Study on a Closed Two-phase Thermoacoustic Engine With Low GWP Working Fluids

The onset characteristics and system performance of a closed two-phase thermoacoustic engine with the working fluids of low global warming potential (GWP), e.g., R1234yf, R152a and R1234ze, are investigated in terms of experiment and thermodynamic cycle analysis. The experimental results show that the onset temperature difference of the engine is in the increasing order of R1234yf, R152a, and R1234ze. A lowest onset temperature difference of 13.1 K can be obtained when using R1234yf as working fluid. Besides, the calculation results show that the R152a system obtains the highest specific work per unit mass, thermal efficiency and relative Carnot efficiency. When the hot and cold temperatures are 330 K and 300 K, a highest relative Carnot efficiency achieved is 86.50% with R152a as working fluid. This work verifies the applicability of low GWP working fluids for a two-phase thermoacoustic engine. © 2020, Science Press. All right reserved.