1

ABSTRACT


Thermoacoustics is a field that combines thermodynamics,fluid dynamics and acoustics. In
thermoacoustics it is possible to construct thermodynamic engines, prime movers and heat
pumps which respectively use heat to create work, and use work to create or move heat.

Thermoacoustics is a relatively new field of science and engineering. The subject is still quite
unknown and not much literature about the subject is available. But there is a positive trend in
the amount of published papers about the subject.

There are two classes of thermoacoustic devices, travelling-wave devices and standing-wave
devices. The first use a standard travelling acoustic wave and the second use a resonator in which
the acoustic waves interfere causing a standing-wave.

The goal of this project was to develop a virtual model for standing-wave thermoacoustic
refrigerator. The refrigerator should be able to deliver 100 Watts of cooling power at 280 Kelvin.
The device should be at most one meter long.
This report gives an introduction in thermoacoustics, and a summary of the results as calculated
it also tries to explain the principle and working of avery basic thermoacoustic model. The
different parts of a thermoacoustic device with their properties are discussed as well.
Several simple devices have been modeled in the deltaEC during the project and these are
discussed. Not all of these devices Were feasible though. The model of the final refrigerator is
presented as well. Because of lack of time and technical difficulties the final device was not
constructed.
However the model suggested is feasible . The right amount of resources and funds provided this
project can be modeled and constructed to generate a noticeable temperature drop . However this
project is in its infancy stage and cannot be yet used for commercial purposes.
This model is highly desirable over the present day vapour compression system . And also if
constructed they can survive much longer than our present day conventional refrigerators. As it
consists of no reciprocating part , throttle valve and a condenser. But the working models have
relatively low COPs as compared to other V C refrigerators.
Even though it has some major drawbacks Thermoacoustic refrigeration is the most potent
answer to the future refrigeration .




2

ABBREVIATIONS

p Pressure Pa
V Volume m3
n Amount of substance mol
R Molar gas constant 8.314 JK1mol-1
T Temperature K
.Q Heat flow W
.W Work flow W
q Efficiency -
COP Coefficient of performance -
I Sound intensity Wm-2
u Particle velocity in x direction ms-1
f Frequency Hz
N Integer value for tones -
a Velocity of sound ms-1
L Length m
x Position in x direction m
u Particle velocity in x direction ms-1
k Thermal conductivity Wm-1K-1
c
P
Specific heat at constant pressure Jkg-1K-1
c
V
Specific heat at constant volume Jkg-1K-1
y Position in y direction m
U Acoustic volume flow m3s-1
A Cross-sectional area m2
.
H Total power W
.
E Acoustic power W
rh Hydraulic radius, rh = A H m

Polytropic coefficient, = cp cv -
Wavelength m
Density kgm-3
o Penetration depth m
e Angular frequency, e = 2t f rads-1
Displacement in x direction m
o Prandtl number -
Dynamic viscosity kgs-1m-1
| Thermal expansion coefficient K-1
H Perimeter, H =t d m
I Temperature gradient operator -
Volumetric porosity / blockage ratio -

3

SUBSCRIPTS

osc Oscillating
m Mean value
C Cold side
H Hot side
carnot Maximum achievable Carnot value
k Thermal
v Viscous
s Stack
crit Critical value
gas Gas parameter
total Total value














4


INTRODUCTION

Thermoacoustics is a relatively new field in physics which combines thermodynamics, fluid dynamics
and acoustics. Using heat, acoustic work can be created, or by using acoustic work heat can be
moved or created. The acoustic work is the sound power of a wave.
Sound waves require a medium to propagate. In a gas, sound waves are adiabatically compressed
and decompressed. During compression pressure increases and so does temperature, and during
decompression pressure and temperature both decrease.

The adiabatic change can be shown using the ideal law for gases:-
pV = nRT ........................... (1)

Here p is pressure, V volume, n amount of the substance, R the gas constant and T the
temperature. The following expression (1) can be derived for adiabatic temperature change
caused by pressure change.
oT/T=(1/)- op/p (2)

Where is the polytropic coefficient. The formula clearly shows that temperature and pressure
change occur simultaneously. One might think now that these effects would be noticed in daily
life, however, for pressure amplitudes of a typical conversation, the temperature amplitude
would be 10
-4
Kelvin . And even at the threshold of pain, 120 dB, temperature oscillates up and
down only about 10
-2
Kelvin. It is not surprising then that thermoacoustic effects are unnoticed in
everyday life.
Thermoacoustics is a relatively new topic in science and engineering.



















5

Figure 1: Sondhauss Tube
The first thermoacoustic device was the Sondhauss tube. Figure (1) shows illustrations of a
Sondhauss tube In almost all cases where heat is communicated to a body expansion ensues, and
this expansion may be made to do mechanical work. If the phases of the forces thus operative be
favorable, a vibration may be maintained. For the sake of simplicity, a tube, hot at the closed end
getting gradually cooler towards the open end, may be considered. At a quarter of a period before
the phase of the greatest compression the air is moving inwards, i.e., towards the closed end,
and therefore is passing from colder to hotter parts of the tube. But in fact the adjustment of
temperature takes time, and thus the temperature of the air deviates from that of the neighboring
parts of the tube, inclining towards the temperature of that part of the tube from which the air has
just come. From this it follows that at the phase of greatest compression heat is received by the
air, and at the phase of greatest rarefaction heat is given up from it, and thus there is a tendency
to maintain the vibrations.
Thermoacoustic devices can be divided into two classes, standing-wave and travelling-wave
devices. Travelling-wave devices can be described with the Stirling thermodynamic cycle, and
standing-wave devices with the Brayton cycle. These two classes of thermoacoustics devices can
again be divided in two thermodynamic types of engines, a prime mover (or simply heat engine),
and a heat pump. The prime mover creates work using heat and a heat pump creates or moves
heat using work.
A thermoacoustic device basically consists of heat exchangers, a resonator, and a stack or
regenerator. With standing-wave devices this part is called a stack, and with travelling-wave
devices this part is the regenerator. The image below shows a typical standing-wave refrigerator.
This refrigerator uses a driver to create sound waves, and the work done by the sound waves is
used for cooling.




