Computation of the influence of a phase adjuster on thermo-acoustic Stirling heat engine

Abstract

In this paper, a phase adjuster (PA) is introduced in the thermo-acoustic Stirling heat engine (TASHE) and a two-dimensional compressible model of a TASHE with PA is developed. To improve the performance of the TASHE, the influences of the PA’s inner diameter on pressure amplitude, volume flow rate, and the phase angle between them, as well as the acoustic power are systematically analyzed, and the results are compared to the case without PA. The results show that the introduction of PA is useful for the phase adjustment, especially in the regenerator. The relative change of the phase angle in the regenerator reaches up to 60% for the PA with the inner diameter of 30 mm. The acoustic power in the resonator increases by 10% and 8% when the inner diameter of PA is 50 mm and 70 mm, respectively. The influence of PA is also discussed through the lumped-element model of the TASHE. In conclusion, PA with a suitable inner diameter can increase the acoustic power and promote the heat-to-sound energy conversion. This study can provide the theoretical guidance for the design and optimization of PA.