Design and Manufacturing of An Air-Filled Travelling-wave Thermo-acoustic Generator

This work presents the design and manufacturing process of a travelling-wave thermo-acoustic electricity generator with a total length of 3600mm, where the thermo-acoustic engine stages are spaced 650mm apart. The document provides comprehensive insights into the design and fabrication of individual components and the manufacturing procedures employed for all subcomponents. The primary objective of this model is to reduce the system's onset temperature and harness low-grade waste heat to generate electricity. Each engine stage features an identical geometrical configuration. The porous material utilized in this system is composed of cordierite honeycomb ceramic material. These regenerators are integrated within a thermo-acoustic core constructed from stainless steel. To showcase the potential of this approach and demonstrate the model's feasibility, the highest recorded output voltage reached 3.44V, corresponding to a sound pressure level (SPL) of 112.6dB. Notably, this low-cost air-filled four-stage traveling-wave thermo-acoustic generator can operate with a minimal temperature difference of 22.62°C, making it highly suitable for utilizing low-grade heat. To measure the working pressure within the traveling-wave thermo-acoustic generator, a two-microphone measurement method was employed. The recorded pressure amplitude was used to estimate the generated output acoustic power.