6

ACOUSTICS

Thermoacoustics is based on the principle that sound waves are pressure waves. These sound
waves propagate through the air via molecular collisions. The molecular collisions cause a
disturbance in the air, which in turn creates constructive and destructive interference. The
constructive interference makes the molecules compress, and the destructive interference makes
the molecules expand. This principle is the basis behind the thermoacoustic refrigerator.

One method to control these pressure disturbances is with standing waves. Standing waves are
natural phenomena exhibited by any wave, such as light, sound, or water waves. In a closed tube,
columns of air demonstrate these patterns as sound waves reflect back on themselves after
colliding with the end of the tube. When the incident and reflected waves overlap, they interfere
constructively, producing a single waveform. This wave appears to cause the medium to vibrate
in isolated sections as the traveling waves are masked by the interference. Therefore, these
standing waves seem to vibrate in constant position and orientation around stationary nodes.
These nodes are located where the two component sound waves interfere to create areas of zero
net displacement. The areas of maximum displacement are located halfway between two nodes
and are called antinodes. The maximum compression of the air also occurs at the antinodes. Due
to these node and antinode properties, standing waves are useful because only a small input of
power is needed to create a large amplitude wave. This large amplitude wave then has enough
energy to cause visible thermoacoustic effects.



Figure 2: Shows the relationship between the phase of the wave, the
pressure, and the actual arrangement of the molecules. The black line
shows the phase of the sound wave, the red shows the pressure and the
dots below represent the actual molecules.


7

In physics waves are usually travelling-waves which, as their name suggests, travel through
space. An acoustic travelling-wave has a pressure and velocity component which are in phase.

A special kind of wave is a standing-wave. When having a tube with an acoustic wave, it is
possible to have open and closed ends. At an open end the dynamic pressure will be zero, and at
a closed end the particle velocity will be zero. The particle velocity is the velocity at which a
parcel of gas oscillates.
An acoustic wave inside a tube reflects at both open and closed ends. Then, depending on the
frequency and amplitude, the reflected wave can interfere with the wave in the original direction,
creating a standing-wave. Figure 7 shows the difference between a travelling-wave and a
standing-wave by taking a snapshot in time. When time-averaged, the left picture would consist
of two horizontal lines (RMS values), however, the right picture would have a similar shape as
the snapshot in time.
A pure standing-wave has a 90 phase difference in space between pressure and velocity. Since a
standing-wave does not travel, there is no net particle velocity. The acoustic intensity is the
product of pressure and particle velocity. Since a standing-wave has no particle velocity, there is
no acoustic intensity thus no acoustic power.
I=*u .(3)

In thermoacoustics however, there exist no pure standing-waves. When a wave passes a stack, a
pressure change occurs due to transfer of heat and losses in the stack. The reflected wave has
now either more, or less, energy than the incoming wave, and imperfect interference occurs. This
imperfect interference gives rise to a small phase shift; instead of a 90 phase difference between
pressure and velocity, the difference will now be between 85 and 95. For this reason waves in
Thermoacoustic refrigeration using a standing-wave device

Figure 3: Respective phase difference of fundamental ,First, Second Overtone.
8

standing-wave devices always have some real velocity, giving them a small amount of acoustic
power.
For standing-waves, the position at which the wave has a minimum absolute value (zero) is
called a node, and the position that belongs to a maximum absolute value is called the antinode.
As mentioned there are special frequencies at which interference occurs. These frequencies are
called resonance frequencies.
Resonance is the tendency of a system to oscillate at larger amplitude. When damping is small,
the resonant frequency is approximately equal to a natural frequency of the system, which is a
frequency of unforced vibrations.





































9

THERMODYNAMIC BACKGROUND



In thermodynamics different cycles exist. Each cycle is made up of thermodynamic processes.
The most efficient cycle is the ideal Carnot cycle and this cycle exists of two isentropic processes
and two isothermal processes. This means the temperature-entropy diagram would be a simple
square like seen in the picture below.

Figure 4: Pressure-volume (left) and temperature-entropy (right) diagrams of ideal Carnot
engine .


Thermodynamic cycles can be run in two directions, positive (clockwise) and negative (counter-
clockwise) direction. A positive cycle gives net work, while a negative cycle actually costs work.
Negative cycles are thus not used to create work, but are used to either heat up a system above
the temperature of the environment (heat pump) or to drain thermal energy from a system to keep
it cooler than its surroundings (refrigerator).
Below are the pressure-volume diagrams of a positive and a negative cycle. The arrow shows the
direction.


10

Figure 5 : Pressure-volume diagrams of a positive (left) and a negative (right) cycle .
The positive cycle could be a thermoacoustic prime mover and the negative cycle a
thermoacoustic heat pump or refrigerator.


Figure 6: Pressure volume diagram of sound waves.

The First and second laws of the thermodynamics plays an upper bound on the efficiency and
COPs of the prime mover and refrigerator operated by the acoustics .
Given that the two devices are working between the temperature boundaries The higher being T
h
and the lower being T
c
taking heat Q
h
and Q
c
respectively.
11


Figure 7: Basic diagrams.



