Investigation On Pulse Tube Refrigeration Driven By Thermoacoustic Prime Mover

Thermoacoustic prime mover is an absolutely new type of compressor. It hasn't any moving part so it can work for a long period without maintenance. Waste steam and solar energy can be used as its heating-resources so that it has many applications especially for the places having no electricity supply. We use the self-built thermoacoustic prime mover, instead of a mechanical one, to drive the pulse tube refrigerator. It is a new type of refrigeration and will have many applications in the future.After reviewing the history and recent developments of the research on thermoacoustics, and introducing the classical thermoacoustic theory, we carry out the following investigations:1) Thermoacoustically Driven Pulse Tube Refrigerator (TADPTR) Experiments have been done on the self-built pulse tube refrigerator driven by standing wave thermoacoustic prime mover system. Investigations have been made on the influence of the heating power, working pressure, stack packing ratio, and the opening of the orifice valve and the double-inlet valve on the performance of the system. With the helium as the working gas, we attained 119.7K the refrigeration temperature of the pulse tube. This is the first time that it enters the cryogenic field using the thermocaoustic engine in China.2) The Application of Binary Noble Gas on TADPTR After the discuss of the possibility of applying binary noble gas on TADPTR, we give the way to calculate the prandtl number of the binary noble gas. The results of the experiments using the helium-argon as the working gas have showed that the performance of the TADPTR can be improved if we add some argon in the pure helium.In the end, we discuss the problems exiting in the experiment and the applications of thermoacoustic engine compactly. The summarization of the dissertation is also given.