Modeling of in-vehicle magnetic refrigeration

•A new magnetocaloric device is modeled.•We compare performance of the new device with a conventional AMR device.•In our study the conventional AMR device reach a cooling power of 10 kW/L.•In our study Novel magnetocaloric device reach a cooling power of 34 kW/L.•Thermodynamical cycle is ideal for materials with tunable transition temperature.

A high-performance magnetic refrigeration device is considered as a potential technology for in-vehicle air conditioners in electric vehicles. The high power consumption of a conventional air conditioner in an electric vehicle has considerable impacts on cruising distance. For this purpose the demands on cooling power density, temperature difference between hot and cold side, transient properties and COP, will be high. In this paper the potential to reach these demands are explored for two technologies, firstly a conventional AMR device and secondly a novel magnetocaloric device based on control of the axial thermal conductivity.