Measurement of Heat Flow Transmitted through a Stacked-Screen Regenerator of Thermoacoustic Engine

Abstract

Abstract:A stacked-screen regenerator is a key component in a thermoacoustic Stirling engine. Therefore, the choice of suitable mesh screens is important in the engine design. To verify the applicability of four empirical equations used in the field of thermoacoustic engines and Stirling engines, this report describes the measurements of heat flow rates transmitted through the stacked screen regenerator inserted in an experimental setup filled with pressurized Argon gas having mean pressure of 0.45 MPa. Results show that the empirical equations reproduce the measured heat flow rates to a mutually similar degree, although their derivation processes differ. Additionally, results suggest that two effective pore radii would be necessary to account for the viscous and thermal behaviors of the gas oscillating in the stacked-screen regenerators.

Performance optimization of the regenerator of a looped thermoacoustic engine powered by low-grade heat

“…In Equation 10, the first and second terms represent the acoustic power loss from thermal relaxation and viscosity, respectively. The last term describes the effect of thermal-to-acoustic conversion.…”

“…The last term describes the effect of thermal-to-acoustic conversion. 13 However, a small r h will also lead to severe viscous loss according to Equation 10. Firstly, the crosssectional area A g is one of the parameters determining the viscous loss.…”

“…The last term describes the effect of thermal-to-acoustic conversion. Equation 10 indicates that the dimensions of regenerator play a key role in the acoustic power amplification. Firstly, the crosssectional area A g is one of the parameters determining the viscous loss.…”

“…Yu and Jaworski studied the performance of the parallel-plate and stacked-screen regenerators in a TWTAE. 9,10 However, the solution to suppressing this effect was not discussed. 6 By investigating the geometrical and thermal characteristics of regenerators with different materials, Guedra et al claimed that the carbon foam was the most efficient material for the regenerator in a TWTAE.…”

Modeling of Heat Transfer and Oscillating Flow in the Regenerator of a Pulse Tube Cryocooler Operating at 50 Hz

“…They also studied the effects of temperature field, gravity and device orientation on the oscillatory flow [13]. Hsu and Biwa [14] carried out an experimental study on the heat flow in different mesh screen regenerators and compared the experimental result with four empirical equations, and concluded that all four empirical equations reproduce the measured heat flow rates to a similar degree.…”