Journal article · Preprint article
Determining the minimum mass and cost of a magnetic refrigerator
Thermo Ceramics, Fuel Cells and Solid State Chemistry Division, Risø National Laboratory for Sustainable Energy, Technical University of Denmark1
Fuel Cells and Solid State Chemistry Division, Risø National Laboratory for Sustainable Energy, Technical University of Denmark2
Risø National Laboratory for Sustainable Energy, Technical University of Denmark3
Fuel Cells and Solid State Chemistry Division. Management, Fuel Cells and Solid State Chemistry Division, Risø National Laboratory for Sustainable Energy, Technical University of Denmark4
An expression is determined for the mass of the magnet and magnetocaloric material needed for a magnetic refrigerator and these are determined using numerical modeling for both parallel plate and packed sphere bed regenerators as function of temperature span and cooling power. As magnetocaloric material Gd or a model material with a constant adiabatic temperature change, representing an infinitely linearly graded refrigeration device, is used.
For the magnet a maximum figure of merit magnet or a Halbach cylinder is used. For a cost of $40 and $20 per kg for the magnet and magnetocaloric material, respectively, the cheapest 100 W parallel plate refrigerator with a temperature span of 20 K using Gd and a Halbach magnet has 0.8 kg of magnet, 0.3 kg of Gd and a cost of $35.
Using the constant material reduces this cost to $25. A packed sphere bed refrigerator with the constant material costs $7. It is also shown that increasing the operation frequency reduces the cost. Finally, the lowest cost is also found as a function of the cost of the magnet and magnetocaloric material.
Language: | English |
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Year: | 2011 |
Pages: | 1805-1816 |
ISSN: | 18792081 and 01407007 |
Types: | Journal article and Preprint article |
DOI: | 10.1016/j.ijrefrig.2011.05.021 |
ORCIDs: | Bjørk, Rasmus , Smith, Anders , Bahl, Christian Robert Haffenden and Pryds, Nini |