Design and analysis of a thermally driven thermoacoustic air conditioner for low grade heat recovery

Yu, Z. (2013) Design and analysis of a thermally driven thermoacoustic air conditioner for low grade heat recovery. In: 13th UK Heat Transfer Conference, London, UK, 2-3 Sep 2013, 109-1-109-8.

Abstract

This paper presents the design and analysis of a thermally driven thermoacoustic cooler, which aims to utilise industrial waste heat to provide air-conditioning for buildings where waste heat are abundant but air conditioning is required. The working gas is helium at 3.0 MPa. The operating frequency is around 100 Hz. A three-stage travelling wave thermoacoustic engine is design to convert waste heat to acoustic power, and a single stage travelling wave thermoacoustic cooler is connected to the engine to provide cold water at temperature of 0-5 ◦C for air conditioning. The ambient temperature is set as 40 ◦C. The simulation results show that the engine can convert 9.9% of the 15 kW heat input (at a temperature of 200 ◦C) to 1.5 kW acoustic power, and that the cooler can delivery 2.6 kW cooling power at 0 ◦C with a coefficient of performance (COP) of 2.25.

• Item Type: Conference Proceedings
• Status: Published
• Refereed: Yes
• Glasgow Author(s) Enlighten ID: Yu, Professor Zhibin
• Authors: Yu, Z.
• College/School: College of Science and Engineering > School of Engineering > Systems Power and Energy
• Copyright Holders: Copyright © 2013 DEG Imperial College London
• Publisher Policy: Reproduced in accordance with the copyright policy of the publisher