Experimental study of the influence of different resonators on thermoacoustic conversion performance of a thermoacoustic-Stirling heat engine

In this paper, an experimental study of the effect of the resonator shape on the performance of a traveling-wave thermoacoustic engine is presented. Two different resonators were tested in the thermoacoustic-Stirling heat. One resonator is an iso-diameter one, and the other is a tapered one. To have a reasonable comparison reference, we keep the same traveling-wave loop, the same resonant frequency and the same operating pressure. The experiment showed that the resonator shape has significant influence on the global performance of the thermoacoustic-Stirling heat engine. The tapered resonator gives much better performance than the iso-diameter resonator. The tapered resonator system achieved a maximum pressure ratio of about 1.3, a maximum net acoustical power output of about 450 W and a highest thermoacoustic efficiency of about 25%.     

Compact standing wave thermoacoustic generator for power conversion applications

In the past decade, a variety of thermoacoustic engines (TAEs) were devised to convert thermal energy to acoustic power. In this paper, we optimized the design of a standing wave thermoacoustic generator that can provide high intensity acoustic pressure and convert it into electrical power output using a low cost alternator. Three prototypes of standing wave thermoacoustic generator (TAG) were designed to optimize the overall efficiency. The first prototype of standing wave TAG could produce an acoustic pressure of 0.9 kPa (153 dB) with an input thermal power of 210 W. Further, the maximum heat to electrical conversion efficiency was 0.045% with an input thermal power of 250 W. However, the performance of this system was not fully optimized. The performance of TAE depends upon various parameters including stack position, stack length and resonator length. Hence, a new second prototype of tunable TAG was developed to tune these critical parameters in order to improve the overall efficiency. A compact third prototype of TAG was successfully built with optimized parameters and has been tested. In the improved design, high intensity acoustic pressure of 2.9 kPa (163.5 dB) was observed for the same 210 W input thermal power. The maximum heat to electrical energy conversion efficiency was 0.084% with an input of 250 W which is 87% higher as compared to the first prototype. The major reason for the lower conversion efficiency is due to the low efficiency of the alternator. In future, high efficiency alternator designs can be employed along with careful impedance matching to obtain higher conversion efficiencies. The results described in this paper demonstrate the potential of developing compact portable acoustic power and electricity generators for decentralized power applications.     

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。     

Optimal acoustic fields in compact thermoacoustic refrigerators

Thermoacoustic refrigerators have been developed during the last 15 years, employing quasi-standing resonant acoustic waves inside fluid-filled cavities to transfer heat along a stack region. Because higher efficiency can be reached when a significant travelling wave component exists in the resonator, specific resonant thermoacoustic devices have been designed allowing to adjust more or less the ratio of travelling and standing wave components. However, the acoustic pressure field and the particle velocity field do not appear to be the optimal ones, for the thermal quantities of interest. Thus, it is the aim of the paper to present a new kind of thermoacoustic standing wave-like device which allows to control easily and independently the pressure field and the particle velocity field, after investigating the optimal acoustic field, in the stack region, for the main parameters of interest, i.e. the temperature gradient, the thermoacoustic heat flow and the coefficient of performance.     

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。     

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.     

Measurement of acoustic output power in a traveling wave engine

We built and tested a double-loop thermoacoustic cooler consisting of an engine-loop, a branch resonator, and a cooler-loop. The cooling power of 6.4 W was obtained at the cooling temperature of 0 degrees C, when the input heat power of 416 W was supplied to the engine-loop. We measured the acoustic power and found that the output power emitted from the engine-loop was 12 W, and that the input acoustic power entering the cooler-loop was 6 W.     

