Author


Advisor

Jader Riso Barbosa Jr.


Date of publication

27/08/2015


Category

#Theses

Summary

The research on alternative technologies aims at the development of environmentally-friendly thermal systems with a lower energy consumption. In this context, magnetic refrigeration at near-room temperature stands out as a promising alternative technology for the development of refrigeration systems. The present thesis advances theoretical and experimental analyses of passive and active magnetic regenerators aiming at applications in refrigeration systems. The study of passive regenerators will provide the basis for the assessment of the active matrices. Therefore, the thesis work was carried out along two research fronts. The first is concerned with the study of the thermal-hydraulic performance of passive regenerators through an evaluation of their effectiveness and viscous losses. The second front is dedicated to the evaluation of active magnetic regenerators as part of a refrigeration cycle, by means of an analysis of the system cooling capacity, temperature difference between the thermal reservoirs and coefficient of performance. Both fronts have experimental and numerical approaches. In the experimental part, an apparatus for the evaluation of passive and active magnetic regenerators was designed and built. Different matrix geometries (parallel plates, pin arrays and packed beds of spheres) were evaluated in terms of their thermal performances. In the numerical analysis, a mathematical model based on the finite volume method was developed to solve the transient one-dimensional forms of the momentum equation for the fluid flow through the porous matrix and the energy equations for the fluid and solid phases. Different types of losses were included in the model, such as the internal demagnetizing field, heat transfer to the surroundings, axial heat conduction and void volume losses. Finally, a methodology to optimize passive and active regenerators based on the Entropy Generation Minimization theory was proposed and implemented in the numerical model.

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