Q
h
= Q
c
+ W .................(4)

For prime mover to create work and for Heat pump to use work by second law
Net entropy of the system should be less than zero

.....................(5)

q
carnot
=

.....................(6)



Also the cop of the heat pump-


COP
rev carnot
=

............... (7)





12

THERMOACOUSTIC REFRIGERATION MODEL USING A
STANDING WAVES DEVICE:-


In a thermoacoustic device the acoustic power is the ability to do work. This would mean
standing-wave devices can do relatively little work; a pure standing-wave device would not even
be able to do work at all.
Thermoacoustic devices have several advantages compared to their vapor compression
counterparts. No environmentally hazardous refrigerants are needed. Instead, a thermoacoustic
device uses air or an inert gas. Another advantage is that no moving parts are used in the device
making the devices reliable and simple, and thus low fabrication costs are expected . Here the
optimal placement of the stack is between the first pressure antinode and the pressure node .
Ideally at a distance of /10 from the hardened end. Further calculation and analysis of this
model is done using the deltaEC software where the plots of temperature vs distance and the the
temperature vs length and so on can be drawn plotted and then analyzed long with other
parameters.

Figure 8: Schematic of a Thermoacoustic refrigeraton .With variation of pressure and
velocity and Temperature along the resonance tube .


13

METHODOLOGY AND PART OF DESCRIPTION OF
THE MODEL

There are several main components involved in a thermoacoustic refrigerator. The main
components are the stack, heat exchangers and resonator. Each of these components has a specific
purpose in thermoacoustic refrigeration.

Stack

The stack of a thermoacoustic refrigerator is a thin walled tube with thin, well-spaced plates
aligned parallel to the tube axis. The addition of more plates to the stack increases the thermal
exchange area, leading to an increased amount of heat flux and thus an increased overall
efficiency of the device.
The spacing between the plates in the stack is crucial in a properly functioning device. If the
spacing between the plates is too narrow the good thermal contact between the gas and the stack
keeps the gas at a temperature similar to the stack. If the spacing is too wide much of the gas is in
poor thermal contact with the stack and does not transfer heat effectively to and from the stack.
However, when the temperature difference across the stack is large enough, the air in the tube
oscillates spontaneously.
Now the basic thermodynamics and acoustics are explained, the heat pumping along stacks will be
treated. Figure 10 shows an example of a stack which consists of parallel plates along the wave
propagation direction. Figure 11 - A stack consisting of parallel plates with gas flowing through them .
When an acoustically driven parcel of gas moves through the stack, pressure, temperature and
position all oscillate with time. If the gas is enclosed within a tube, interference occurs creating
an acoustic standing wave. Pressure will now be in phase with displacement; the pressure
reaches its maximum or minimum value while at the same time a parcel of gas is at an extreme
of its movement.
This simple relation can be put to use-

1. Adiabatic compression of the gas.

When a parcel of gas is displaced from its rightmost position to its leftmost position, the parcel is
adiabatically compressed and thus the temperature increases. At the leftmost position, the parcel
now has higher temperature than the warm plate.

2. Isobaric heat transfer.

The parcel of gas is transferring heat to the plate at constant pressure losing temperature.

3. Adiabatic expansion of the gas.

The parcel of gas is displaced back from its leftmost position to its rightmost position and due to
adiabatic expansion the parcel is cooled to a temperature lower than that of the cold plate.


14

4. Isobaric heat transfer.

In the last step the parcel absorbs heat from the cold plate at constant pressure increasing its
temperature back to its original value along the gradient. Figure 9 shows an illustration of this
cycle.

Figure 9: Basic diagram of process of heat exchanger.

The span of movement for an individual parcel is actually very small. However, along the stack
many parcels exist, each following this cycle, passing heat from one parcel to the other while
using the stack as temporary storage of heat.
The primary constraint in designing the stack is that the layers need to be a few thermal
penetration depths apart, with four thermal penetration depths being the optimum layer
separation. Where thermal penetration depth, k, is defined as the distance that heat can diffuse
through a gas during the time given by

t=51/ f ..................... (8)

Where f is the frequency of the standing wave. k depends on the thermal conductivity, k,
the density of the gas, , and the isobaric specific heat per unit mass, c
p
, according to


k
=

........................(9)

In order to ensure proper thermal interaction between the speaker and the stack, a nonconductive
material such as Mylar, PVC piping or Kapton, a polyimide film, should be used. If a conductive
material such as copper is used, the temperature difference between the speaker and resonator
will be very small and thus hard to detect.
The stack material should have a high heat capacity and high thermal conductivity in the y
direction. The thermal conductivity in the x direction however, should be very low. Heat
pumping requires the heat storage and this requires high thermal conductivity in the y direction
to be accessible. A low thermal conductivity in x direction is necessary to minimize losses
through conduction from hot to cold side. As becomes clear, a material with anisotropic thermal
conductivity would be best.
15



Figure 10 Example of a stack used in a device in Los Alamos. Even though the stack looks
solid, it has a volumetric porosity of 83% .

The important dimensions for a stack are its length and the cross-sectional area of the stack. The
length is important for the temperature gradient. The length and cross-sectional area of the stack
also determine how much the sound waves are perturbed. The cross-sectional area available to
the gas compared to the total cross-sectional area is called the volumetric porosity or blockage
ratio of the part. The thickness of walls or plates and the width of gaps also determine the heat
capacity and conductivity. Simply said, all these factors influence the efficiency.

