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Experimental investigation of an adjustable standing wave thermoacoustic engine

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Abstract

This work is primarily concerned with the experimental investigation of the performance of a standing wave thermoacoustic engine (TAE). The TAE technology converts thermal power into acoustic power which may be used to generate electricity or, to drive thermoacoustic cooling devices. Although there is a number of existing researches that suggest the link between the geometrical configuration of the device and its performance, there are no existing work that point out how to incorporate this aspect in the designing. Therefore, this study proposes the use of an adjustable TAE in order to alter the performance of the device while in operation. This new TAE model has an adjustable resonator length, which consisted of a 103 mm (4-in.) honeycomb ceramic stack sample, buffer volume and a cooling shell-tube heat exchanger was developed. Six different stacks were used to evaluate the performance of the TAE. Three different stack lengths (50, 100, and 150 mm), positioned at three different locations, were investigated. These locations were measured from the hot ends of the stack to the pressure antinode. In addition, the influence of the mean pressure and the working gas was investigated. Measurement of temperature difference across the stack and sound pressure levels at the steady state were used to determine the efficiency of the device. Through the adjustment of the resonator length, this study point out the benefit of choosing the best frequency so that TAE can work optimally and produce higher acoustic power.

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Abbreviations

a :

Speed of sound; (m.s−1)

cp :

Specific heat capacity; (J/kgK)

f:

Frequency; (Hz)

l:

Half plate -thickness; (mm)

p:

Pressure; (Pa)

x:

Stack position; (mm)

y0 :

Half plate -gap; (mm)

BR:

Blockage ratio

DR:

DRIVE ratio

K:

Thermal conductivity; (W/mK)

R:

Specific gas constant; (J/kgK)

∆T :

Temperature difference

δk :

Thermal penetration; (mm)

δv :

Viscous penetration; (mm)

γ:

Adiabatic coefficient

ρ:

Density; (kg/m3)

σ:

Prandtl number

ω:

Angular frequency; (rad/s)

m:

Mean

g:

Gas properties

s:

Stack properties

n:

Normalised

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Acknowledgements

This research was supported by the Faculty of Engineering of the University of Johannesburg, Johannesburg, South Africa. On behalf of all authors, the corresponding author states that there is no conflict of interest.

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Authors and Affiliations

  1. Department of Mechanical Engineering Technology, University of Johannesburg, Doornfontein Campus, Johannesburg, 2028, South Africa

    A. C. Alcock & L. K. Tartibu

  2. Department of Mechanical Engineering Science, University of Johannesburg, Auckland Park Campus, Johannesburg, 2006, South Africa

    T. C. Jen

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  1. A. C. Alcock
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  2. L. K. Tartibu
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  3. T. C. Jen
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Correspondence to A. C. Alcock.

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Alcock, A.C., Tartibu, L.K. & Jen, T.C. Experimental investigation of an adjustable standing wave thermoacoustic engine. Heat Mass Transfer 55, 877–890 (2019). https://doi.org/10.1007/s00231-018-2469-1

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