Numerical simulation on onset characteristics of traveling-wave thermoacoustic engines based on a time-domain network model
File(s)
Author(s)
Type
Journal Article
Abstract
Onset characteristics of thermoacoustic engines are of great importance for understanding the internal working mechanisms of thermoacoustic conversion. A one-dimensional time-domain network model for predicting the onset characteristics of traveling-wave thermoacoustic engines with helium as working gas is built. The acoustic resistance, inertance, compliance, and thermal-relaxation effects of all the acoustic components are included. The viscous and heat transfer terms in the time-domain governing equations of the acoustic tubes and the heat exchangers are deduced from the frequency-domain linear thermoacoustic theory. Combining the time-domain governing equations of the regenerator, numerical simulations of the whole onset process are then conducted in a wide operating condition range. The complete dynamic pressure wave evolution processes are simulated successfully. It is shown that a steady standing-wave acoustic field forms in almost all parts of the traveling-wave thermoacoustic engine except for the regenerator area. Onset temperature, operating frequency, and quality factor are calculated with a relatively high accuracy. The thermal relaxation effects in the regenerator are found to have a remarkable impact on the onset characteristics, especially at high mean pressures. It is also shown that the experimental damping temperature is closer to the calculated onset temperature than the experimental onset temperature. Furthermore, the reasonable distributions of the pressure and volume flow rate and the phase relationship between them in the whole system are obtained and analyzed.
Date Issued
2015-08-01
Date Acceptance
2015-02-20
Citation
International Journal of Thermal Sciences, 2015, 94, pp.61-71
ISSN
1290-0729
Publisher
Elsevier
Start Page
61
End Page
71
Journal / Book Title
International Journal of Thermal Sciences
Volume
94
Copyright Statement
© 2015 Elsevier Masson SAS. All rights reserved. This manuscript is licensed under the Creative Commons Attribution-NonCommercial-NoDerivatives 4.0 International http://creativecommons.org/licenses/by-nc-nd/4.0/
Identifier
http://gateway.webofknowledge.com/gateway/Gateway.cgi?GWVersion=2&SrcApp=PARTNER_APP&SrcAuth=LinksAMR&KeyUT=WOS:000355029000007&DestLinkType=FullRecord&DestApp=ALL_WOS&UsrCustomerID=1ba7043ffcc86c417c072aa74d649202
Subjects
Science & Technology
Physical Sciences
Technology
Thermodynamics
Engineering, Mechanical
Engineering
Thermoacoustic
Onset
Regenerator
Acoustic
Time-domain
NONLINEAR PROCESSES
THERMODYNAMIC ANALYSIS
ELECTRIC GENERATOR
PRIME MOVERS
HEAT ENGINE
COUPLES
FIELDS
FLUXES
SOUND
TUBE
Publication Status
Published
Date Publish Online
2015-03-20