1kW碟式太阳能行波热声发电系统

碟式太阳能行波热声发电是近年来兴起的新型热发电技术,具有可靠性好、潜在效率高、分布灵活等优点。本文介绍了正在研制的一套1 kW碟式太阳能行波热声发电系统。该系统利用碟式集热器收集太阳辐射热量,通过高温热管将热量传输到发动机热端,再采用行波热声发电机进行热-电转换。初步调试采用高频加热模拟太阳能,以3.5 MPa氦气为工质、加热温度为751℃和798℃时分别实现了116 W和255 W的电功输出。实验验证了系统的可行性。目前系统的安装调试仍在进行中,相关的实验结果将在后续的文章中进行报道。     

An open-air infrasonic thermoacoustic engine

A low-frequency open-air thermoacoustic engine in a Helmholtz resonator has been constructed. Tests indicate that the system resonates in the Helmholtz mode for modest thermoacoustic stack temperature differences using stacks of varying type and pore size located within the neck of the Helmholtz resonator. The maximum acoustic pressure radiated from the open end of the resonator corresponds to 81 dB-SPL ref 20 μPa at a stack temperature difference of 185 K and an input electric power of 276 W. The system is well characterized by a numerical model of a representative stack.     

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.     

Theoretical modeling and experimental realization of dynamically magnified thermoacoustic-piezoelectric energy harvesters

Conventional thermoacoustic-piezoelectric (TAP) harvesters convert thermal energy, such as solar or waste heat energy, directly into electrical energy without the need for any moving components. The input thermal energy generates a steep temperature gradient along a porous medium. At a critical threshold of the temperature gradient, self-sustained acoustic waves are developed inside an acoustic resonator. The associated pressure fluctuations impinge on a piezoelectric diaphragm, placed at the end of the resonator. In this study, the TAP harvester is coupled with an auxiliary elastic structure in the form of a simple spring–mass system to amplify the strain experienced by the piezoelectric element. The auxiliary structure is referred to as a dynamic magnifier and has been shown in different areas to significantly amplify the deflection of vibrating structures. A comprehensive model of the dynamically magnified thermoacoustic-piezoelectric (DMTAP) harvester has been developed that includes equations of motions of the system?s mechanical components, the harvested voltage, the mechanical impedance of the coupled structure at the resonator end and the equations necessary to compute the self-excited frequencies of oscillations inside the acoustic resonator. Theoretical results confirmed that significant amplification of the harvested power is feasible if the magnifier?s parameters are properly chosen. The performance characteristics of experimental prototypes of a thermoacoustic-piezoelectric resonator with and without the magnifier are examined. The obtained experimental findings are validated against the theoretical results. Dynamic magnifiers serve as a novel approach to enhance the effectiveness of thermoacoustic energy harvested from waste heat by increasing the efficiency of their harvesting components.     

Heat transport by acoustic streaming within a cylindrical resonator

Several experiments on heat transport within a cylindrical resonance tube, mediated by acoustic streaming, are described. The amplitude dependence of the heat transfer coefficient, h, from a hot object located inside the tube depends on the size of the object. For an object short compared to the acoustic displacement amplitude, h is proportional to the square root of amplitude; for a long object, h is linear in amplitude. For an empty resonator with a heated wall segment, the radial heat flux varies with position in a manner consistent with the global streaming pattern within the tube. The magnitude of heat transport from the heated wall segment is increased by inserting an object into the tube because the localized streaming velocity induced by the object is larger than the global streaming velocity in the empty tube. These effects could find application in the cooling of hot objects like electronic components or in thermoacoustic engines.     

热声系统中回热器特征阻抗与传播常数的研究

针对本实验室一台声驱动热声系统,采用传递函数法研究声驱动系统中回热器的特征阻抗和传播常数.通过调节谐振管长度,改变回热器表面的阻抗,从理论上分析了回热器网络传输方程中的声传播常数、特征阻抗与系统网络元件中的阻抗、导纳和流的关系.并且进一步讨论有无换热器以及不同的加热功率对回热器网络参数的影响.结论有利于进一步量化回热器的网络参数.     

