Gerador termoelétrico sem partes móveis baseado no efeito magnetocalórico

Abstract

Magnetocaloric materials are being extensively studied as they allow the use of a new refrige- ration technology. Similar to a compressed gas, when a ferromagnetic material is magnetized under adiabatic conditions, when there is no heat exchange between the system and the external environment, the temperature of the material increases rapidly. On the other hand, when the material undergoes demagnetization, its temperature decreases, similar to a gas in adiabatic expansion. For magnetocaloric materials the change in temperature can be high. The thermody- namic cycle described can be inverted, thus, through the magnetocaloric effect, the temperature of the material can be changed to obtain a variation of magnetic flux. In a magnetic circuit, this variation of magnetic flux can be used to induce an electromotive force in a coil allowing the conversion of thermal energy into electrical energy. Therefore, the objective of this work is to describe and analyze the operation of an electrical generator without moving parts that works using the magnetocaloric effect on Gadolinium. Simulation results are also presented to assess the specifics of the applied phenomenon.