Stacks of different shape exist. Some stacks have parallel plates, some rectangular pores. For a
parallel plate stack, the plate spacing and the thickness of the plates are important dimensions.
The volumetric porosity of a parallel plate stack is given by

=BR=

..................(10)
where y
o
is half the distance between the pores and l is half the thickness of the plates.
= BR =

()()
.(11)

Finally, Swift suggests that for a good compromise between high power and high efficiency the
optimal position of a stack inside a resonator with two closed ends is

x= /20=L/10 ....................... (12)
where x is the distance from a pressure antinode to the center of the stack

16



Figure 11: Stack Dimensions


Heat Exchanger


The heat exchangers function as a heat pump, driven by the acoustic work produced from the
stack.Heat exchangers are attached to both ends of the stack. The cold heat exchanger removes
heat from the cold temperature reservoir Tr and moves that heat to cold side of the stack at a
temperature Tc. The heat exchanger at temperature Th rejects the pumped heat from the cold
heat exchanger and the absorbed acoustic work which is at temperature Tc. Without the heat
exchangers, heat would neither be supplied nor extracted from the ends of the stack. The
heat exchanger strips and the nearby stack plates are non-parallel to each other in order to
prevent the total blockage of any gaps in the stack by a heat exchanger strip.
Once the hot heat exchanger temperature is high enough for the parcel of gas to oscillate, the
cold heat exchanger can cool to below 0C as the heat is pumped from the cold heat exchanger
to that of the room temperature exchanger.
In order to achieve optimum performance, the heat exchanger must be as long as the peak-to-
peak displacement amplitude:

2u
1
/h ...................................(13)

Where u
1
is the x-component of the velocity of the longitudinal wave and h is the enthalpy
per unit mass. When a heat exchanger is too long, some parcels of fluid only come into contact
with the ends of the heat exchanger and when it is too short parcels can jump past the heat
exchanger . Both of which serve no purpose and are ineffective ineffective in transporting heat.
Although Equation (13) for the heat exchanger length is ideal for this project it is imprecise by
k, which is the distance heat can diffuse longitudinally past the ends of the heat exchanger.
Poor performance of heat exchangers leads to lower efficiencies in thermoacoustic refrigerators.







17

Resonator

The resonator is composed of three main parts: the tube, buffer volume, and speaker housing.
The resonator needs to be designed in such a way that is compact, light and strong. It must also
impede the dissipation of acoustical energy as much as possible.
The energy dissipation in the resonator can be reduced by a smooth and varying cross-section,
preventing harmonics as well.
L=/2 .........................(14)

The first consideration is the length of the resonator. The length of the resonator shouldbe a half
that of the wavelength. Another important factor in developing a resonator is safety; since higher
powers can be obtained by increasing the mean pressure the walls of the resonator should have a
certain minimal thickness.

Another consideration is the shape and size of the different resonator components.Original
designs simulated an open-end resonator by using a spherical buffer volume.


Working gas


The choice of gas for a thermoacoustic device involves trade-offs between many issues,
including power, efficiency, and convenience.
Thermoacoustic powers generally scale as as p
m
aA can be seen .A high mean pressure, a high
velocity of sound and a large cross-sectional area would mean more thermoacoustic power. For
this reason, helium is commonly used in thermoacoustic devices. Heliums velocity of sound is
much higher than that of air and helium will not condense or freeze at low temperatures.

There are more reasons why a certain gas would be attractive to use. As mentioned the velocity
of sound should be high. The thermal conductivity should be high as well, and the Prandtl
number low, since a low Prandtl number would mean low viscous losses. Mixtures of helium
with argon, or helium with xenon, are thus also advised since these reduce viscous dissipation as
their Prandtl number is lower. The following table shows for certain gases the values of important
properties. Conditions are at room temperature and atmospheric pressure. For the model a frequency of
174 Hz was chosen (as this was the expected working frequency of the eventual device at time of
writing).




















18

DESIGN PARAMETERS


Important length scales :

Before explaining thermoacoustics, it is important to be aware of certain important length scales
An important length scale along the wave-propagation direction is the wavelength of the sound
wave. The wavelength in a tube is determined by the length and whether the tube has open ends
or not.

For a tube with two closed ends, the length of the tube can be calculated by dividing the
wavelength by two

L =/ 2 ........................(15)
The wavelength is related to the frequency by the speed of sound

= a/ f ...................... (16)

Another important length scale in the direction of motion of the gas is the gas displacement
amplitude. The distance across which a parcel of gas can move is twice the displacement
amplitude. The displacement amplitude at a certain position along the wave-propagation
direction is given by dividing the velocity amplitude with the angular frequency of the wave


osc
= u
osc
/e ....................(17)






Figure 12: This illustration shows some of the length scales. The length of the tube
determines the wavelength. The spacing between the stack plates is around a penetration
depth and a parcel of gas is able to move across twice the displacement amplitude.



19

The displacement amplitude is often a very small fraction of the stack length. The figure above
shows this length scale. As can be seen, the displacement amplitude varies ; the amplitude is
largest in the middle (velocity antinode) and smallest at the hard ends (velocity nodes).


The velocity of the gas parcel as function of the position x in the tube is given by

U
osc
=

sin (

) .................. (18)


and depends on the amplitude of the pressure p, the mean density of the gas , the velocity of
sound a. and the reduced wavelength.

This velocity can be calculated as well when both the volume flow and the cross-sectional area
are known.
u
osc
=U
osc
/A
total
........................ (19)


Perpendicular to the direction of the motion of gas there are two more important length scales
called penetration depths.
The thermal penetration depth is defined as

o
k
=

e
.................(20)




and is roughly the distance across which the heat can diffuse through the fluid during a time
interval in the order of 2/e .

The viscous penetration depth is defined as

o
v
=

e
....................(21)
and is roughly the distance across which momentum is lost during a time interval in the order of
2 /e .

In the above equations the following gas properties are mentioned; k is the thermal conductivity,
the dynamic viscosity, the mean density, c
p
the heat capacity and e the angular frequency.
At distances much greater than these penetration depths from the nearest solid boundary, the gas
20

has neither thermal contact nor viscous contact with the solid boundaries. In parts of the device
whose lateral dimensions are of the order of the viscous and thermal penetration depths, the gas
does feel both thermal and viscous effects from the boundaries.

