle with a potential gain of energy efficiency compared to conventional refrigeration techniques. The AMR poses a complex problem of heat transfer, fluid dynamics and magnetic field, which requires detailed and robust modeling. This paper reviews the existing numerical modeling of room temperature AMR to date. The governing equations, implementation of the magnetocaloric effect (MCE), fluid flow and magnetic field profiles, thermal conduction etc. are discussed in detail as is their impact on the AMR cycle. Flow channeling effects, hysteresis, thermal losses and demagnetizing fields are discussed and it is concluded that more detailed modeling of these phenomena is required to obtain a better understanding of the AMR cycle.     

Fluid choice and test standardization for magnetic regenerators operating at near room temperature

Numerical simulations are performed to investigate the performance of an active magnetic regenerator (AMR) operating near room temperature. A two-dimensional porous model is established to analyze the impact different heat transfer fluids (HTFs) have on the performance of the AMR. The internal temperature distribution and cooling capacity of the system are analyzed and the influence of the HTF discussed. The simulation results show that when mercury is substituted in place of water as the HTF, the cooling capacity can be enhanced by nearly 600%. A fluid with high conductivity, high density, and low specific heat is most suitable for use as the HTF. Furthermore, as the environmental conditions have a great impact upon the performance of the AMR, three feasible methods of standardization testing are proposed. These involve: the evaluation index under fixed test environment conditions, a maximum exergy method, and a maximum specific exergy method around the Curie temperature.     

Research on performance of regenerative room temperature magnetic refrigeration cycle

On the basis of classical Langevin theory along with statistical mechanics, thermodynamics and magnetism, a new expression of magnetocaloric parameters used for room temperature magnetic refrigeration is proposed, which is briefer and more accurate than the existing one, providing a new way for studying performance of regenerative room temperature magnetic Ericsson refrigeration cycle. Influences of temperature of heat reservoirs and magnetic intensity on cycle refrigeration capacity and coefficient of performance are analyzed. The results show that the maximal temperature span of the cycle increases but its increasing rate decreases with the increase of magnetic field strength. In addition, there exists only one maximum value of effective refrigerating capacity. Two cycles with the same COP can reach a same temperature span under a certain magnetic field strength. A large magnetic field strength can improve COP but the increase rate of COP decreases.     

Performance of a room-temperature rotary magnetic refrigerator

We have designed and operated a rotating-magnet type AMR (active magnetic regeneration) refrigerator that uses water as a heat transfer fluid. Four kinds of gadolinium-based alloy are used as magnetic materials. A magnetic field of 0.77 T is applied by neodymium permanent magnets. The refrigerator produces a maximum cooling power of 60 W around 10 °C. An optimal time for one cycle exists, and it depends on the water flow rate and the frequency of magnetization and demagnetization. Enhancement of the water flow rate and the frequency is known to be essential for increasing the cooling power of this refrigerator.     

Design and performance study of the active magnetic refrigerator for room-temperature application

A room-temperature magnetic refrigerator, consisting of permanent magnet, active magnetic refrigeration (AMR) cycle bed, pumps, hydraulic circuit, active magnetic double regenerator cycle (AM2RC) and control subsystems, has been designed. The magnetic field is supplied by NdFeB permanent magnets. The AMR bed made by stainless steel 304 encloses gadolinium particles as the magnetic working substance. Each part of the refrigerator is controlled by the programmable controller. The different standard heat exchangers are employed to expel heat. The cycle performance of this self-designed facility is analyzed using Langevin theory. The results provide useful data for future design and development of room-temperature magnetic refrigeration.     

Experimental and numerical results of a high frequency rotating active magnetic refrigerator

Experimental results for a recently developed prototype magnetic refrigeration device at the Technical University of Denmark (DTU) were obtained and compared with numerical simulation results. A continuously rotating active magnetic regenerator (AMR) using 2.8 kg packed sphere regenerators of gadolinium (Gd) was employed. With operating frequencies up to 10 Hz and volumetric flow rates up to 600 L h⁻¹, the prototype has shown high performance and the results are consistent with predictions from numerical modelling. Magnetocaloric properties of the Gd spheres were obtained experimentally and implemented in a one-dimensional numerical AMR model that includes also the parasitic losses from the prototype. The temperature span for a thermal load of 200 W as a function of frequency was measured and modelled. Moreover, the temperature span dependence on the cooling capacity as a function of cycle frequency was determined. A detailed study of these parasitic losses was carried out experimentally and numerically.     

