Rotary magnetic regenerator design and assembly.

Magnetic refrigeration is an emerging technology that exploits a particular feature of some materials, called “magneto caloric effect” to obtain a cooling effect. In recent years, several research groups have deepened studies on this innovative cooling method, showing its potential mainly through the development of various prototypes. The Augere Research Team (ART) at University of Genoa started the design that will lead to the realization of a magnetic refrigeration machine, based on the AMR cycle, with fixed magnetic structure and continuous rotating motion of the magnetocaloric material. The salient feature of this new refrigerator is the total absence of valves and dedicated ducts; it is the structure itself, extremely compact, of rotor and stator to provide a flow-guide to the heat transfer fluid. In the present work the functional plan for the construction and assembly of this promising configuration is presented, along with the simulation tests performed during the design stage.