Researchers at the Laboratory for Refrigeration and District Energy (LAHDE, Process Engineering) have numerically analyzed the performance of thermal control devices in the magnetocaloric device and published the research results in the journal iScience (IF = 6.107).

Most existing magnetocaloric devices use active caloric regeneration, where the working fluid oscillates through the matrix of the caloric material (active magnetocaloric regeneration). This is associated with irreversible viscosity and heat transfer losses, as well as high energy consumption for pumping the working fluid, which limits the operating frequency and associated power density of the device. The use of thermal control devices could improve the performance of caloric devices in high-frequency operation (number of thermodynamic cycles per unit time), which is critical for increasing power density (compactness).

The researchers showed that the implementation of thermal control devices that enable controlled and efficient heat transfer would lead to an increase in the cooling power density of magnetocaloric devices, enabling a technological breakthrough in caloric technology. The potential use of the proposed device was demonstrated on a battery system to ensure the desired operating temperature of the battery with reasonable accuracy.

Link to the paper: https://doi.org/10.1016/j.isci.2022.105517.