Detailed numerical modeling of a linear parallel-plate Active Magnetic Regenerator

A numerical model simulating Active Magnetic Regeneration (AMR) is presented and compared to a selection of experiments. The model is an extension and re-implementation of a previous two-dimensional model. The new model is extended to 2.5D, meaning that parasitic thermal losses are included in the spatially not-resolved direction.The implementation of the magnetocaloric effect (MCE) is made possible through a source term in the heat equation for the magnetocaloric material (MCM). This adds the possibility to model a continuously varying magnetic field.The adiabatic temperature change of the used gadolinium has been measured and is used as an alternative MCE than mean field modeling. The results show that using the 2.5D formulation brings the model significantly closer to the experiment. Good agreement between the experimental results and the modeling was obtained when using the 2.5D formulation in combination with the measured adiabatic temperature change.     

An efficient numerical scheme for the simulation of parallel-plate active magnetic regenerators

A one-dimensional model of a parallel-plate active magnetic regenerator (AMR) is presented in this work. The model is based on an efficient numerical scheme which has been developed after analysing the heat transfer mechanisms in the regenerator bed. The new finite difference scheme optimally combines explicit and implicit techniques in order to solve the one-dimensional conjugate heat transfer problem in an accurate and fast manner while ensuring energy conservation. The present model has been thoroughly validated against passive regenerator cases with an analytical solution. Compared to the fully implicit scheme, the proposed scheme achieves more accurate results, prevents numerical errors and requires less computational effort. In AMR simulations the new scheme can reduce the computational time by 89%.     

Numerical simulation and its verification for an active magnetic regenerator

In this study, a one-dimensional model for the active magnetic regenerator (AMR) is established and verified by comparison with the experimental results. Besides four basic governing equations concerning mass and momentum conservation of heat transfer fluid and energy conservation of fluid and magnetic refrigerant, energy conservation of the regenerator wall is considered to achieve high accuracy and generalization. For the verification, a room temperature AMR has been fabricated with Gd and Halbach array. The AMR is operated by helium compressor with a rotary valve so that the effect of gas-compression/expansion also exists. Instantaneous mass flow rate and temperature distributions are measured during the experiment. Measured values are utilized as the boundary conditions and compared with the simulation results. Instead of cooling capacity or COP, simulation results are directly compared with the experimental results by temperature distribution in the AMR. The model and simulation results predict temperature distribution of the AMR properly at cyclic steady-state.     

Design and experimental tests of a rotary active magnetic regenerator prototype

A rotary active magnetic regenerator (AMR) prototype with efficiency and compact design as focus points has been designed and built. The main objective is to demonstrate improved efficiency for rotary devices by reducing heat leaks from the environment and parasitic mechanical work losses while optimizing the utilization of the magnetized volume. Heat transfer calculations combined with 1D AMR modeling have revealed the necessity for an insulating air gap between magnet and regenerator when designing for high efficiency. 2D finite difference AMR modeling capturing the interplay between heat transfer fluid flow and an inhomogenous time-varying magnetic field in the individual regenerator beds has been used in the design process. For one operating point a COP of 3.1 at a temperature span of 10.2 K and a cooling power of 103 W were measured. Major issues limiting the performance have been identified and improvements are outlined for future work.     

Performance evaluation of an active magnetic regenerator for cooling applications – part II: Mathematical modeling and thermal losses

In this second part of a two-part paper, a mathematical model of active magnetic regenerators is applied to identify and quantify the main losses taking place in the AMR evaluated experimentally in Part I. Among those losses, the heat interaction with the external environment and the presence of dead (void) volumes between each end of the regenerator and the hot and cold heat exchangers were found to be the main factors that affect the AMR performance. Demagnetizing losses were considered as a function of the matrix geometry, temperature and applied magnetic field. In addition to predicting the time-dependent behavior of the fluid temperature exiting the regenerator during each blow and the cycle average cooling capacity, the model was able to quantify the impact of each loss mechanism on the thermal performance of the AMR.