Performance analysis of the thermoacoustic refrigerator with the standing wave and air as a working fluid

Warsaw University of Technology, Institute of Heat Engineering, Nowowiejska 21/25, 00-665 Warsaw, Poland

^* Corresponding author: jakub.kajurek@itc.pw.edu.pl

Abstract

Thermoacoustic refrigerator is a new and emerging technology capable of transporting heat from a low-temperature source to a high-temperature source by utilizing the acoustic power input. These devices, operating without hazardous refrigerants and owning no moving components, show advantages of high reliability and environmental friendliness. However, simple to fabricate, the designing of thermoacoustic refrigerators is very challenging. This paper illustrates the impact of significant factors on the performance of the thermoacoustic refrigerator which was measured in terms of the temperature difference generated across the stack ends. The experimental device driven by a commercial loudspeaker and air at atmospheric pressure as a working fluid was examined under various resonator length and operating frequencies. The results indicate that appropriate resonator’s length and operating frequency lead to an increase in the temperature difference created across the stack. The maximum values were achieved for operating frequency equalled to 200 and 300 Hz whereas resonator length corresponded to the half-length of the acoustic wave for these frequencies. The results of experiment also confirm that relationship between these parameters is strongly affected by the stack spacing, which in this research was equalled to 0.4 mm.