  A new experimental test bed has been designed, built, and tested to evaluate
the effect of the systems parameters on a reciprocating Active Magnetic
Regenerator (AMR) near room temperature. Bulk gadolinium was used as the
refrigerant, silicon oil as the heat transfer medium, and a magnetic field of
1.3 T was cycled. This study focuses on the methodology of single stage AMR
operation conditions to get a higher temperature span near room temperature.
Herein, the main objective is not to report the absolute maximum attainable
temperature span seen in an AMR system, but rather to find the systems optimal
operating conditions to reach that maximum span. The results of this research
show that there is a optimal operating frequency, heat transfer fluid flow
rate, flow duration, and displaced volume ratio in an AMR system. By optimizing
these parameters the refrigeration performance increased by 24%. It is expected
that such optimization will permit the design of a more efficient magnetic
refrigeration system.
