Thesis (M. App. Sc.) - Department of Chemical Engineering, University of Adelaide, 1981. / Typescript (photocopy).

Thesis (M.S.)--University of Missouri, School of Mines and Metallurgy, 1958. / Vita. The entire thesis text is included in file. Typescript. Title from title screen of thesis/dissertation PDF file (viewed June 14, 2010) Includes bibliographical references (p. 40-41).

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Active magnetic regenerator (AMR) refrigeration is an alternative technology to conventional vapor-compression refrigerators that has the potential to operate at higher efficiencies. Based on the magnetocaloric effect, this technology uses the magnetization and demagnetization of environmentally neutral solid refrigerants to produce a cooling effect. To become competitive however, a large amount of research into the optimal device configurations, operating parameters and refrigerants is still needed. To aid in this research, a simplified model for predicting the general trends of AMR devices at a low computational cost is developed. The derivation and implementation of the model for an arbitrary AMR is presented. Simulations from the model are compared to experimental results from two different devices and show good agreement across a wide range of operating parameters. The simplified model is also used to study the impacts of Curie temperature spacing, material weighting and devices on the performance of multilayered regenerators. Future applications of the simplified AMR model include costing and optimization programs where the low computational demand of the model can be fully exploited. / Graduate

Thesis (Ph. D.)--University of Wisconsin--Madison, 1982. / Typescript. Vita. eContent provider-neutral record in process. Description based on print version record. Includes bibliographical references (leaves 352-356).

In thermoacoustic devices, thermal energy is directly converted to an acoustic wave (mechanical energy) or an acoustic input is converted into thermal energy. This is a result of heat interaction between a solid material and adjacent gas, within the so-called ‘‘thermal penetration depth” of the compressible oscillatory flow. Thermoacoustic technology is receiving growing interest in research for its many advantages, such as having no moving parts, being environmentally friendly and the possibility of using renewable energy for its operation (Adeff and Hofler, 2000). However, this technology is still at the development stage and needs more research to produce feasible and practical devices that are ready for domestic and industrial applications. A looped-tube travelling-wave thermoacoustic engine was designed using DELTAEC (Design Environment for Low-amplitude ThermoAcoustic Energy Conversion). The device was equipped with a ceramic regenerator, which is commonly used in catalytic converters for automotive applications, with square channels. The results of preliminary testing of the device were compared with theoretical values estimated from the numerical model. Very close agreement was observed at the qualitative level and reasonable agreement was observed at the quantitative level. After the validation stage, the device was equipped with three selected low-cost porous materials for performance testing and studies. In addition to the ceramic regenerator that was tested before, regenerators made from stainless steel scourers, stainless steel wool and wire mesh screens were tested. This last type is widely available and commonly used in this application. To facilitate meaningful comparison, the regenerators were made in two sets: one having a common hydraulic radius of 200 μm and the other of 120 μm. In total, six regenerators were successfully tested. Before the performance experiments, all of the regenerators were tested in a steady air flow rig that was built for this purpose, to estimate their relative pressure drop due to viscous dissipation. The relative performance of the regenerators was then investigated. The testing focused on the onset temperature difference, the maximum pressure amplitude generated and the acoustic power output as a function of mean pressure as it varied from 0 to 10 bar gauge pressure. This comparative testing revealed a poor relative performance for the regenerators made of scourers and steel wool, while the cellular ceramic regenerator- 10 -seems to offer an alternative for traditional regenerator materials, which may reduce the overall system cost. The literature reports many different observations of nonlinear phenomena by various researchers, a fact which drove the candidate to carefully monitor the behaviour of the device at all stages and led to an interesting finding of a number of nonlinear behaviours during the start-up of the device. These behaviours included an “on-off” effect and “fishbone-like” oscillations in addition to the normal smooth start-up process. The new findings and the detailed observations are reported in chapter 6 of this thesis. The existence of these phenomena focused attention on identifying the key parameters affecting the existence and type of behaviour, which were found to be the mean pressure and the input power, in addition to the material of the regenerator. An attempt was also made to study the phenomena quantitatively. The observations suggest that there are strong interactions between the acoustic and temperature fields within the regenerator, which may be responsible for the reported quasi-periodic unsteady behaviour of the engine.

A technology that has the potential to liquefy hydrogen and natural gas efficiently is an Active Magnetic Regenerative Liquefier (AMRL). An AMRL exploits the magnetocaloric effect displayed by magnetic materials whereby a reversible temperature change is induced when the material is exposed to a magnetic field. This effect can be used to produce cooling. By using the magnetic materials in a regenerator as the heat storage medium and as the means of work input, one creates an Active Magnetic Regenerator (AMR). Because the adiabatic temperature change is a strong function of temperature for most materials, to span a large temperature range such as that needed to liquefy hydrogen, a number of different materials may be needed to make up one or more regenerators. Single material AMRs have been proven, but layering with more than one material has not. This thesis is a study of AMRs using magnetic refrigerants displaying second-order paramagnetic to ferromagnetic ordering. An analysis of AMR thermodynamics is performed and results are used to define properties of ideal magnetic refrigerants. The design and construction of a novel test apparatus consisting of a conduction-cooled superconducting solenoid and a reciprocating AMR test apparatus are described. A numerical model is developed describing the energy transport in an AMR. Experiments using Gd are performed and results are used to validate the model. A strong relationship between flow phasing is discovered and possible reasons for this phenomenon are discussed. Simulations of AMRs operating in unconventional modes such as at temperatures greater than the transition temperature reveal new insights into AMR behaviour. Simulations of two-material layered AMRs suggest the existence of a jump phenomenon occurring regarding the temperature span. These results are used to explain the experimental results reported by other researchers for a two-material AMR. / Graduate

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This thesis examines the transient performance of packed bed heat regenerators when very large temperature differences are involved. The effects of gas temperature on the key gas physical properties of velocity, density and heat capacity were studied via simulation. Three models were developed and compared. The first model (HRKDV) considers heat balances for both solid and gas phases, the second (HRVDV) considers mass balances in addition to the heat balances set up in the first model and the third one (HRASO) considers that the only significant rate of accumulation term is that of the energy of the solid phase. The governing partial differential equations were solved by the method of lines with the spatial discretization accomplished by the method of orthogonal collocation. The findings of this work reveal that whereas the effects of large temperature changes on the gas velocity and density are completely negligible, the effects of temperature on the gas heat capacity must be considered "continuously" when large temperature swings occur. Considering the heat capacity as a constant, even at an average value, leads to significant errors in temperature profiles. / Graduation date: 1992