Design and Assembly of a Thermoacoustic Engine Prototype
Collard, Sophie (2012)
Collard, Sophie
Metropolia Ammattikorkeakoulu
2012
Creative Commons Attribution-NonCommercial-ShareAlike 1.0 Finland
Julkaisun pysyvä osoite on
https://urn.fi/URN:NBN:fi:amk-2012080713086
https://urn.fi/URN:NBN:fi:amk-2012080713086
Tiivistelmä
Thermoacoustics combine thermodynamics, fluid dynamics and acoustics to describe the interactions that exist between heat and sound. Under the right conditions, these interactions can be harnessed to design useful devices that convert heat into large amplitude sound waves and vice-versa. A thermoacoustic engine turns part of the heat flowing through a temperature gradient inside a porous solid into sound waves. The work in these sound waves can then be harnessed with a piston to drive a flywheel or a linear alternator, or it can be used to transport heat from a lower to a higher temperature reservoir in what is known as a thermoacoustic heat pump or refrigerator.
Thermoacoustic devices have two major advantages over conventional technologies: their inherent mechanical simplicity, and the use of environmentally friendly working gases. Despite these qualities, most thermoacoustic engines, heat pumps and refrigerators built to this day were for research purposes, and are seldom encountered in the industry.
This thesis documents the design and assembly of a low cost traveling wave thermoacoustic engine prototype intended for low temperature waste heat recovery. Basics of oscillatory motion, acoustics and thermoacoustics are reviewed in chapter 2. Chapter 3 documents the design and assembly of the prototype while chapter 4 details how the engine’s performance and efficiency will be calculated using experimental data. Finally, chapter 5 provides conclusions and recommendations for future work.
Thermoacoustic devices have two major advantages over conventional technologies: their inherent mechanical simplicity, and the use of environmentally friendly working gases. Despite these qualities, most thermoacoustic engines, heat pumps and refrigerators built to this day were for research purposes, and are seldom encountered in the industry.
This thesis documents the design and assembly of a low cost traveling wave thermoacoustic engine prototype intended for low temperature waste heat recovery. Basics of oscillatory motion, acoustics and thermoacoustics are reviewed in chapter 2. Chapter 3 documents the design and assembly of the prototype while chapter 4 details how the engine’s performance and efficiency will be calculated using experimental data. Finally, chapter 5 provides conclusions and recommendations for future work.