Structure and performance tests of a magnetocaloric cooling device with linear motion of the magnetic field source

This paper presents results of a research work aimed at designing, building and carrying out performance tests with a cooling device model utilizing linear motion of the magnetic field source and cyclic flow of a coolant through regenerator. The device incorporates two identical regenerators from 34 gadolinium plates each and a magnetic field source of 1 T. The working liquid was mixture of water and glycol with the specific heat of about 4000 J/kgK. The magnetic field source was introduced with maximum flux density of 1 T. The maximum temperature span measured on the heat exchangers was 10.3 K. Original solutions of the mechanical drives have been applied so as to achieve suitable synchronization and operating frequency of the model.