Theory of inert gas-condensing vapor thermoacoustics: Propagation equation

The theory of acoustic propagation in an inert gas-condensing vapor mixture contained in a cylindrical pore with wet walls and an imposed temperature gradient is developed. It is shown that the vapor diffusion effects in the mixture are analogous to the heat diffusion effects in the thermoacoustics of inert gases, and that these effects occur in parallel with the heat diffusion effects in the wet system. The vapor diffusion effects can be expressed in terms of the thermoviscous function F(lambda) used in the theory of sound propagation of constant cross-section tubes. As such, these results can be extended to any shape parallel-walled tube. The propagation equations predict that the temperature gradient required for onset of sound amplification in a wet-walled prime mover is much lower than the corresponding temperature gradient for an inert gas prime mover. The results of a measurement of the onset temperature of a simple demonstration prime mover in air with a dry stack and with a stack wetted with water provide a qualitative verification of the theory. (C) 2002 Acoustical Society of America.