Temperature Difference and Stack Plate Spacing Effects on Thermodynamic Performances of Standing-Wave Thermoacoustic Engines Driven by Cryogenic Liquids and Waste Heat

The standing-wave thermoacoustic engines (TAE) are applied in practice to convert thermal power into acoustic one to generate electricity or to drive cooling devices. Although there is a number of existing numerical researches that provides a design tool for predicting standing-wave TAE performances, few existing works that compare TAE driven by cryogenic liquids and waste heat, and optimize its performance by varying the stack plate spacing. This present work is primarily concerned with the numerical investigation of the performance of TAEs driven by cryogenic liquids and waste heat. For this, three-dimensional (3-D) standing-wave TAE models are developed. Mesh- and time-independence studies are conducted first. Model validations are then performed by comparing with the numerical results available in the literature. The validated model is then applied to simulate the standing-wave TAEs driven by the cryogenic liquids and the waste heat, as the temperature gradient Delta T is varied. It is found that limit cycle oscillations in both systems are successfully generated and the oscillations amplitude is increased with increased Delta T. Nonlinearity is identified with acoustic streaming and the flow reversal occurring through the stack. Comparison studied are then conducted between the cryogenic liquid-driven TAE and that driven by waste heat in the presence of the same temperature gradient Delta T. It is shown that the limit cycle frequency of the cryogenic liquid system is 4.72% smaller and the critical temperature Delta T-cri =131 K is lower than that of the waste heat system (Delta T-cri =187 K). Furthermore, the acoustic power is increased by 31% and the energy conversion efficiency is found to increase by 0.42%. Finally, optimization studies on the stack plate spacing are conducted in TAE system driven by cryogenic liquids. It is found that the limit cycle oscillation frequency is increased with the decreased ratio between the stack plate spacing and the heat penetration depth. When the ratio is set to between 2 and 3, the overall performance of the cryogenic liquid-driven TAE has been greatly improved. In summary, the present model can be used as a design tool to evaluate standing-wave TAE performances with detailed thermodynamics and acoustics characteristics. The present findings provide useful guidance for the design and optimization of high-efficiency standing-wave TAE for recovering low-temperature fluids or heat sources.

Automated summary

This study numerically investigates the performance of standing-wave thermoacoustic engines driven by cryogenic liquids and waste heat. The results show that increasing the temperature gradient leads to larger oscillation amplitudes and the presence of nonlinearity caused by acoustic streaming and flow reversal. Comparison between cryogenic liquid-driven TAE and waste heat-driven TAE reveals differences in limit cycle frequency, critical temperature, acoustic power, and energy conversion efficiency.