Conference Year

2018

Keywords

Magnetic Regenerative Refrigeration Cycle (AMRRC), magnetic refrigeration systems, solid state refrigeration, Not-in-kind (NIK) cooling and heating technology, parasitic losses

Abstract

This paper evaluates the performance of an active magnetic regenerative refrigeration cycle (AMRRC) by using a transient modeling tools. While theoretical COPs of magnetic refrigeration systems are quite promising, parasitic losses inherent to the cycle can substantially reduce the energy efficiency that can be achieved in reality. For solid state refrigeration systems, such as the AMRR cycle, the regenerator undergoes cyclic heating and cooling, making the thermal capacitance of the component a critical parameter during no flow periods. Additional performance reductions are experienced due to additional temperature differences required to convect heat into and out of the magnetic regenerator through the use of a secondary heat transfer fluid. Therefore, this paper combines transient modeling of the magnetic regenerator and the heat exchangers that connect the system to the heat source and sink. The model is then used to study the effects of relevant parameter variations, including magnetic cycling and fluid flow frequencies, mass flow rate of the secondary fluid stream, and geometric variations of the regenerator design, on parasitic losses, cooling capacity and COP. In addition, the model is used to assess the COP reduction caused by these inherent parasitic losses, which allow for a more fair comparison to standard vapor compression systems.

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