Open cycle traveling wave thermoacoustics: mean temperature difference at the regenerator interface

In an open cycle traveling wave thermoacoustic engine, the hot heat exchanger is replaced by a steady flow of hot gas into the regenerator to provide the thermal energy input to the engine. The steady-state operation of such a device requires that a potentially large mean temperature difference exist between the incoming gas and the solid material at the regenerator's hot side, due in part to isentropic gas oscillations in the open space adjacent to the regenerator. The magnitude of this temperature difference will have a significant effect on the efficiencies of these open cycle devices. To help assess the feasibility of such thermoacoustic engines, a numerical model is developed that predicts the dependence of the mean temperature difference upon the important design and operating parameters of the open cycle thermoacoustic engine, including the acoustic pressure, mean mass flow rate, acoustic phase angles, and conductive heat loss. Using this model, it is also shown that the temperature difference at the regenerator interface is approximately proportional to the sum of the acoustic power output and the conductive heat loss at this location.     

谐振管形状对热声发动机内非线性声场的影响

研究了谐振管一端受活塞声源激励,另一端刚性封闭条件下,管道形状对热声发动机谐振管内部非线性声场的影响。基于流体力学基本方程建立了渐变截面谐振管内一维非线性声场的模型,考虑了黏性耗散及非线性效应的影响。利用伽辽金法数值求解了该模型的速度势方程,分析了谐振管形状、活塞振动速度及激励频率对管内声场的影响。将双曲形、指数形、锥形、正弦形等四种变截面谐振管内的非线性声场与圆柱形直管的情况进行了比较。结果反映了谐振管内声场的压力波动受活塞振动速度及谐振管形状的影响;显示了当活塞振动幅度较大时,谐振管内出现的波形畸变、频率曲线偏移、共振频率滞后等非线性现象;揭示了变截面谐振管在抑制管内的高阶谐波及提高压比等方面的优越性。      

负载对热声发动机性能的影响

热声发动机作为一种完全没有运动部件的能量转化和传输机械具有广阔的应用前景.为了提高热声发动机的驱动性能,本文采用变负载法对热声发动机性能的影响因素进行了实验研究.实验结果表明,负载的阻力和容抗对热声发动机的加热温度、压比和声功引出有重要影响.同时,实验中还发现了能够使热声发动机瞬时消振和起振的实验方法,将极大方便对热声发动机的开关控制.     

Hysteretic behavior induced by an electroacoustic feedback loop in a thermo-acousto-electric generator

An active control method of the spatial distribution of the acoustic field is applied in a thermo-acousto-electric generator. An auxiliary acoustic source is used to force the self-sustained thermoacoustic oscillation in order to control the thermoacoustic amplification. The auxiliary source consists of a loudspeaker, located inside the loop-tube close to the main ambient heat exchanger, and supplied with a delayed signal through an electric feedback loop, comprising a phase-shifter and an amplifier, connected to a reference microphone. Experiments are performed on a prototype engine working with air at a static gauge pressure of 5 bars. Experimental results demonstrate how it is possible to tune the acoustic oscillations in order to increase the global performance of the generator, compared to the case without control, as well as the existence of a hysteretic behavior induced by the electroacoustic feedback loop itself, which leads to a discrepancy between the onset heat input and the offset one.     

Route to chaos for combustion instability in ducted laminar premixed flames

Complex thermoacoustic oscillations are observed experimentally in a simple laboratory combustor that burns lean premixed fuel-air mixture, as a result of nonlinear interaction between the acoustic field and the combustion processes. The application of nonlinear time series analysis, particularly techniques based on phase space reconstruction from acquired pressure data, reveals rich dynamical behavior and the existence of several complex states. A route to chaos for thermoacoustic instability is established experimentally for the first time. We show that, as the location of the heat source is gradually varied, self-excited periodic thermoacoustic oscillations undergo transition to chaos via the Ruelle-Takens scenario.     

驻波型热声发动机的数值模拟

通过对驻波发动机热声边界条件的分析 ,给出了一种用“打靶法”进行迭代运算的循环模式 ,从而避开繁重的矩阵运算 ,计算效率得到有效地提高。最后以一个实例证明本方法计算结果与实验吻合较好。     

热声热机热声核内传热与流动特性实验研究

本文通过搭建扬声器驱动的热声热机可视化实验台,利用粒子成像测速仪(PIV)和红外热像仪得到冷、热端换热器间速度及温度场分布,对有无声场两种情况下热声核中速度及温度场的变化进行了实验研究。实验结果表明,外加声场改变了热声核中热对流的基本模式,增强了冷热端换热器间的换热能力,对热声核中的温度分布有着显著的影响。揭示了热声核中的流动与换热规律。     

Autoignition delay modulation by high-frequency thermoacoustic oscillations in reheat flames

