Experimental study on the heat transfer at the heat exchanger of the thermoacoustic refrigerating system

Oscillatory flow heat transfer at the heat exchanger of the thermoacoustic refrigeration system was studied. The study identified significant factors that influence this heat transfer as well as the construction of the system. The results from the experimental study were correlated in terms of Nusselt number, Prandtl number and Reynolds number to obtain a useful new correlation for the heat transfer at the heat exchangers. Results show that using straight flow heat transfer correlations for analyses and design of this system could result in significant errors. Results also show the relationship between the oscillatory heat transfer coefficient at the heat exchangers, the mean pressure and frequency of oscillation. Higher mean pressures result in greater heat transfer coefficients if the thermoacoustic refrigerating system operates at the corresponding resonant frequency. However, a compromise has to be reached to accommodate construction of the stack.     

Theoretical Analysis of Optimal Subcooling for Single Vapor-Compression Refrigeration Systems

A finite temperature difference heat transfer method and irreversibility analysis have been developed for investigating the effects of subcooling on coefficient of performance, cooling water pressure drop of condenser, and heat exchanger area for R1234yf, R1234ze, R22, R134a, and R410A in a single vapor-compression refrigeration system. In order to satisfy the increasing cooling load for subcooling in a condenser, the heat exchanger size or cooling water pumping power that corresponds to initial cost or operating cost, respectively, is increased. The optimum degree of subcooling in a refrigeration system with superior performance and least initial cost or operating cost is obtained numerically. The results show that the maximum coefficient of initial cost saving and coefficient of operating cost saving and their corresponding optimum degree of subcooling increase with condensation temperature. At a higher inlet temperature of cooling water, the optimum degree of subcooling turns out to be smaller for all refrigerants. The results are expected to facilitate the prospective design of a vapor-compression refrigeration system for using alternative refrigerants.     

CFD simulation on the performance of twin thermoacoustic prime mover for various resonator lengths and operating pressures

The main objective of the present investigation is to analyze the effect of resonator length and different working pressures on the performance of a twin thermoacoustic prime mover, which was measured in terms of frequency and amplitude of the oscillations using the computational fluid dynamics tool FLUENT 6.3. The simulation was carried out for different resonator lengths such as 0.5, 0.6, 0.8, 1.1, and 1.4 m using nitrogen as a working fluid for various operating pressures such as 1, 2, 3, 4, and 5 bar. It was observed from the results that the pressure amplitude increases with an increase in resonator length and that the output frequency decreases with an increase in resonator length for a fixed operating pressure. For a constant resonator length, the increase in operating pressure has little influence on output frequency, and the pressure amplitude also increases. The results obtained were found to be in accordance with experimental works published by Hariharan and colleagues. 1     

Effects of operating parameters on the performance of a CO2 air conditioning system for vehicles

This paper deals with the effects of the operating parameters on the cooling performance that can be applied for a transcritical CO₂ automotive air conditioning system. The experimental conditions of the performance tests for a CO₂ system and components such as a gas cooler and an evaporator were suggested to compare with the performance of each at the standardized test conditions. This research presents experimental results for the performance characteristics of a CO₂ automotive air conditioning system with various operating conditions such as different gas cooler inlet pressures, compressor speeds and frontal air temperatures/flow rates passing through the evaporator and the gas cooler. Experimental results show that the cooling capacity was more than 4.9 kW and coefficient of performance (COP) was more than 2.4, at each optimum pressure of gas cooler inlet during idling condition. Also, the cooling capacity was about 7.5 kW and COP was about 1.7 at the optimum pressure of gas cooler inlet during driving condition when air inlet temperatures of gas cooler and evaporator were 45 °C and 35 °C, respectively. Therefore, we concluded that the automotive air conditioning system using CO₂ refrigerant has good performance. This paper also deals with the development of optimum high pressure control algorithm for the transcritical CO₂ cycle to achieve the maximum COP.     

