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A cascade-looped thermoacoustic driven cryocooler with different-diameter resonance tubes. Part I: Theoretical analysis of thermodynamic performance and characteristics

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  • Xu, Jingyuan
  • Hu, Jianying
  • Luo, Ercang
  • Zhang, Limin
  • Dai, Wei

Abstract

A looped-cascade thermoacoustic driven cryocooler is proposed and theoretically studied in this paper. This system is capable of achieving ideal acoustic fields by employing different-diameter resonance tubes. It overcomes the limitations of current configurations and possesses the advantages of high efficiency, large capacity and compact size. First, power matching between the engine-stage number and the working temperatures is investigated. Theoretical results show that either too few or too many engine stages induce negative effects: the former results in low efficiency and the latter results in over-high heating temperatures. Then, thermodynamic characteristics of the three-stage system are presented. Simulation results show that a cooling power of 1.17 kW and an overall relative Carnot efficiency of 15% can be achieved at 110 K, which is superior to the performance of the existing looped configurations. The distributions of key parameters are also presented for a better understanding of the energy conversion process. Finally, the effects of the crucial parameters—resonance-tube area-ratio and engine-regenerator area-ratio—are presented. Simulation results show that having an either too low or too high area-ratio has a significant negative effect on system performance due to improper phase relations and low acoustic impedance.

Suggested Citation

  • Xu, Jingyuan & Hu, Jianying & Luo, Ercang & Zhang, Limin & Dai, Wei, 2019. "A cascade-looped thermoacoustic driven cryocooler with different-diameter resonance tubes. Part I: Theoretical analysis of thermodynamic performance and characteristics," Energy, Elsevier, vol. 181(C), pages 943-953.
  • Handle: RePEc:eee:energy:v:181:y:2019:i:c:p:943-953
    DOI: 10.1016/j.energy.2019.06.009
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    References listed on IDEAS

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    1. Hu, J.Y. & Luo, E.C. & Zhang, L.M. & Chen, Y.Y. & Wu, Z.H. & Gao, B., 2018. "Analysis of a displacer-coupled multi-stage thermoacoustic-Stirling engine," Energy, Elsevier, vol. 145(C), pages 507-514.
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    Cited by:

    1. Luo, Jing & Zhang, Limin & Chen, Yanyan & Sun, Yanlei & Yu, Guoyao & Hu, Jianying & Luo, Ercang, 2023. "Numerical study on a free-piston Stirling electric generator with a gas-spring-postpositioned displacer for high-power applications," Energy, Elsevier, vol. 271(C).
    2. Hu, Yiwei & Xu, Jingyuan & Zhao, Dan & Yang, Rui & Hu, Jianying & Luo, Ercang, 2024. "Analysis on a single-stage direct-coupled thermoacoustic refrigerator driven by low/medium-grade heat," Applied Energy, Elsevier, vol. 361(C).
    3. Hu, Yiwei & Luo, Kaiqi & Zhao, Dan & Chi, Jiaxin & Chen, Geng & Chen, Yuanhang & Luo, Ercang & Xu, Jingyuan, 2024. "Thermoacoustic micro-CHP system for low-grade thermal energy utilization in residential buildings," Energy, Elsevier, vol. 298(C).
    4. Jiang, Zhijie & Xu, Jingyuan & Yu, Guoyao & Yang, Rui & Wu, Zhanghua & Hu, Jianying & Zhang, Limin & Luo, Ercang, 2023. "A Stirling generator with multiple bypass expansion for variable-temperature waste heat recovery," Applied Energy, Elsevier, vol. 329(C).
    5. Guo, Xinru & Guo, Yumin & Wang, Jiangfeng & Zhang, Guolutiao & Wang, Ziyan & Wu, Weifeng & Wang, Shunsen & Zhao, Pan, 2023. "Modeling and thermodynamic analysis of a novel combined cooling and power system composed of alkali metal thermal electric converter and looped multistage thermoacoustically-driven refrigerator," Energy, Elsevier, vol. 263(PD).
    6. Wang, Xin & Xu, Jingyuan & Wu, Zhanghua & Luo, Ercang, 2022. "A thermoacoustic refrigerator with multiple-bypass expansion cooling configuration for natural gas liquefaction," Applied Energy, Elsevier, vol. 313(C).
    7. Xu, Jingyuan & Hu, Jianying & Luo, Ercang & Hu, Jiangfeng & Zhang, Limin & Hochgreb, Simone, 2022. "Numerical study on a heat-driven piston-coupled multi-stage thermoacoustic-Stirling cooler," Applied Energy, Elsevier, vol. 305(C).
    8. Luo, Jing & Sun, Yanlei & Zhang, Limin & Chen, Yanyan & Yu, Guoyao & Hu, Jianying & Luo, Ercang, 2024. "Theoretical exploration of a free-piston Stirling generator with a gas-compressing self-circulating heat exchanger," Applied Energy, Elsevier, vol. 359(C).
    9. Chen, Geng & Wang, Yufan & Tang, Lihua & Wang, Kai & Yu, Zhibin, 2020. "Large eddy simulation of thermally induced oscillatory flow in a thermoacoustic engine," Applied Energy, Elsevier, vol. 276(C).
    10. Xu, Jingyuan & Hu, Jianying & Sun, Yanlei & Wang, Huizhi & Wu, Zhanghua & Hu, Jiangfeng & Hochgreb, Simone & Luo, Ercang, 2020. "A cascade-looped thermoacoustic driven cryocooler with different-diameter resonance tubes. Part Ⅱ: Experimental study and comparison," Energy, Elsevier, vol. 207(C).
    11. Xu, Jingyuan & Luo, Ercang & Hochgreb, Simone, 2021. "A thermoacoustic combined cooling, heating, and power (CCHP) system for waste heat and LNG cold energy recovery," Energy, Elsevier, vol. 227(C).
    12. Xu, Jingyuan & Luo, Ercang & Hochgreb, Simone, 2020. "Study on a heat-driven thermoacoustic refrigerator for low-grade heat recovery," Applied Energy, Elsevier, vol. 271(C).
    13. Bi, Tianjiao & Wu, Zhanghua & Chen, Wei & Zhang, Limin & Luo, Ercang & Zhang, Bin, 2022. "Numerical and experimental research on a high-power 4-stage looped travelling-wave thermoacoustic electric generator," Energy, Elsevier, vol. 239(PB).

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