This paper investigates the sensitivity of the autoignition delay in reheat flames to acoustic pulsations associated with high-frequency transverse thermoacoustic oscillations. A reduced order model for the response of purely autoignition-stabilised flames to acoustic disturbances is compared with experimental observations. The experiments identified periodic flame motion associated with high-amplitude transverse limit-cycle oscillations in an atmospheric pressure reheat combustor. This flame motion was assumed to be the result of a superposition of two flame-acoustic coupling mechanisms: autoignition delay modulation by the oscillating acoustic field and displacement and deformation of the flame by the acoustic velocity. The reduced order model coupled to reaction kinetics calculations reveals that a significant portion of the observed flame motion can be attributed to autoignition delay modulation. The ignition position responds instantaneously to the acoustic pressure at the time of ignition, as observed experimentally. The model also provides insight into the importance of the history of acoustic disturbances experienced by the fuel-air mixture prior to ignition. Due to the high-frequency nature of the instability, a fluid particle can experience multiple oscillation cycles before ignition. The ignition delay responds in-phase with the net-acoustic perturbation experienced by a fluid particle between injection and ignition. These findings shed light on the underlying mechanisms of the flame motion observed in experiments and provide useful insight into the importance of autoignition delay modulation as a driving mechanism of high-frequency thermoacoustic instabilities in reheat flames.     

40K温区的热驱动低温热声制冷机

热声驱动脉管制冷机主要由热声发动机和脉管制冷机组成,是一种完全无运动部件的新型低温制冷机。本文在实验室现有行波热声发动机的基础上,运用线性热声理论对两级脉管制冷机进行了设计,并用声学放大器对热声发动机和脉管制冷机进行耦合,提高脉管制冷机的驱动压比,从而获得了41 K的低温,这是目前热声驱动脉管制冷机所获得的最低制冷温度。正因为本热声驱动脉管制冷机系统的热驱动特性及其主要部件都是按照热声理论进行设计,所以我们将其称为热驱动低温热声制冷机。     

热声发动机的格子气模拟

在传统的9-bit格子气模型中引入了温度区的概念,并应用于热声发动机的模拟研究.利用改进后的格子气模型,模拟了热声谐振管中的自激振荡和二维温度场的分布及温度随时间的演化过程,同时,对热声板叠的长度和在声场中的位置对声幅的影响也进行了数值研究,所得结果对板叠的优化设计是有价值的.通过对模拟和实验结果的比较,验证了热声机格子气模型的有效性,表明格子气方法适用于热声模拟.     

应用于热声系统的声学倒相变压器

给出了一种声学调相变压结构,并理论上讨论了该结构的调相变压机理。结果表明:在一定的几何条件下,该结构能够实现不受负载影响的声压放大功能,并输出声压倒相;将该结构应用于热声热机驱动热声制冷机或脉冲管制冷机的耦合,可以取得更好的效果。     

行波和驻波模式下热声振荡的临界温度梯度

热声机械作为一种能量转化装置。其效率于传统发动机还有较大差距。本文讨论了热声发动机在驻波和行波两种不同工作状态下,其声功率产生的临界温度梯度与流道尺寸和工作介质的关系,得出了两种模式下最佳的工作条件。结果表明;采用行波形式的热声发动机结构,可以有效降低临界温度梯度,提高热致声的效率,同时可以利用一些低品位来做为热声发动机的高温端。     

Rijke管热声振荡的稳定性切换行为研究

采用数值方法模拟了强弱两种阻尼条件下传热迟滞时间对一维Rijke管热声系统稳定性的影响,发现Rijke管系统存在稳定性切换现象.在推导了无量纲形式的管内声波动量方程和能量方程之后,利用Galerkin方法对控制方程进行展开并在时间域内数值求解.分析了强阻尼和弱阻尼条件下,给定热源的Rijke管热声振荡的稳定性与传热迟滞时间的关系.结果显示:在两类阻尼条件下,持续增大传热与速度的迟滞时间,系统均呈现出稳定性切换现象,即系统在稳定和不稳定两个状态间持续转变;但弱阻尼系统的不稳定区域宽于强阻尼系统的不稳定区域,系统最大振幅相对增大,且系统热声振荡的主模态在不同模态之间发生转换.最后,通过求解系统各阶模态极限环幅值随传热迟滞时间的变化,发现Rijke管热声振荡稳定性切换现象与迟滞时间存在近似周期性关系.     

