| This research deals with the design and characterization of the dynamics of miniaturized thermoacoustic refrigerators (in the audible frequency range ∼ 4000 Hz) using a random array of cotton wool as the stack and a commercial piezoelectric loudspeaker as the acoustic driver. Also of primary interest is the optimization of the refrigerator by investigating the factors affecting its performance such as the stack configuration, the acoustic drive ratio, the acoustic pressure and the mean pressure in the refrigerator. Experimental measurements of cooling power, and stray heat leaks were conducted. Digital particle image velocimetry (DPIV) was used to study the acoustic flow field in the refrigerator and to correlate measurements using PIV to the characteristic acoustic measurements.;A temperature difference between the refrigerator's cold and hot heat exchangers of 13°C was obtained under optimized experimental conditions. Air at atmospheric pressure was used as the working gas, and an electric power to the acoustic driver of 2 W produced 159 dB of sound, which pumped heat by the stack. Higher sound levels would raise the performance. Results showed that the cotton stack performs well at atmospheric pressure rather than higher mean pressures where nonlinear and viscous losses affect its performance. PIV measurements, such as imaged velocity fields and gas flows, showed an excellent correlation with the acoustic pressure measurements in the refrigerator. Extreme care was taken, by investigating different PIV parameters, to fulfill the conditions that distinguish between the oscillating first-order velocity field, such as the acoustic particle velocity, and the second-order nonoscillating (steady state) fields, such as acoustic streaming. Results also showed that Rayleigh streaming, produced by and superimposed on, the oscillating particle velocity, is one of the effects affecting the performance of the refrigerator, where the time it takes the streaming to be in the steady state is comparable to the time it takes the refrigerator to stabilize at its peak DeltaT. In this research the dynamics of the thermoacoustic refrigerator have been studied to optimize the operating experimental conditions and to improve the refrigerator's performance. |
