Experimental and theoretical analysis of a small scale thermoacoustic cooler driven by two sources

Pierrick Lotton (1) , Gaelle Poignand (1) , Alexey Podkovskiy (1) , Guillaume Penelet (1) , Michel Bruneau (1)

1 LAUM - Laboratoire d'Acoustique de l'Université du Mans

Being concern by scaling down thermoacoustic coolers to provide practical solutions for thermal heat management, especially in microcircuits, a current architecture has been proposed recently [Acta Acustica 97(6), 926-932, November 2011]. A non-resonant small cavity fitting the stack dimensions is driven by two loudspeakers coupled through the stack. One of them creates the acoustic pressure field inside the stack while the other one creates the particle velocity field. This cooler has both advantages of being compact and flexible, as the acoustic field in the stack can be controlled to access the optimal field which optimizes thermoacoustic effects. Moreover, the working frequency is not related to resonance conditions, therefore either a quasi-isothermal stack (regenerator) or a quasi-adiabatic stack can be used. Experimental results, which validates theoretical ones [1], are presented to illustrate the thermal behaviour of a stack and a regenerator in this device. The performances compared with those of classical devices having equivalent stack (standing wave or Stirling devices) show the potentiality of this compact thermoacoustic cooler.

Mots clés: thermoacoustics

Domaines: Acoustique [physics.class-ph]

Pierrick Lotton, Gaelle Poignand, Alexey Podkovskiy, Guillaume Penelet, Michel Bruneau. Experimental and theoretical analysis of a small scale thermoacoustic cooler driven by two sources. Acoustics 2012, Apr 2012, Nantes, France. ⟨hal-00811038⟩