Magnetocaloric properties of spheroidal La(Fe,Mn,Si)13Hy granules and their performance in epoxy-bonded active magnetic regenerators

• Published in: Applied thermal engineering 2021-01, Vol.183, p.116185, Article 116185
• Main Authors: Vieira, Bernardo P., Bez, Henrique Neves, Kuepferling, Michaela, Rosa, Marcelo A., Schafer, Deise, Plá Cid, Cristiani C., Vieyra, Hugo A., Basso, Vittorio, Lozano, Jaime A., Barbosa Jr, Jader R.
• Format: Article
• Language: English
• Subjects: Cooling; First-order material; Granular materials; Heat transfer; Hydraulics; Iron; Lanthanum alloys; Magnetic cooling; Magnetic fields; Magnetic properties; Magnetic refrigeration; Magnetocaloric effect; Manganese; Mechanical properties; Porosity; Pressure drop; Refrigeration; Regenerator; Regenerators; Room temperature
• ISSN: 1359-4311; 1873-5606
• DOI: 10.1016/j.applthermaleng.2020.116185

Magnetic cooling has been researched as an alternative near room-temperature refrigeration technology for the past two decades. However, one of its greatest limitations is the lack of materials which can be properly shaped for optimal thermal-hydraulic performance while maintaining a substantial magnetocaloric effect at moderate fields (i.e., between 1 and 2 T) and remaining mechanically (and chemically) stable. In this paper, we thoroughly characterized a commercially accessible La(Fe,Mn,Si)13Hy material (available as spheroidal granules), in terms of its magnetocaloric properties and thermal-hydraulic performance in an Active Magnetic Regenerator (AMR) device. The regenerator bed built from epoxy-bonded spheroidal particles endured dozens of hours of operation in AMR cycles without any noticeable degradation of their mechanical integrity, thanks to a comparatively larger α−Fe content and granule porosity. As for the magnetic cooling performance, the AMR reached zero-span specific cooling capacities as high as 300 W kg−1. A 1-D two-temperature approach AMR model predicted the performance data with average deviations smaller than 7% for the zero-span specific cooling capacity and 5% for the AMR pressure drop. •Experimental data for specific heat, ΔTad and entropy of La(Fe,Mn,Si)13Hy alloys.•Epoxy-bonded AMR endured cyclic operation without loss of mechanical integrity.•Zero-span specific cooling capacity of the order of 300 W/kg.•1-D model predicted the AMR data with average deviations smaller than 7%.