Conceptual design of an active magnetic regenerative heat circulator based on self-heat recuperation technology

• Self-heat recuperative active magnetic regenerative heat circulator is introduced.
• One-dimensional model is constructed to verify its energy-saving potential.
• Total energy consumption in thermal process is drastically reduced.
• Further energy can be saved by reducing the overlapping of thermodynamic cycles.

A conceptual design of an active magnetic regenerative (AMR) heat circulator for self-heat recuperation to realize energy savings in thermal processes is proposed. The process fluid heat is recuperated by the magnetocaloric effect of ferromagnetic material through the AMR heat circulation cycle. In an AMR heat circulator, all the process fluid heat is circulated and no make-up heat is added to raise the process fluid to its set temperature. A one-dimensional mathematical model of the AMR heat circulator was constructed to understand its behavior and verify its energy-saving potential. From the constructed one-dimensional mathematical model, it is seen that AMR heat circulator has potential to drastically reduce the total energy consumption in a thermal process. The temperature–entropy diagram shows that in order to gain the maximum energy saving, optimization of the parameters such as the flow rate and geometry of the ferromagnetic working material beds is needed.