A REVIEW PAPER ON

THERMO ACOUSTIC REFRIGERATION

SYSTEM
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INTRODUCTION
Thermo acoustic refrigerator is a device that operates
efficiently by using sound waves to produce a low
temperature.

Thermo acoustic devices use inert gases as the working
fluid.

They do not produce the harmful environmental effects
such as global warming or stratospheric ozone depletion.
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WORKING
Customized loudspeakers attached to cylindrical chambers
filled with inert pressurized gases such as xenon and
helium.
At the opposite end of the tubes are tightly wound "jelly
rolls" made of plastic film.
When the loudspeakers blast sound at 180 decibels, an
acoustic wave resonates in the chambers and the gas
molecules begin dancing frantically in response to the
sound.
They are compressed and heated, with temperatures
reaching a peak at the thickest point of the acoustic wave
where the super hot gas molecules crash into the plastic
rolls.
After transferring their heat to the stack, the sound wave
causes the molecules to expand and cool and cold
temperatures can then be tapped for useful application.
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CLASSIFICATION
Standing-wave thermo acoustic devices

Travelling-wave thermo acoustic devices
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Standing wave thermo acoustic device
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Standing wave thermo acoustic device
The main components are a closed cylinder, an acoustic driver, a
porous component called a stack, and two heat-exchanger systems.

Application of acoustic waves through a driver such as a loud
speaker, makes the gas resonant.

As the gas oscillates back and forth, it creates a temperature difference
along the length of the stack.

The temperature difference is used to absorb heat from the cold side
and reject it at the hot side of the system.

The temperature change comes from compression and expansion of
the gas by the sound pressure and heat transfer between the gas and
the stack.
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Travelling-wave thermo acoustic device
Sounds Cool! The Ben & Jerrys Project, 2005
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Travelling-wave thermo acoustic device
In the travelling-wave device, the pressure is created with a
moving piston and the conversion of acoustic power to heat
occurs in a regenerator rather than a stack.

The regenerator contains a matrix of channels which are much
smaller than those in a stack and relies on good thermal
contact between the gas and the matrix.

The design is such that the gas moves towards the hot heat
exchanger when the pressure is high and towards the cold heat
exchanger when the pressure is low, transferring heat between
the two sides.


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APPLICATIONS
the Space Shuttle

Navy warship

Liquefaction of natural gas

Chip cooling

Upgrading industrial waste heat

In Automobiles

In food industry
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Performance of the TAR system

The experimental system in general can be broken down into
(a) the thermoacoustic refrigerating system
(b) the test section
(c)the data acquisition system.

The refrigerating system consists mainly of the resonator tube
or resonator, the stack, the acoustic driver and the heat
exchangers.

An electrical resistance heater arrangement was located at the
cold side of the resonator to supply the variable load for the
refrigerating system.
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The test section involves specific parts of the system were the
measurements were made.

The data acquisition system includes thermocouples , pressure
transducer , oscilloscope , flow meter, data acquisition board
and a personal computer for the data display.
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Experimental setup
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For each frequency, the temperature increased at the beginning
of the experiment and then stabilized after a time.

The experiment was performed for various constant pressure
and cooling load values and it was found that the stabilization
time increased as the pressure was increased.

The results also confirm that the higher the cooling load
required, the higher the desired hot side temperature at the
resonator should be.

The average coefficient of performance for the system was
calculated to be 0.65.

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The recently completed thermoacoustic refrigerator (TAR).
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BENEFITS IN USING TAR SYSTEM
Environmentally friendly working fluid is used
Simple design
Continuous cooling capacity control
Less moving parts
ODP and GWP is very less
The performance is not influenced by the implementation in a
vehicle
Very low temperature can be attained in a single stage when
compared to VC system
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1996-Martin Wetzel and Cila Herman made a systematic design
approach for initial design calculations of thermo acoustic
refrigerators. A separate optimization of the four main modules
of a thermo acoustic refrigerator:
(i) thermo acoustic core, (ii) resonance tube, (iii) heat exchangers
and (iv) acoustic driver.

2001-Tijani, Moulay El Hassan of Eindhoven: Technische
Universite made an experimental study on Loudspeaker-driven
thermo-acoustic refrigeration.