The heat exchange components in thermoacoustic systems must have dimensions in the order of
o
k
in order to exchange heat with the working gas. The viscous penetration depth o
v ,
however
should be

as small as possible in order to reduce viscous losses.


The Prandtl number o describes the ratio between the viscous and thermal penetration depth
and should be as small as possible in thermoacoustics.
o=(
o
o
)
2
=

......................(22)

For typical gases this value is usually around 1.

SWIFT THERMOACOUSTIC MODEL

In 1988 Swift published a paper called Thermoacoustic engines in which he describes the
fundamentals of thermoacoustic engines. Swift uses the thermoacoustic theory provided by Rott
which is based on the Navier-Stokes equation.

Swift starts in his paper with a single plate approximation for which he makes many assumptions
and then continues with a numeric model with only few assumptions. He also shows that this
final model, with certain additional assumptions, yields the same results as his single plate
approximation. In the following paragraphs summaries will follow of both models.

3.1. Single plate approximation
In his paper Swift starts with a stack consisting of a single plate and makes many assumptions:

1) The system is in steady state.
2) Short-stack approximation: the stack length L
s
is much smaller than the reduced wavelength

r
The stack will now have no effect on the sound wave, and no pressure drop would occur.
3) The plate is far enough from pressure and velocity nodes that p
osc
and u
osc
can be assumed
uniform over the entire plate.
4) The fluid has zero viscosity so that u
osc
does not depend on y direction.
5) The plate has a large enough heat capacity per unit area that its temperature does not change
appreciably.
6) The plate has a given mean temperature gradient in the x direction called oT
m.
7) The plates thermal conductivity in the x direction is neglected.
8) The fluids thermal conductivity in the x direction is neglected as well.
9) The mean fluid temperature as function of its position in the x direction is independent of y
direction and is the same as that of the plate.
21


Additionally, Swift adds certain boundary conditions. The temperature in the y direction should
be between 0 Kelvin at y=0 and a finite amount of Kelvins at y= . The solution for the
oscillating temperature Swift finds is given by T
m

m
C
p

T
osc
=(
|

o
e
) (
()o
) ................(23)

where | is the thermal expansion coefficient.
The mean-temperature gradient along a stack oT
m
is obtained by dividing the temperature
difference over the stack T
m
with the length of the stack L
s


oT
m
= T
m
/L
s
................(24)
The fluid far from the plate in y direction y>>o
k
makes negligible thermal contact with the plate.
Then setting equation (18) equal to zero gives a critical mean-temperature gradient

oT
crit
=
|e

.......................(25)


The critical temperature gradient is important because, as we will see later, it is the boundary
between a prime mover and a heat pump when oT
m
~ oT
crit.
.

For an ideal gas, the coefficient of thermal expansion is given by |=1/T
m
and the velocity is
given by the volume flow divided by the cross-sectional area u
osc
= U
osc
/A. The critical
temperature gradient along a stack can then be written as
oT
crit
=
e

.............................(26)
Equation (18) shows that the factor with the exponential power reaches a magnitude of 1 for
y>>o
k
and 0 for y << o
k
. Most importantly, for , its magnitude is still of the order of 1, but it
has a substantial imaginary part as can be seen in Figure 13. The pressure oscillations are
between perfectly isothermal at y = o
k
(direct contact with the solid) and nearly adiabatic at y>o
k
(no contact with solid).

22


Figure 11 : The real and imaginary part of the temperature as well as the magnitude
(modulus).


Not shown in this report however, is that both the heat flux and the acoustic power depend on the
imaginary part of Tosc . When the real part is largest and reaches the absolute value (maximum
temperature, maximum pressure), there will be a significant imaginary part around y ~o
k
, and
here the heat transfer takes place. Now this phase shift or delay, caused by the time it takes the
heat to diffuse through the fluid, provides a natural ability to produce the proper phasing for heat
pumping along the stack.
There is one drawback to the imperfect thermal contact between the gas and the solid material of
the stack: heat transfer over a non-zero temperature span must create entropy. This means even
an idealized stack-based thermoacoustic device cannot achieve ideal Carnot thermodynamic
performance if power is produced. Standing-wave devices are thus intrinsic irreversible devices.

Swift derived the following expressions for the heat flux along the single plate stack

H=Q= -

.H. o
k
.T
m
.|.p
osc
.u
osc.
(-1) .........................(27)

In this equation is the temperature gradient factor which is the mean temperature gradient
divided by the critical temperature gradient

23

=
o
o
..........(28)

When the temperature gradient factor equals one, there is no heat flux. When this factor is larger
than one, oT
m
>oT
crit
heat flux is towards the pressure antinode and heat is consumed by the
stack. If the factor is smaller than one, oT
m
<oT
crit
, the heat flux is away from the pressure
antinode and heat is given by the stack. Now if heat exchangers are placed at the ends of the
plate, this heat flux is able to carry heat from one exchanger to the other.
The phase shift in the oscillating temperature of the standing-wave at y ~ o
k
leads to the work
flux or the acoustic power as mentioned.

The total acoustic power produced in the single plate is given by

W=E=

.H.o
k
.L
s
.
|e

(p
osc
)
2
.(-1) ..............................(29)


The equation is quite similar to the equation for the heat flux, and it can be seen that the work
flux has the same dependency on the temperature gradient factor as the heat flux.

Now when the work flux is divided by the heat flux, an equation is obtained which very much
resembles the critical temperature gradient. Substituting these variables with the critical
temperature gradient gives, assuming the heat flux is constant along the stack, the efficiency for
a prime mover
q=

=
o

=
q

....................... (30)
This equation shows the fundamental conflict between power and efficiency. For high efficiency
the temperature gradient factor approaches one, which means the critical temperature gradient
and the actual temperature gradient are equal and no power is created.


