Numerical analysis of the performance of an adjustable thermoacoustically-driven thermo-acoustic refrigerator

Thermo-acoustic refrigeration could potentially become an alternative option to current traditional refrigeration systems provided that the issue related to its efficiency is addressed. One of the incentives for developing this technology is the opportunity it establishes with respect to the use of a sustainable heat source to induce cooling. Many existing works have pointed out the relationship between the geometrical configuration of the device and its performance. Mainly, the stack geometry and position have been the focus of these previous works. In this work, a standing-wave ThermoAcoustically-Driven Thermo-Acoustic Refrigerator with an adjustable resonator has been developed. Hence the device is made of two portions, joined with an adjustable duct, namely a simple standing-wave thermo-acoustic engine that converts heat into a sound wave and a simple thermo-acoustic refrigerator where heat pumping takes place. The Design Environment for Low-amplitude ThermoAcoustic Energy Conversion (DELTAEC) was used to model and analyze the influence of the adjustment of the resonator on the cooling performance. Parameters like the temperature difference across the stack, the frequency of the acoustic sound wave generated, the cooling power and the coefficient of performance have been studied. The initial results reported in this study show the possibility to change the performance of practical TADTAR by adjusting the resonator length.