Numerical simulation of active magnetic regenerative refrigeration using Gyroid structured regenerator at room temperature

Abstract

The packed sphere bed regenerator is often utilized in active magnetic regenerative refrigeration (AMRR) because of its high heat transfer coefficient. However, the complex flow between the spheres in this regenerator causes an undesirable high pressure drop. In this study, we propose to adopt the Gyroid structure as a regenerator, which has a more structural design flexibility and a smoother flow, resulting in a lower pressure drop. The basic characteristics of various Gyroid regenerators were investigated by numerical simulations taking into account of heat transfer coefficient, pressure drop, and thermal conductivity, for the purpose of applying such regenerator in the AMRR system. The result of AMRR simulation shows that the standard Gyroid regenerator reduces the pressure drop by 45% while maintaining the cooling performance. In addition, two modified Gyroid regenerators have succeeded in further reducing the pressure drop with small decrease in cooling performance. This study shows that the Gyroid regenerator can serve as a potential regenerator to improve the energy efficiency of the AMRR system.