Similarly, the coefficient of performance for a refrigerator becomes


COP=

o
= .

= .COPC ........................... (31)

and we see again that Carnot efficiency is approached only when approaches one.



24

By making the mentioned assumptions, Swift arrived at the following central thermoacoustic
engine effects:

1) The thermal boundary condition imposed on the fluid by the plate causes a phase shift in time
of the oscillating temperature in the fluid about a thermal penetration depth away from the
plate.
2) Heat flows hydrodynamically, parallel to the plate in the fluid about a thermal penetration
depth away from the plate.
3) Acoustic power is absorbed or produced by the fluid about a thermal penetration depth away
from the plate.
4) Whether heat flows up or down the temperature gradient, and whether power is absorbed or
produced, depends on the magnitude of the mean-temperature gradient relative to a critical
temperature gradient.

Swifts Estimations

The following are a few simple order-of-magnitude estimates based on Swifts approximations.
For standing-wave devices the total power in the stack is in the order of

H

.|p
osc
|.|U
osc
| ...............................(32)

Swift also showed that the critical temperature gradient is in the same order as the mean
temperature in the stack divided by the reduced wavelength
oT
crit

T
m
/
r


The size or frequency can be estimated using

a = .f ........................(33)

with the length of the device in the range of /4 to /2.










25

GENERAL CALCULATIONS

Calculations are in general done for a pressure of 5 bars and ambient temperature of 293 Kelvin.
1. General values
The length of the device is one meter and the wavelength will be
=2.L=2.1= 2m

The value k of the wave is

k=
t

=
t

= 3.14 m
-1

The reduced wavelength is


r
=

=.318 m

With room temperature the velocity of sound is 343 m/s and the frequency becomes

f=

= 172 Hz

Angular frequency becomes

e=2tf=1080 rad/s

The cross section area of the tube is acircle with adia of 0.10 m

A
total
=

.t.d
2
= 79 cm
2



Even though the penetration depths are not same in all the parts it is calculated as per the ambient
conditions.

The thermal penetration depth is given by

o
k
=

e
=

= .089 mm

The viscous penetration depth is given by

o
v
=

e
=
()
()()
=.075 mm


26

The prandtl number will be
o=(
o
o
)
2
=

= 0.71




Stacks

The stack should preferably consist of small rectangular channels. A ceramic called Celcor 400
is used:
- Type: Celcor
- Length 2.5 cm stack L =2.5 cm
- Half pore width a=b=.660 mm
- Half thickness of walls l=.070 mm
- Thermal conductivity k= 2.5 Wm
-1
K
-1

The width of the gaps in the stack should be a few times the thermal penetration depth, since the
imaginary part of the temperature is largest here. Both stacks are of the material Celcor and have
similar dimensions; half the width of the pores is a=b= .660 mm and half the thickness of the
walls is l= .070 mm. The volumetric porosity then becomes
= BR =

()()
=

()()
=0.82

The area available for the gas .Total cross sectional area multiplied with volumetric porosity

A
gas
=.A
total
= 0.82*79= 64cm
2

For adecent compromise in acoustic power andhigh efficiency The optimal position of the stack
is given by:-

x= /20 = 2/20 = 0.10 m

This is the distance from pressure antinode. Both stacks are at the same distance from the pressure
antinodes. The lengths of the stack can be found by optimization. This was done in DeltaE and will not be
shown here.
A final length of 2.5 cm for both stacks was chosen since the stack material was only available in
this thickness. A slightly thicker one for the refrigerator is recommended, although it depends on
the wanted temperature difference across the stack.

The mean temperature difference divided by across the length for refrigerator will be

oT
m
=

= 520 K/m
27


The estimated critical temperature gradient is

oT
crit
= T
m
/
r
= 293/.318= 920 K/m


The approximated critical temperature gradient for the refrigerator becomes

oT
crit
=
e

=
()()()
()()()
=1060 K/m

The temperature gradient operatorfor the refrigerator is

=
o
o
=

=0.54

COP of the designed model is given by

COP
rev carnot
=

= 21.5

And actual COP of the model is
COP
actual
=.COP
rev,carnot
= .54*21.5= 11.63















28

MODELLING USING DELTA-E SOFTWARE

For modeling and predictions on the behavior of thermoacoustic devices DeltaE software is used
in conjunction with the approximations from chapter 3. The exact version of the software is
DeltaEC . DeltaE software can be used for free for non-commerical use.
DeltaE, short for Design Environment for Low-Amplitude ThermoAcoustic Engines, is
developed at Los Alamos National Laboratory. This software can perform calculations on all
kinds of acoustic devices using a numeric approach.
A text-based model of a device is built out of different segments. These segments can be a tube,
a heat exchanger, stack, speaker, etc. The segments are written in sequence, corresponding to the
actual location of each part of the device.
A set of guessed and target values have to be chosen by the user to decide which variables need
to be computed and which conditions must be fulfilled. DeltaE tries to reach the targets by
changing the values in the guessed values. The guess values have to be chosen within an
acceptable range for the solution to converge.
An initial model is mainly based on rough estimates and certain constraints. With those
estimations and constraints, DeltaE can do initial calculations and based on those results, the user
can further change and optimize the model.
As said, DeltaE uses a numeric approach to calculate all important parameters of an entire
thermoacoustic device. However, it is difficult to optimize with DeltaE because of this numeric
approach. The linear approximations from chapter 3 luckily do offer a method for optimization
since the equations can be solved separately for the engine and the refrigerator. By putting these
results in DeltaE much better results are obtained.











