Simulation of a hybrid magnetocaloric-thermoelectric refrigerator

A numerical simulation of a single element of a refrigeration system formed by a sandwich of a magnetocaloric (MC) material between two thermoelectric (TE) cells connecting the cold source to a hot sink is made. The TE cells can be used as thermal diodes or as active elements, while the MC material plays the role of an "elevator" reducing the temperature difference at which the TE cells must work. A simple model for the behaviour of a ferromagnet is deduced to allow fast calculations with many different sets of parameters. Results show that the system can be either very efficient or powerful, depending on the currents through the TE cells.