Continuously rotary magnetic refrigerator or heat pump

Abstract

The invention concerns a rotary magnetic refrigerator/heat pump able to operate in a continuously working process, able to be applied in industrial thermal processes and having a high efficiency and a low cost manufacturing. The rotary magnetic refrigerator (10) comprises a magnet (11), a magnetocaloric ring (12) and a fluid conducting subassembly (13). The fluid conducting subassembly (13) comprises a horizontally positioned rotating disc (14), frame-suspended with bearings (15 and 16) in stationary ducts above (17) and below (18), which serve to supply and evacuate a working fluid (19, 20, 21, 22). The rotating disc (14) has two circular arrays of hollow sectors (23 and 24), one close to each of its planar faces. Every hollow sector (23 and 24) comprises a slot (25 and 26) to the adjacent planar surface and to the circumferential surface of the rotating disc (14). The working fluid is introduced axially into the lower hollow sectors through the openings on the lower planar surface, in order to flow out in radial direction through the circumferential openings of the lower array of hollow sectors and back into the disc through the circumferential openings of the upper array of hollow sectors, from where it finally exits the disc axially through the openings of each hollow sector on the upper planar surface.

Dependencies are inferred from the claim text.