Abstract
Refrigeration of active magnetic regenerator (AMR) with no refrigerant consumption and compressors is a promising refrigeration technology. From a viewpoint of heat transfer, two problems restrict the efficiency of AMR. Weak heat transfer between magnetocaloric material (MCM) and working fluid as well as conducted heat from hot to cold side decreases the refrigeration capacity. To improve the two weaknesses, staggered breaking segments in rectangular MCM plates are adopted. AMR models with a length of 80 mm are analyzed numerically. As compared to the model with no breaking segments, the model C1 can reduce mass usage of MCM by 2.5%, increase the cooling power from 62.48 to 69.10 watts with the magnetic field of 0-1 T, the temperature span of 283-303 K, the operation period of 0.6 seconds, and the utilization factor of about 0.4. This study shows that the performance of novel AMR can be improved with staggered laminated plates.