Simulation studies on the performance comparison of thermoacoustic prime mover with various resonator geometries and different stack materials

The present investigation deals with analysing the performance of a thermoacoustic prime mover (TAPM) measured in terms of frequency, pressure amplitude, and onset temperature with the help of the renowned simulation tool, DeltaEC. Various resonator geometries, such as straight, tapered, coiled, resonator fitted with compliance and twin TAPM, were aligned in the simulation setup with nitrogen as a fluid medium and operated at a pressure of 10 bars. The operational and geometrical parameters of the experimental setup in DeltaEC were kept constant except the resonator geometry and stack material made of stainless steel and nickel. In the literature, no significant studies evaluating the performance of TAPM with different resonator geometry have been published. This study is the first of its kind to analyse TAPM's performance using five distinct resonator geometry. In the present simulation, it was observed that the TAPM of the resonator fitted with compliance generated oscillations with low frequency and high-pressure amplitude compared to the simulation setup with other resonators' geometry with a stack made of stainless steel. Similarly, it was observed from the simulation results that the twin TAPM generated oscillations at a lower onset temperature than others with both stack materials. Among the chosen resonators, the TAPM fitted with compliance produces high pressure amplitude oscillations with a slight increase in onset temperature compared to the twin TAPM with the stack made of stainless steel, which will be used as a drive for cryocoolers.