Numerical Simulation and Analysis for Optimum Design of a Thermoacoustic Refrigerator

공명관식 열음향 냉동기의 최적설계를 위한 수치모사 및 설계인자 분석

Basic refrigeration effect and efficiency of a thermoacoustic refrigerator is studied. The refrigerator model for numerical simulation is composed of half wavelength resonator and appropriate stack of plate. Theoretical model for thermoacoustic refrigeration suggested by Swift et. al is adapted for numerical calculation. The model contains arbitrary viscosity effect of the gas filled in the resonator. The wave equation is integrated by using 4-th order Runge-Kutta algorithm to give pressure distribution along the stack of plate. Heat flux and COP are also calculated based on the energy flux equation. By analyzing the numerical simulation results, optimum values of design parameters for thermoacoustic refrigerator are obtained.