2004-Fathi Jebali, Jean Valentin Lubiez and Maurice-Xavier
Francois conduct an experimental study to find the response of a
thermoacoustic refrigerator to the variation of the driving
frequency and loading

REVIEWS
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2005- Bamman T.C , Howard C.Q and Cazzolato B.S made a
review on the flow through designs of thermo acoustic
refrigeration systems.The review shows that the system is
overall efficient as the vapour compression system.

2006-Insu Paek, James E. Braun, and Luc Mongeau conduct a
design optimization program based on the thermo acoustic
simulation known as DELTAE was developed.

2007-Emmanuel C. Nsofor, Serdar Celik, and Xudong Wang
conduct an experimental study on the heat transfer at the heat
exchanger of the thermo acoustic refrigerating system. The
study identified significant factors that influence this heat
transfer as well as the construction of the system.
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2008-Emmanuel C. Nsofor and Azrai Ali conducted
performance test on Thermoacoustic Refrigeration system
under various operating conditions

2009-Florian Zink, Jeffrey S. Vipperman and Laura A.
Schaefer conduct a study to illustrate the benefit of this
technology with a consideration of its Total Equivalent
Warming Impact (TEWI) compared to conventional cooling
in vehicles

2010- S.A. Tassou a, J.S. Lewis , Y.T. Ge , A. Hadawey , I.
Chaer in the review of emerging technologies for food
refrigeration applications they define thermo acoustic
refrigeration system as a better alternative for refrigeration
in food industry.

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FUTURE WORK
Thermo acoustics can be considered as being in the tube
stage, but it can be significantly advanced by improving
simple components.

The efficiency and refrigeration capacity has to be increased in
order for TARs to become a feasible replacement for current
technology.

To achieve useful incorporation in engine compartments, a
straight resonator may not be a feasible solution, thus requiring
curvature to be incorporated in the resonator.
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CONCLUSIONS
Thermo acoustic engines and refrigerators were already being
considered a few years ago for specialized applications

Their simplicity, lack of lubrication and sliding seals, and their
use of environmentally harmless working fluids were adequate
compensation for their lower efficiencies.

Due to the developments in the design of high power, single
frequency loud speakers and reciprocating electric generators
it is suggests that thermo acoustics may soon emerge as an
environmentally attractive way to power hybrid electric
vehicles, refrigerate food, air condition buildings, liquefy
industrial gases and serve in other capacities that are yet to be
imagined.


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REFERENCES
Environmental motivation to switch to thermoacoustic refrigeration
Original Research Article Applied Thermal Engineering, Volume 30, Issues
2-3, February 2010, Pages 119-126 Florian Zink, Jeffrey S. Vipperman,
Laura A. Schaefer

A review of emerging technologies for food refrigeration applications
Review Article Applied Thermal Engineering, Volume 30, Issue 4, March
2010, Pages 263-276 S.A. Tassou, J.S. Lewis, Y.T. Ge , A. Hadawey, I.
Chaer

Experimental study on the performance of the thermoacoustic refrigerating
system Original Research Article Applied Thermal Engineering, Volume
29, Issue 13, September 2009, Pages 2672-2679 Emmanuel C. Nsofor,
Azrai Ali

Geometric optimization of a thermoacoustic regenerator Original Research
Article International Journal of Thermal Sciences, Volume 48, Issue 12,
December 2009, Pages 2309-2322 Florian Zink, Hamish Waterer, Rosalind
Archer, Laura Schaefer

Design and optimization of thermoacoustic devices Original Research
Article Energy Conversion and Management, Volume 49, Issue 12,
December 2008, Pages 3585-3598 Hadi Babaei, Kamran Siddiqui


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Experimental study on the heat transfer at the heat exchanger of the
thermoacoustic refrigerating system Original Research Article Applied
Thermal Engineering, Volume 27, Issues 14-15, October 2007, Pages 2435-
2442 Emmanuel C. Nsofor, Serdar Celik , Xudong Wang

Evaluation of standing-wave thermoacoustic cycles for cooling applications
Original Research Article International Journal of Refrigeration, Volume
30, Issue 6, September 2007, Pages 1059-1071 Insu Paek, James E. Braun,
Luc Mongeau

Evaluation of standing-wave thermoacoustic cycles for cooling applications
International Journal of Refrigeration 30 (2007) 1059-1071Insu Paek,
James E. Braun, Luc Mongeau

Review of flow-through design in Thermo acoustic refrigeration
Proceedings of ACOUSTICS 9-11 November 2005, Busselton, Western
Australia Bammann T. C. , Howard C. Q. , Cazzolato B. S.



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THANK YOU
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