29

TITLE Model for thermoacoustic refrigeration

!->C:\Users\a\Desktop\google drive\Thermoacoustic refrigeration
model.out
!Created@22:36:51 06-Nov-2013 with DeltaEC version 6.3b11.12!under
win32,
using Win 6.1.7600 () under Python DeltaEC.
!--------------------------------- 0 --------------------------------
-
BEGIN Initial Parameters
!All Pressures from 1 to 25 bar give realistic results.
1.0133E+05 a Mean P Pa
176.71 b Freq Hz
298.00 c TBeg K
1.3458E+04 d |p| Pa
0.0000 e Ph(p) deg
0.0000 f |U| m^3/s
0.0000 g Ph(U) deg
0.0000 h Htot W
air Gas type
!--------------------------------- 1 --------------------------------
SURFACE Top
!Area belongs to dia of .10 m
7.8540E-03 a Area m^2 1.3458E+04 A |p| Pa
0.0000 B Ph(p) deg
3.2852E-05 C |U| m^3/s
180.00 D Ph(U) deg
0.0000 E Htot W
stainless Solid type -0.22106 F Edot W
!--------------------------------- 2 --------------------------------
DUCT Top Cylinder
sameas 1a a Area m^2 Mstr 1.3047E+04 A |p| Pa
0.31416 b Perim m 2a 1.0708E-02 B Ph(p) deg
7.7000E-02 c Length m 6.3154E-02 C |U| m^3/s
5.0000E-04 d Srough -90.117 D Ph(U) deg
0.0000 E Htot W
stainless Solid type -0.91726 F Edot W
!--------------------------------- 3 --------------------------------
HX Heat input - warm side - power input
!!Heat xchangers are fin types.
7.8000E-03 a Area m^2 1.3001E+04 A |p| Pa
0.5000 b GasA/A 2.9854E-02 B Ph(p) deg
2.0000E-03 c Length m 6.3981E-02 C |U| m^3/s
1.0000E-03 d y0 m -90.143 D Ph(U) deg
95.151 e HeatIn W G 95.151 E Htot W
0.0000 f SolidT K -1.2575 F Edot W
298.00 G GasT K
copper Solid type 390.93 H SolidT K

!--------------------------------- 4 --------------------------------
STKRECT Warm Stack
!!The gaps are rectangular so STKRECT is used.
30

sameas 1a a Area m^2 1.2509E+04 A |p| Pa
0.81741 b GasA/A 0.61514 B Ph(p) deg
2.5000E-02 c Length m 8.0101E-02 C |U| m^3/s
6.6000E-04 d aa m -89.712 D Ph(U) deg
7.0000E-05 e Lplate m 95.151 E Htot W
sameas 4d f bb m -2.8635 F Edot W
298.00 G TBeg K
celcor Solid type 254.60 H TEnd K
!--------------------------------- 5 --------------------------------
HX Heat input-Cold side-ambient temp
sameas 1a a Area m^2 1.2235E+04 A |p| Pa
0.5000 b GasA/A 0.72379 B Ph(p) deg
8.0000E-03 c Length m 8.3249E-02 C |U| m^3/s
1.0000E-03 d y0 m -89.77 D Ph(U) deg
17.879 e HeatIn W G 113.03 E Htot W
0.0000 f SolidT K -4.3852 F Edot W
254.60 G GasT K
copper Solid type 258.90 H SolidT K
!--------------------------------- 6 --------------------------------
DUCT Resonator
sameas 1a a Area m^2 Mstr 1.2929E+04 A |p| Pa
0.31416 b Perim m 6a -179.43 B Ph(p) deg
0.7500 c Length m 3.8335E-02 C |U| m^3/s
5.0000E-04 d Srough -86.317 D Ph(U) deg
113.03 E Htot W
stainless Solid type -13.453 F Edot W
!--------------------------------- 7 --------------------------------
HX Cold output - cold side -> power output
sameas 1a a Area m^2 1.3052E+04 A |p| Pa
sameas 5b b GasA/A -179.44 B Ph(p) deg
sameas 5c c Length m 3.5043E-02 C |U| m^3/s
sameas 5d d y0 m -85.845 D Ph(U) deg
-100.0 e HeatIn W 13.030 E Htot W
0.0000 f SolidT K -14.341 F Edot W
254.60 G GasT K
copper Solid type 230.54 H SolidT K
!--------------------------------- 8 --------------------------------
-
STKRECT Cold stack
sameas 1a a Area m^2 1.3240E+04 A |p| Pa
0.81741 b GasA/A -179.56 B Ph(p) deg
2.5000E-02 c Length m 1.7349E-02 C |U| m^3/s
sameas 4d d aa m -78.262 D Ph(U) deg
sameas 4e e Lplate m 13.030 E Htot W
sameas 8d f bb m -22.496 F Edot W
254.60 G TBeg K
celcor Solid type 276.07 H TEnd K
!--------------------------------- 9 --------------------------------
-
HX Cold output - warm side -> ambient temp
sameas 1a a Area m^2 1.3288E+04 A |p| Pa
sameas 5b b GasA/A -179.53 B Ph(p) deg
31

