Abstract
Astronautics Corporation has designed, constructed, and extensively tested two generations of magnetic refrigerators employing a rotary magnet-fixed bed architecture. This paper reviews and summarizes the performance of these prototypes. In particular, the testing on the 1st-generation prototype demonstrates the significant performance advantage associated with the use of layered beds of LaFeSiH, a magnetocaloric material with a sharp, first-order transition and a readily adjustable Curie temperature. The 2nd-generation prototype exhibits peak performance of 2.4 kW of cooling power over a temperature span of 11 °C, corresponding to 168 W of specific exergetic cooling power. We believe that this is the highest performance yet reported for a magnetic refrigeration system. Moreover, the system performance is in good agreement with theoretical prediction.
