Optimization of an open-air traveling-wave thermoacoustic generator

The open-air traveling-wave thermoacoustic generator is composed of a looped tube and an open resonator. According to the study, the Gedeon streaming exists in the looped tube of the traveling wave thermoacoustic system, which would transport the heat from the heat source to the room temperature without generating acoustic power. In this paper, six configurations of the rubber membrane placed between the compliance tube and the main cold heat exchanger were investigated to suppress the Gedeon streaming to optimize the open-air traveling-wave thermoacoustic generator. The onset temperature, hot end temperature and the sound pressure level (SPL) at the 1m far away from the open end of the resonator were analyzed under six configurations of the rubber membrane and without rubber membrane. The experimental results showed that it has the preferred configuration of rubber membrane to effectively increase the hot end temperature and the sound pressure level at the 1m far away from the open end of the resonator.