CaloriSMART: Small-scale test-stand for rapid evaluation of active magnetic regenerator performance

Journal Article · Fri Nov 01 00:00:00 EDT 2019 · Energy Conversion and Management

DOI:https://doi.org/10.1016/j.enconman.2019.111948· OSTI ID:1569743

Griffith, Lucas ^[1]; Czernuszewicz, Agata ^[1]; Slaughter, Julie ^[1]; Pecharsky, Vitalij ^[2]

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1. Ames Lab., Ames, IA (United States)
2. Ames Lab., Ames, IA (United States); Iowa State Univ., Ames, IA (United States). Dept. of Materials Science and Engineering

We report operation of a device designed specifically for rapid experimental evaluation of performance of magnetocaloric materials in different magnetic fields using a compact active magnetic regenerator bed with a total volume of approximately 5 mL. Other features of the system include digital control of the rotating-permanent-magnet field source and custom dual-opposed syringe pump that enable precise tuning and coupling of the flow profile and the magnetic field profile. Performance of the device is demonstrated for flow volumes between 1 and 4 mL (utilization from 0.48 to 1.9), maximum magnetic fields of 1.13 and 1.45 T, and applied cooling powers from 0 to 20 W at frequencies from 0.5 to 4 Hz. A regenerator comprised of 25 g of 200 µm spherical Gd powder reached temperature spans of 19.3 K under no applied cooling load and 2.6 K under the maximum applied cooling load of 20 W. The device also achieves a very high specific exergetic cooling power of 73 W L^-1T^-1. Results obtained at two different maximum magnetic fields in the same device suggest a powerful new scaling for regenerator performance: the exergetic power quotient. The exergetic power quotient shows a simple scaling of device cooling performance with the amount of active material and the magnetic field strength. This suggests results from a small device correlate to expected performance of a larger regenerator, making the exergetic power quotient a well-suited parameter for evaluating functionality of active magnetic regenerators employing new magnetocaloric materials.

• Research Organization: Ames Lab., Ames, IA (United States)
• Sponsoring Organization: USDOE Office of Energy Efficiency and Renewable Energy (EERE)
• Grant/Contract Number: AC02-07CH11358
• OSTI ID: 1569743
• Alternate ID(s): OSTI ID: 1564589
• Report Number(s): IS-J 10000
• Journal Information: Energy Conversion and Management, Vol. 199, Issue C; ISSN 0196-8904
• Publisher: Elsevier
• Country of Publication: United States
• Language: English

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