Epoxy-bonded La(Fe,Mn,Si)13Hz as a multilayered active magnetic regenerator.

The high magnetocaloric effect and tunability of the Curie temperature over a broad range makes La(Fe,Mn,Si)13Hz a promising magnetocaloric material for applications. Due to a volume change across the transition and the brittleness of the material as well as erosion due to fluid flow, the particles of the material may break apart during operation. In this context, we studied epoxy-bonded La(Fe,Mn,Si)13Hz regenerators, in a small versatile active magnetic regeneration (AMR) test device with a 1.1 T permanent magnet source. The magnetocaloric material was in the form of packed irregular particles (250-500 μm), which were mechanically held in place by an epoxy matrix connecting the particles, improving the mechanical integrity, while allowing a continuous porosity for the fluid flow. Water with 2 wt% ENTEK FNE as anti-corrosion additive was used as the heat transfer fluid for the epoxy-bonded regenerators. A series of AMRs was evaluated by varying the epoxy content in the range 1-4 wt%.