Design and analysis of standing wave quarter wavelength thermoacoustic engine

Abstract

Thermoacoustics have been recent area of investigationsdue to its noticeable advantages like simplicity, structural stability, absence of moving component, high reliability, minimal or no maintenance etc. In addition to these, thermoacoustic devices can use different noble gases and their mixtures as working fluid as well as they can use low grade energy sources such as solar energy, exhaust gas of an automobile, waste heat etc. Incurrent work, design of quarter wavelength standing wave type thermoacoustic engine stack, using the linear thermoacoustic theory, is described. A set of dimensionless parameters has been used toreduce large number of dependent parameters. The design procedure followed here can be a guide fordesign and development of thermoacoustic engines. Various operating parameters such asmean pressure, frequency, driving ratio, hot and cold end temperatures of stack areused to investigate parameters such as length of stack, position of stack, and efficiency.