Abstract: We explore characteristics of onset and damping in a thermoacoustic engine (TE) driven by cryogens instead of conventional heat sources above the ambient temperature by a comprehensive study of a self-made standing-wave thermoacoustic engine driven by liquid nitrogen. The experiments verify the feasibility of enhancing the thermoacoustic oscillation at cryogenic temperatures. The onset temperature difference along the stack of the TE significantly decreases, compared with that of a conventional TE driven by high-temperature heat sources. The resonance frequency of the cryogen-driven TE is smaller than that of the heat-source-driven TE, mainly due to the lower average temperature of the working gas. Experiments and calculations show that the temperature discrepancy between onset and damping is partly caused by the linear temperature distribution along the stack before damping, together with the nonlinear distribution before onset. These results will contribute to a better understanding of thermoacoustic oscillation and to the recovery of the cold energy of cryogens.
Abstract: We present a remarkable thermoacoustically driven compression effect based on the conversion of gas flow from an alternating state to a direct state. The alternating gas flow is generated by the thermoacoustic effect in thermoacoustic engines, whereas direct gas flow is achieved by means of the flow rectification effect of check valves. A demonstrative thermoacoustic compressor consisting of two standing-wave thermoacoustic engines, two reservoirs, and three check valves is constructed for experimental investigation. With nitrogen as a working gas and an initial pressure of 2.4 MPa in all components, a usable pressure difference of 0.4 MPa is achieved, with the average gas pumping rate reaching 2.85 Nm3/h during the first 3 s of the compression process. The simple mechanical structure and thermally driven nature of the compressor show potential in gas compression, power generation, and refrigeration applications.
Abstract: A Helmholtz resonator can be used as a transmission part to connect the thermoacoustic engine (TE) with its load. However, the resonator can significantly influence the performance of the TE. In order to investigate the impact of a Helmholtz resonator on the onset process of a TE, infrared (IR) imaging is firstly used as a visualization method to characterize the onset mechanism. The influence of dimensions of the Helmholtz resonator on the onset process are analyzed experimentally and theoretically. Results
show that the Helmholtz resonator reduces the pressure amplitude at the onset moment and increases the onset temperature of the TE, both of which depend on the acoustic power absorbed from the TE. Onset without a sudden increase of pressure amplitude is observed with the Helmholtz resonator at resonance length. This paper shows that IR imaging is an effective way to characterize the temperature distribution in a TE study.
Abstract: To explore the effects of Gedeon streaming on the onset and damping behaviors, infrared imaging is applied for the first time in a traveling-wave thermoacoustic engine to observe the temperature evolution of the regenerator. Under conditions of with and without Gedeon streaming, the temperature distribution differences of the regenerator in the onset and damping processes are compared and analyzed. Based on the visual images, the dimensionless temperature distribution reveals some phenomena that have not been revealed by traditional measurement methods. Analysis of the thermal and mass flows is made to further understand the mechanism of the onset and damping processes.
Abstract: Thermoacoustic oscillation at cryogenic temperatures, such as Taconis oscillation, has been typically suppressed in the former studies, and few efforts have been made to enhance it. We proposed a standing-wave thermoacoustic engine (TE) driven by liquid cryogens instead of the conventional heat to enhance the thermoacoustic effects and utilize the cold energy. Experimental and theoretical work has been performed on a self-made standingwave TE to demonstrate the feasibility and the operating characteristics of the engine driven by the liquid nitrogen. Experiments show that with nitrogen at 0.5 MPa as a working gas, a pressure ratio of 1.21 is obtained on the TE driven by liquid nitrogen with a much lower temperature difference along the stack compared to that of the conventional TE. The onset temperature difference decreases by 28.9% with helium at 0.63 MPa as a working gas, compared to that of the conventional TE. This study verifies the feasibility of enhancing the thermoacoustic oscillation at cryogenic temperatures. The TEs driven by liquid cryogens such as liquid nitrogen and liquefied nature gas (LNG), may be an alternative for recovering the cold energy.
