ThermoAcoustic Refrigeration

ThermoAcoustic Refrigeration Generation Engineering Team

Team Members

Trevor Bourgeois Mike Horne Peter Smith Erin MacNeil

Supervisor Dr. Murat Koksal

Design Description

Thermoacoustic Refrigerator

Unpressurized System Air as Gas Medium Loudspeaker as Acoustic Driver Variable design (stacks)

Advantages of Thermoacoustic Refrigeration

No Environmentally-Harmful Refrigerants Mechanically Simple

Summary of Fall Term

Work to understand Theory Development of Mathematical Model Construction of two Prototypes

Standing wave created No DT

Identification of Stack as most important component

Main Prototype Components

Speaker Gas Tube Stack Heat Exchangers

Speaker

Considerations

Power Capacity Frequency Response

Choice

10 inch Operates At Low Frequencies (100 Hz) 400 W Maximum Power

Gas Medium

Considerations

Physical Properties Sealing Cost

Choice

Air Atmospheric Pressure

Tube

Considerations

Length Diameter Sound Reflection Low Acoustic Losses Sound Transmission 1.5 PVC Tube Flat End c l 2f

Choice

Stack

Considerations

Gap Size Material properties Material thickness Location Length Does not impede wave Paper Aluminum Screen

Choice

Heat Exchangers

Considerations

Material Type

Choice

Aluminum Water Circulated

Stack

Solid Porous Material Give And Takes Heat From Gas Heat Transfer DT Across

Design Considerations

Gap Size Solid Thickness Position Length Ability Of Sound To Pass Through Physical Properties

Stack Designs

Foil Paper Foam Lexan Screen

Foil

Aluminum Foil Crimped Rolled Up Around Centre Post

Foil
ALUMINUM FOIL STACK Value Units Outer Diameter 47.86 mm Length 63.63 mm Gap Size 1.07 mm Foil Thickness 0.1 mm Center Post Diameter 2.42 mm Thermal Conductivity 180 W/m*K Density 2790 Kg/m3

Paper

Couragrated Paper Rolled Up

Paper
PAPER STACK Value Outer Diameter 49.8 Length 55.4 Gap Size 1.44 Paper Thickness 0.12 Thermal Conductivity 0.18 Density 930

Units mm mm mm mm W/m*K Kg/m

3

Foam

Open Cell Foam Cut To Approximate Shape Tape To Hold Two Pieces Together

Foam
PLASTIC FOAM STACK Value Outer Diameter 51.14 Length 54.04 Gap Size 0.5

Units mm mm mm

Lexan

Strips Thin Lexan Monofilament Fishing Line Used As Spacers Rolled Up Around A Pencil

Lexan
LEXAN STACK Value Outer Diameter (no tape) 45.18 Outer Diameter (with tape) 48.71 Length 51.9 Gap Size 0.4 Lexan Thickness 0.2032 Center Post Diameter 7.03 Thermal Conductivity 0.18 Density 1119

Units mm mm mm mm mm mm W/m*K Kg/m^3

Screen

Aluminum Screen Punch To Cut Circles Many Layers

Screen
ALUMINUM SCREEN STACK Value Units Outer Diameter 50.56 mm Length 51 mm Gap Size 1.69 mm Wire Diameter 0.24 mm Thermal Conductivity 180 W/m*K Density 2790 Kg/m^3

Experimental Setup
Thermocouples

Pressure Transducers

Maximum Pressure vs. Frequency

Stack Pressure at 26.5 W vs Frequency
7000 6000
Pressure (Pa)

5000 4000 3000 2000 1000 110 130 150 170 190 210 230 250 Frequency (Hz) Paper Lexan Aluminum Foil Foam Aluminum Screen

Stack Temperature vs. Time @130Hz

Stack Temperatures vs. Time
50 45 40

Temp(degC)

35 30 25 20 15 10 0 10 20 30 40 50 60 70 80 90

Time(s)
Screen Hot Side Lexan Hot Side Foil Hot Side Screen Cold Side Lexan Cold Side Foil Cold Side Foam Hot Side Paper Hot Side Ambient Foam Cold Side Paper Cold Side

Stack Temperatures at 36 Watts

Aluminum Screen Lexan Aluminum Foil 42 C Paper 48 C 36 C 44 C Foam

44 C

18 C

21 C

24 C

25 C

18 C

26 C

Temperature Difference 30 C 18 C 15 C

19 C

Temperature vs. Frequency

Stack Temperature vs Frequency
30.00
Temperature Difference

25.00 20.00 15.00 10.00 5.00 0.00 110 130 150 170 190 Frequency (Hz) Paper Aluminum Foil Foam Aluminum Screen Lexan 210 230 250

Temperature vs. Speaker Power

Power vs. Stack Temperature Difference

Tem perature Difference (degC)