sameas 5c c Length m 1.4077E-02 C |U| m^3/s
sameas 5d d y0 m -75.086 D Ph(U) deg
-13.394 e HeatIn W G -0.36367 E Htot W
0.0000 f SolidT K -23.329 F Edot W
276.07 G GasT K
copper Solid type 272.48 H SolidT K
!--------------------------------- 10 --------------------------------
-
DUCT Bottom Cylinder
sameas 1a a Area m^2 Mstr 1.2993E+04 A |p| Pa
0.31416 b Perim m 10a -179.29 B Ph(p) deg
8.2000E-02 c Length m 5.3237E-02 C |U| m^3/s
5.0000E-04 d Srough 86.727 D Ph(U) deg
-0.36367 E Htot W
stainless Solid type -23.998 F Edot W
!--------------------------------- 11 --------------------------------
-
SURFACE Bottom
sameas 1a a Area m^2 1.2993E+04 A |p| Pa
-179.29 B Ph(p) deg
5.3239E-02 C |U| m^3/s
86.695 D Ph(U) deg
-0.36367 E Htot W
ideal Solid type -24.19 F Edot W
!--------------------------------- 12 --------------------------------
-
HARDEND End
sameas 12G a R(1/z) =12G 1.2993E+04 A |p| Pa
sameas 12H b I(1/z) =12H -179.29 B Ph(p) deg
sameas 12E c Htot W =12E 5.3239E-02 C |U| m^3/s
86.695 D Ph(U) deg
-0.36367 E Htot W
-24.19 F Edot W
-1.5539E-02 G R(1/z)
-0.22164 H I(1/z)
! The restart information below was generated by a previous run
! and will be used by DeltaEC the next time it opens this file.
guessz 3e 5e 9e
xprecn 1.0339E-04 7.6451E-05 1.5290E-04
targs 12a 12b 12c
hilite 0c 0d 3e
mstr-slave 3 2 -2 6 -2 10 -2
! Plot start, end, and step values. May be edited if you wish.
! Outer Loop: | Inner Loop .




32

RESULTS AND CONCLUSIONS

During all this time a literature study on thermoacoustics has been done, as well as modeling of a
device, for testing purposes was done The goal of the project was to develop a refrigerator. A
DeltaE model and calculations were made for a refrigerator however, the device itself was not
constructed because of lack of time and the other complications. The main point of TAR study
suggests that despite a very low efficiency, due to experimental conditions in very limited budget
academic environment and at atmospheric pressure, the system already exhibits interesting
cooling capacity. Significant temperature difference has been measured over a period of time,
providing a proof of principle for modest size systems. If it is not possible to act on time
variation, it is possible to influence the magnitude of temperature curve. As shown by theoretical
study, thermal power varies linearly with pressure, once all other variables are fixed. So the
interest of the device is increased when it is pressurized as evident from experimental and
theoretical efficiencies. The results suggest a forthcoming more complete theoretical study to be
done in continuity of present project, taking into account physical imperfections of fluids,
introduction of more appropriate heat sources and with a more relevant experimental model.
The only moving part in a thermoacoustic heat pump is the vibrating loudspeaker, so the
technology should prove to be reliable as well as low in cost. Thermoacoustic heat pumps also
use environmentally benign noble gases or mixtures there of another advantage is that
thermoacoustic devices are well suited for proportional control, i.e., the ability to adjust the
cooling output provided by the cooler to the heat load. This should result in an efficiency
advantage compared to smaller vapor compression cooling systems that are usually operated
only at full capacity and are cycled on and off to match the cooling load.
Thermoacoustic coolers can also be easily powered directly from a heat source. This is
accomplished by coupling a thermoacoustic engine and cooler into one devicethe heat powers
the engine, which generates the acoustic power used by the cooler. Unfortunately,
thermoacoustic cooling is currently less efficient than vapor compression cooling.. Power density
could also be an issue for some applications where space is limited. However, there are no
apparent barriers limiting improvement upon these deficiencies with further research and
development.
Currently, no thermoacoustic air-conditioning technology has been commercialized. Cool Sound
Industries, Inc. and ThermoAcoustics Corp. have launched websites, but at this point, they serve
only to promote thermoacoustic air conditioning along with other applications. Another
commercial entity, Clever Fellows Innovation Consortium, Inc., has already begun selling
thermoacoustic cryocoolers. According to the research group at Pennsylvania State University,
the largest hurdle to commercialization is the lack of individuals with the necessary background
in acoustics, transduction, heat exchanger design, and instrumentation. Additionally, they
mention the lack of suppliers for the specialized components (acoustic drivers, stacks and
regenerators, and heat exchangers) that are needed to make a thermoacoustic device. At this
point, most of the components must be custom designed and manufactured. The current focus,
specifically in air-conditioning applications, is to improve efficiency as well as to increase power
density. Stack-based coolers currently have an efficiency 20-30% below equivalent vapor
compression coolers. Traveling-wave coolers, being intrinsically more efficient than stack-
based coolers, have potentially better performance, yet no theoretical or experimental
performance data could be found for this type of device.
33

REFERENCES
1. J. W. Strutt (Lord Rayleigh), The Theory of Sound,
2.T. Yazaki, A. Tominaga, and Y. Narahara, "Experiments on Thermally Driven Acoustic
Oscillations of Gaseous Helium," J. Low Temp. Phys, 41,45 (1980).
3.J. C. Wheatley, T. Hofler, G. W. Swift, and A. Migliori, "Experiments with an Intrinsically
4.Irreversible Acoustic Heat Engine," Phys. Rev. Lett. 50, 499 (1983); "An Intrinsically
5. Irreversible Thermoacoustic Heat Engine," J. Acoust. SOC. Am. 74, 153 (1983); "
6. Heat Pumping Engine," U.S. Patent No. 4,398,398 (Aug. 16, 1983); "Intrinsically
7. Irreversible Heat Engine," U.S. Patent No. 4,489,553 @ec. 25, 1984).
8. T. J. Hofler, "Thermoacoustic Refrigerator Design and Performance," Ph.D. dissertation,
9. Physics Dept., Univ. Calif. San Diego (1986); "Concepts for Thermoacoustic
Refrigeration
10.G. W. Swift, "Thermoacoustic Engines," J. Acoust. Soc. Am. 84(4), 1145-1 180 (1988).
11. "Acoustic Cooling Engine," U. S. Patent No. 4,722,201 (Feb. 2, 1988).
12 S. L. Garrett, J. A. Adeff, and T. J. Hofler, ThermoAcoustic Refrigeration for Space