Thermodynamic Analysis of Magnetic Refrigerators
An analysis of a magnetic refrigeration cycle was carried out. The system consists of heat exchangers and beds of magnetic materials. The analysis considered that the system operates near room temperature in a magnetic field between 1 and 5 T and uses 3 kg of gadolinium (Gd) spheres packed in two magnetocaloric beds. The heat transfer fluid is water. The beds are periodically magnetized and demagnetized and the fluid flows are arranged to meet the cycle requirements. Sensitivity analysis has been performed. Cooling power, magnetic field, and temperature span trends are simulated. The cooling and heating effects were estimated based on the magnetocaloric effect of gadolinium. Findings indicate that the higher the magnetic field is the higher the cooling power with the same temperature span. It was also observed that the cooling power decreases with the increase in the temperature span for various magnetic fields. COP vs. temperature span was also considered. The trend indicates that COPactual/ COPCarnot decreases with an increase in the temperature span. These trends agreed with those shown by experimental data.