40 35 30 25 20 15 10 5 0 0 20 40 Power (W)
ALUMINUM FOIL FOAM LEXAN PAPER ALUMINUM SCREEN

60

80

Temperature vs. Radial Distance

46.4 46.7 46.4

41.7 39.5 39.2

Stack Ranking

Pairwise Ranking Method

Important Attributes Determined

Ranked According to Importance For Each Stack

Attribute Compatibility Cost LTCS Manu. P/E DT Compatibility ----------0 0 0 0 2 Cost 2 ----------2 1 1 2 LTCS 2 0 ----------0 0 2 Manu. 2 1 2 ----------1 2 P/E 2 1 2 1 ----------2 0 0 0 0 0 ----------DT Sum 8 2 6 2 2 10 Weight 0.267 0.067 0.2 0.067 0.067 0.333

Stack Ranking

Aggregate Scoring System

10 = Highly Effective 0 = Not Effective

Al Screen 6 6 9 7 5 9 7.605 Paper 5 8 8 9 5 9 7.406 Foam 7 8 2 10 4 4 5.075 Lexan 5 8 6 1 3 5 5.004 Al Foil 4 8 3 4 4 6 4.738 Weight 0.267 0.067 0.2 0.067 0.067 0.333 1

Attribute Compatibility Cost LTCS Manu. P/E DT Score

Stack Temperature Results

Heat Exchanger

Cold Side

Hot Side temperature To use the cold Heat Exchanger produced and cool a cold space

Hot Side

Wooden Cartridge

Experiments: heat conduction from hot side to cold side If we cool Cold Side Heat Exchanger be the hot side, we will able to obtain a colder cold side

Heat Exchanger Evolution

Four Bolt Holes
Floating fastener assembly

Heat exchanger must be compatible with our present design

Center Hole
To hold part of the stack

Heat Exchanger Evolution

Drill Thru Channel Design
Manufacturing

Drill three thru holes Intersect at right angles Four ends tapped and plugged Front two ends tapped for a 1/8 NPT thread

Heat Exchanger Evolution

Drill Thru Channel Design
Pros: Few manufacturing steps
Low cost operation

Cons: Long enough drill bit

Possible tool wandering

Heat Exchanger Evolution

Tube Flow Design
Manufacturing

CNC machine a pocket for the tube insert Tube insert

Machined block Connects five 1/16 diameter tubes.

Tube Insert

Seal with silicone Drill and tap two ends for a 1/8 NPT thread

Heat Exchanger Evolution

Tube Flow Design
Pros: Greater heat transfer rate Cons: Higher manufacturing costs
Longer build time Sealing 1 Larger pump ( P 4 )

Heat Exchanger Evolution

CNC Milled Channel Design
Manufacturing
CNC end mill curved profile Thickness of wall is 2mm a2 Pi Po m ax 1 2 y 2 2 a b Front two ends drill and tap for a 1/8 NPT thread

Heat Exchanger Evolution

CNC Milled Channel Design
Pros: Better rate of heat transfer
than the first design. Lower machining costs than the second design.

Cons: Sealing

Heat Exchanger Setup

Hot Side Heat Exchanger

Wooden Cartridge Cold Side Heat Exchanger

Reservoir

Large Reservoir to keep water at a constant temperature

Heat Exchanger Setup

Hot Side Heat Exchanger

Represents our refrigerating capacity

Wooden Cartridge Cold Side Heat Exchanger

Cold Space

Heat Exchanger Experiments

H.E. Experiment (Aluminum Screen)
50 45 40

+ve Slope

Temperature (C)

35 30 25 20 15 10 5 0 0 20 40 60 80 100 120

-ve Slope

+ve Slope -ve Slope

5.5C

Time (s)
Cold Side - No Pump Cold Side - Hot Side Pump Hot Side - No Pump Hot Side - Hot Side Pump Ambient

Heat Exchanger Experiments

4.8C in 30 minutes

1.2C in 30 minutes

Cold Space

Cold Space

Cooling From Prototype

Cooling from atmosphere

Heat Exchanger Experiments

3.6C in 30 minutes

Heat removal rate of 16.7W

Cold Space

Speaker drawing power at 90.25W

COP = 0.185

Cooling From Prototype

Comparison with Project Goals

Less than meter long, less than 20lb DT of 5-10C below ambient (17 C) Sound Insulation Introduce Heat Exchangers 10-20 Watts Cooling (16.7 W) Build for less than $2,000.00 Users Manual

Recommendations

Theoretical Work

Calculate Operating Frequency Heat Exchanger Calculations

Recommendations

Theoretical Work Experimentation

Stack Gap Size Stack Location Stack Length

Recommendations

Theoretical Work Experimentation Equipment Improvements

Pressure Transducers Signal Generator

Recommendations

Theoretical Work Experimentation Equipment Improvements Design Changes

Speaker Funneling Helium Heat Exchangers Insulation (thermal, acoustic) Mechanical Resonator

Term Summary

Built prototype with variable stacks Performed comprehensive set of experiments Determined optimum stack Designed Heat Exchanger Heat Exchanger tests performed 16.7 W cooling power Coefficient of Performance 0.185

Thank You

Questions??