Performance comparison of a thermoacoustic engine having different stack geometry using CFD simulation

Abstract

Thermoacoustic heat engines (TAHE) convert heat energy into acoustic energy without using any moving component. The acoustic energy can lead to a high frequency linear oscillating motion in a gas which in turn can be used to drive a pulse tube (PT) cryocooler or a thermoacoustic refrigerator. Thus, the system becomes less vibrating as well as contamination free offering a long maintenance free life with high reliability. Conversion of heat energy into acoustic energy takes place near the stack region. The objective of the present studies is to compare the performance of various stack geometries in a given resonator through CFD simulation. Among the geometries such as parallel plate, tube array and pin array, the pin array stack geometry is found to provide best performance.