Title:
Feasibility Analysis of an Open Cycle Thermoacoustic Engine with Internal Pulse Combustion

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dc.contributor.advisor Zinn, Ben T.
dc.contributor.author Weiland, Nathan T. en_US
dc.contributor.committeeMember Berthelot, Yves
dc.contributor.committeeMember Lieuwen, Tim
dc.contributor.committeeMember Shelton, Sam
dc.contributor.committeeMember Swift, Greg
dc.contributor.department Mechanical Engineering en_US
dc.date.accessioned 2005-03-01T19:23:30Z
dc.date.available 2005-03-01T19:23:30Z
dc.date.issued 2004-08-20 en_US
dc.description.abstract Thermoacoustic engines convert thermal energy into acoustic energy with few or no moving parts, thus they require little maintenance, are highly reliable, and are inexpensive to produce. These traits make them attractive for applications in remote or portable power generation, where a linear alternator converts the acoustic power into electric power. Their primary application, however, is in driving thermoacoustic refrigerators, which use acoustic power to provide cooling at potentially cryogenic temperatures, also without moving parts. This dissertation examines the feasibility of a new type of thermoacoustic engine, where mean flow and an internal pulse combustion process replace the hot heat exchanger in a traditional closed cycle thermoacoustic engine, thereby eliminating the heat exchangers cost, inefficiency, and thermal expansion stresses. The theory developed in this work reveals that a large temperature difference must exist between the hot face of the regenerator and the hot combustion products flowing into it, and that much of the convective thermal energy input from the combustion process is converted into conductive and thermoacoustic losses in the regenerator. The development of the Thermoacoustic Pulse Combustion Engine, as described in this study, is designed to recover most of this lost thermal energy by routing the inlet pipes through the regenerator to preheat the combustion reactants. Further, the developed theory shows that the pulse combustion process has the potential to add up to 7% to the engines acoustic power output for an acoustic pressure ratio of 10%, with linearly increasing contributions for increasing acoustic pressure ratios. Computational modeling and optimization of the Thermoacoustic Pulse Combustion Engine yield thermal efficiencies of about 20% for atmospheric mean operating pressures, though higher mean engine pressures increase this efficiency considerably by increasing the acoustic power density relative to the thermal losses. However, permissible mean engine pressures are limited by the need to avoid fouling the regenerator with condensation of water vapor out of the cold combustion products. Despite lower acoustic power densities, the Thermoacoustic Pulse Combustion Engine is shown to be well suited to portable refrigeration and power generation applications, due to its reasonable efficiency and inherent simplicity and compactness. en_US
dc.description.degree Ph.D. en_US
dc.format.extent 1718625 bytes
dc.format.mimetype application/pdf
dc.identifier.uri http://hdl.handle.net/1853/4789
dc.language.iso en_US
dc.publisher Georgia Institute of Technology en_US
dc.subject Thermoacoustics en_US
dc.subject Acoustics
dc.subject Pulse combustion
dc.subject Engines
dc.subject.lcsh Combustion engineering en_US
dc.subject.lcsh Engines en_US
dc.subject.lcsh Acoustical engineering en_US
dc.title Feasibility Analysis of an Open Cycle Thermoacoustic Engine with Internal Pulse Combustion en_US
dc.type Text
dc.type.genre Dissertation
dspace.entity.type Publication
local.contributor.advisor Zinn, Ben T.
local.contributor.corporatename George W. Woodruff School of Mechanical Engineering
local.contributor.corporatename College of Engineering
relation.isAdvisorOfPublication 982cb5ab-69b0-484e-b11e-931f10649bd8
relation.isOrgUnitOfPublication c01ff908-c25f-439b-bf10-a074ed886bb7
relation.isOrgUnitOfPublication 7c022d60-21d5-497c-b552-95e489a06569
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