Influence of stack geometry and resonator length on the performance of thermoacoustic engine

Thermoacoustic engines convert heat energy into high amplitude sound waves, which is used to drive thermoacoustic refrigerator or pulse tube cryocoolers by replacing the mechanical pistons such as compressors. The increasing interest in thermoacoustic technology is of its potentiality of no exotic materials, low cost and high reliability compared to vapor compression refrigeration systems. The experimental setup has been built based on the linear thermoacoustic model and some simple design parameters. The engines produce acoustic energy at the temperature difference of 325–450 K imposed along the stack of the system. This work illustrates the influence of stack parameters such as plate thickness (PT) and plate spacing (PS) with resonator length on the performance of thermoacoustic engine, which are measured in terms of onset temperature difference, resonance frequency and pressure amplitude using air as a working fluid. The results obtained from the experiments are in good agreement with the theoretical results from DeltaEc.     

Investigation on influencing factors of acoustic streaming in thermoacoustic waveguides with slowly varying cross-section

The influencing factors of acoustic streaming in thermoacoustic waveguides with slowly varying cross-section are analyzed based on theoretical analysis and numerical simulation. The distribution curves of acoustic streaming velocity in waveguides with different characteristic scales are presented in several specific cases.The results show that appropriate forms of varying cross-section can strengthen or weaken acoustic streaming for specific acoustic fields and the thermophysical parameters have no effect on this part.In addition,the influence of time-average temperature distribution on acoustic streaming is substantial in tubes with a width of the order of the thermal penetration depth.Without time-average temperature distribution,the effect of heat conduction on acoustic streaming is great in tubes whose width is an order of about 10 to 20 times the viscous penetration depth.     

Evanescent modes and anomalous streaming in a thermoacoustic device

An oil-heated thermoacoustic refrigerator was constructed in order to investigate the use of waste-heat sources to operate a refrigerator. Fluid flows within the resonator in the vicinity of the stack/heat exchanger assemblies were measured through optical means. During the course of the experiment, anomalous centerline steady flows were observed at magnitudes of up to three times the acoustic amplitudes within the resonator of the thermoacoustic device. An evanescent component of the acoustic field was also measured at the same location. An order of magnitude calculation indicates that the body force induced by the evanescent mode is of sufficient magnitude and structure to be the source of the streaming.     

渐变截面热声波导管内的声流影响因素分析

通过理论分析和数值仿真,对渐变截面热声波导管内声流各影响因素进行了具体的分析,并给出了不同情形下波导管内的声流速度分布特性曲线。研究表明,热物理参数对渐变截面导致的声流变化无影响,针对具体的声场设计合适的截面变化形式可以使得管内声流在整体上得到一定程度的抑制或加强。此外,当波导管截面尺度与热穿透深度同数量级时,轴向时均温度分布对声流的影响十分显著。当不存在非零时均温度梯度时,热传导效应对声流的影响在管截面尺度为黏性穿透深度约10至20倍量级时最大。      

热声发动机用加热器的设计与实验验证

热声发动机利用热声效应将热能转换为机械能,热能由核心部件加热器提供。加热器在热声发动机的能量传递和转化过程中起着举足轻重的作用。针对热声发动机的工作特点,介绍了一种采用时均流对流换热公式进行热声发动机用加热器设计的方法。基于该方法,设计了一种新型热声发动机用电加热器,并应用于自行研制的太型多功能行波热声发动机试验台。设计计算和实验结果表明,该加热器能够充分满足热声发动机的加热要求。本文对以振荡流体为特征的换热器设计具有一定参考价值。     

Acoustic streaming in closed thermoacoustic devices.

A derivation of acoustic streaming in a steady-state thermoacoustic device is presented in the case of zero second-order time-averaged mass flux across the resonator section (nonlooped device). This yields analytical expressions for the time-independent second-order velocity, pressure gradient, and time-averaged mass flux in a fluid supporting a temperature gradient and confined between widely to closely separated solid boundaries, both in the parallel plate and in the cylindrical tube geometries (two-dimensional problem). From this, streaming can be evaluated in a thermoacoustic stack, regenerator, pulse tube, main resonator of a thermoacoustic device, or in any closed tube that supports a mean temperature gradient, providing only that the acoustic pressure, the longitudinal derivative of the pressure, and the mean temperature variation are known.