Detailed study of a traveling wave thermoacoustic refrigerator driven by a traveling wave thermoacoustic engine

Abstract

Thermoacoustic systems have very attractive features and possible wide applications in many areas, especially for cooling purposes. Inventions of traveling wave thermoacoustic engines and traveling wave thermoacoustic refrigerators with work recovery capability have greatly improved the thermodynamic efficiencies of the thermoacoustic systems. To fully utilize the advantages of traveling wave systems, a traveling wave work-recoverable thermoacoustic refrigerator has been designed and built that is driven by a traveling wave thermoacoustic engine, which is aimed at domestic refrigeration purposes. So far, the lowest temperature of −64.4°C and 250W cooling power at −22.1°C are obtained by the system with 3.0MPa helium gas and 57.7Hz working frequency. Heat input into the system is 2.2kW. Simulations based on linear thermoacoustic theory have also been done for comparison with experimental results, which shows reasonable agreement within a certain pressure wave amplitude range and cold end temperature range. The comparisons meanwhile imply some serious loss mechanism inside the traveling wave thermoacoustic refrigerator.