Simulation and experimental studies of twin thermoacoustic prime mover

Abstract

Thermo acoustic prime mover (TAPM) converts thermal energy to acoustic energy and it is one of the alternative method to replace traditional compressor which will drive any cryocooler. The advantages of TAPM are the absence of moving components and they can be driven by solar energy, waste heat etc. In order to develop TAPMs their design and fabrication should be guided by numerical modeling and this may be done by several methods such as solving the energy equation, enthalpy flow model CFD, Delta EC etc. We studied the TAPMs with CFD technique, and Delta EC methods since it provides a better insight into the velocity and temperature profiles. In this article we discuss the influence of working gas (helium, argon and its mixtures). The theoretical results and experimental results are compared and they are in reasonably good agreement.