Abstract
The purpose of this study is to understand the optimum operating condition of magnetic refrigerator at room temperature for direct air-cooling. The basic components of the target system are a magnetic circuit including two permanent magnets, a test section, an air blower, and an associated instrumentation. A test cell consists of a packed bed which enclose gadolinium particles as a magnetic working substance in a prescribed packing rate. In order to understand a fundamental system performance, an experimental study have been carried out for the variety of conditions such as a volumetric flow rate of air, a packing rate of the magnetic working substance, and a shape of the magnetic working substance. The results reveal that the pressure loss during magnetization process is lower than during demagnetization process.