Phase synchronization and collective interaction of multiple flamelets in a laboratory scale spray combustor

In this paper, we investigate the coupled behvior of the acoustic field in the confinement and the unsteady flame dynamics in a laboratory scale spray combustor. We study this interaction during the intermittency route to thermoacoustic instability when the location of the flame is varied inside the combustor. As the flame location is changed, the synchronization properties of the coupled acoustic pressure and heat release rate signals change from desynchronized aperiodicity (combustion noise) to phase synchronized periodicity (thermoacoustic instability) through intermittent phase synchronization (intermittency). We also characterize the collective interaction between the multiple flamelets anchored at the flame holder and the acoustic field in the system, during different dynamical states observed in the combustor operation. When the signals are desynchronized, we notice that the flamelets exhibit a steady combustion without the exhibition of a prominent feedback with the acoustic field. In a state of intermittent phase synchronization, we observe the existence of a short-term coupling between the heat release rate and the acoustic field. We notice that the onset of collective synchronization in the oscillations of multiple flamelets and the acoustic field leads to the simultaneous emergence of periodicity in the global dynamics of the system. This collective periodicity in both the subsystems causes enhancement of oscillations during epochs of amplitude growth in the intermittency signal. On the contrary, the weakening of the coupling induces suppression of periodic oscillations during epochs of amplitude decay in the intermittency signal. During phase synchronization, we notice a sustained synchronized movement of all flamelets with the periodicity of the acoustic cycle in the system.     

热声发动机接入声学放大器的模拟研究

对带声学放大器的驻波型热声发动机进行了数值模拟。得出了系统频率、压比等参数随声学放大器尺寸的变化关系。     

A thermoacoustic-Stirling heat engine: detailed study

A new type of thermoacoustic engine based on traveling waves and ideally reversible heat transfer is described. Measurements and analysis of its performance are presented. This new engine outperforms previous thermoacoustic engines, which are based on standing waves and intrinsically irreversible heat transfer, by more than 50%. At its most efficient operating point, it delivers 710 W of acoustic power to its resonator with a thermal efficiency of 0.30, corresponding to 41% of the Carnot efficiency. At its most powerful operating point, it delivers 890 W to its resonator with a thermal efficiency of 0.22. The efficiency of this engine can be degraded by two types of acoustic streaming. These are suppressed by appropriate tapering of crucial surfaces in the engine and by using additional nonlinearity to induce an opposing time-averaged pressure difference. Data are presented which show the nearly complete elimination of the streaming convective heat loads. Analysis of these and other irreversibilities show which components of the engine require further research to achieve higher efficiency. Additionally, these data show that the dynamics and acoustic power flows are well understood, but the details of the streaming suppression and associated heat convection are only qualitatively understood.     

Design and experiment on a mini cascade thermoacoustic engine

A miniature cascade thermoacoustic engine had been designed and tested, which length was about 1m, operating at 500 Hz. Pilot study and experimental results shown a rather good agreement between measured and calculated pressure fields and temperatures distributions in the thermoaoustic engine. The peak-to-peak value of the acoustic pressure was 0.02 MPa at the 1.8 MPa charged pressure of helium. Some efforts had been made to extend the traveling-wave region based on the analysis of the acoustic impedance.     

关于热声压缩机原理的讨论

回顾了驻波、行波热声机械的发展历史 ,分析了行波与驻波热声压缩机的优缺点。介绍行波驻波混合型热声压缩机的工作原理及结构 ,指出了今后研究的重点和方向。     

Piezo-driven thermoacoustic refrigerators with dynamic magnifiers

Thermoacoustic refrigeration is an emerging cooling technology which does not rely for in its operation on the use of any moving parts or harmful refrigerants. This technology uses acoustic waves to pump heat across a temperature gradient. The temperature gradient forms across the ends of a porous body, called the stack, enclosed in a resonator. The vast majority of thermoacoustic refrigerators to date have used electromagnetic loudspeakers to generate the acoustic input. In this paper, the design, construction, operation, and modeling of a piezo-driven thermoacoustic refrigerator are detailed. The performance of the refrigerator is significantly enhanced by coupling the acoustic driver with an elastic structure, referred to as a dynamic magnifier. Proper selection of the magnifier parameters can increase the magnitude of the pressure oscillations across the stack, and consequently the temperature difference. The magnified refrigerator demonstrates the effectiveness of piezoelectric actuation in moving 0.3 W of heat across a 10 °C temperature difference with an input power of 7 W. All the theoretical predictions are validated against data from experimental prototypes. The developed theoretical and experimental tools can serve as invaluable means for the design and testing of piezo-driven thermoacoustic refrigerator configurations.     

An aeroacoustically driven thermoacoustic heat pump

The mean flow of gas in a pipe past a cavity can excite the resonant acoustic modes of the cavity--much like blowing across the top of a bottle. The periodic shedding of vortices from the leading edge of the mouth of the cavity feeds energy into the acoustic modes which, in turn, affect the shedding of the next vortex. This so-called aeroacoustic whistle can excite very high amplitude acoustic standing waves within a cavity defined by coaxial side branches closed at their ends. The amplitude of these standing waves can easily be 20% of the ambient pressure at optimal gas flow rates and ambient pressures within the main pipe. A standing wave thermoacoustic heat pump is a device which utilizes the in-phase pressure and displacement oscillations to pump heat across a porous medium thereby establishing, or maintaining, a temperature gradient. Experimental results of a combined system of aeroacoustic sound source and a simple thermoacoustic stack will be presented.