Influence of acoustic pressure amplifier dimensions on the performance of a standing-wave thermoacoustic system

A standing-wave thermoacoustic engine, employing an acoustic pressure amplifier (APA), is simulated with linear thermoacoustics to study the influence of APA’s dimensions on performance of the thermoacoustic system. Variations of operating parameters, including pressure ratio, acoustic power, hot end temperature of stack etc., versus length and diameter of APA are presented and discussed based on an analysis of pressure and velocity distribution in APA. Simulation results indicate that a largest amplification effect of both pressure ratio and acoustic power output is achieved at a critical length for the occurrence of pressure node and velocity antinode in APA, close to but less than one fourth of the wavelength. The distribution characteristics of pressure and velocity in APA are similar to a standing-wave acoustic field, which is the reason for the amplification effect. From the viewpoint of energy, the amplification effect results from the changed distribution of acoustic energy and acoustic power loss in the thermoacoustic system by APA. Experiments have been carried out to validate the simulation, and experimental data are presented.     

A simplified method to evaluate the seasonal energy performance of water chillers

The calculation or certification of the energy consumption of buildings equipped with refrigerating or heating units operating on vapour compression cycles requires an accurate evaluation of their performance at full and part load under different operating conditions. Refrigeration systems simulation models are normally useless because of the large amount of input data required for a full characterization.A simplified numerical method for the performance prediction of vapour compression heat pumps and chillers is here presented, based only on performance data at the nominal rating conditions. The proposed procedure was validated against experimental data of different packaged air-cooled water chillers, operating on scroll compressors. In chillers full load conditions approximately 89.5% and 92.1% of the predicted EER and cooling capacity values respectively are consistent with the measured data within a relative deviation of ±10%. Simulation results are in good agreement with the experimental ones also if the experimental seasonal energy efficiency ratio, SEER_on, described in the European standard draft prEN 14825, is considered. The deviations range from ?3.2% to +5.1%. The proposed mathematical model appears to be a reliable tool to be implemented into dynamic building-plant energy simulation codes or into building energy certification tools.     

A case study for influence of building thermal insulation on cooling load and air-conditioning system in the hot and humid regions

Ensuring the effective thermal insulation in regions, where the cooling requirement of building with respect to heating requirement is dominant, is very important from the aspect of energy economy. In this study, the influence of thermal insulation on the building cooling load and the cooling system in case of air-conditioning by an all-air central air-conditioning system was evaluated for a sample building located in Adana, based on the results of three different types of insulation (A, B and C-type buildings) according to the energy efficiency index defined in the Thermal Insulation Regulation used in Turkey. The operating costs of the air-conditioning system were calculated using cooling bin numbers. Life-cycle cost analysis was carried out utilizing the present-worth cost method. Results showed that both the initial and the operating costs of the air-conditioning system were reduced considerably for all three insulation thicknesses. However, the optimum results in view of economic measurements were obtained for a C-type building. The thickness of thermal insulation for the buildings in the southern Turkey should be determined according to the guidelines for a C-type building.     

Theoretical Evaluation of a 10‐Watt Cooling Power Thermoacoustic Refrigerator

This article deals with the design, simulation, and analysis of a 10‐watt capacity thermoacoustic refrigerator using short‐stack boundary layer approximation assumptions and dimensional normalization technique. The variation of stack diameter with average gas pressure and cooling power is studied. The theoretical evaluation of quarter‐wavelength and one‐fifth‐wavelength resonator using helium gas is discussed for an operating frequency ranging from 300–500 Hz in the steps of 50 Hz. For the optimized stack, a 38.5% improvement in the stack performance for a 10‐watt cooling power quarter‐wavelength hemispherical‐ended resonator operating at 350 Hz frequency resulted in a 13.5% improvement in the coefficient of performance (COP) compared to published results. The resonator design is tested with DeltaEC software with 2% and 3% drive ratios using helium, hydrogen, neon, air, and carbon dioxide as working gases and the results are discussed. © 2013 Wiley Periodicals, Inc. Heat Trans Asian Res, 43(7): 577–591, 2014; Published online 3 October 2013 in Wiley Online Library ( wileyonlinelibrary.com/journal/htj ). DOI 10.1002/htj.21094     

CFD simulation of a thermoacoustic engine with coiled resonator

Thermoacoustic energy conversion is based on the Stirling cycle. In their most basic forms, thermoacoustic devices are comprised of two heat exchangers, a porous medium, both placed inside a resonator. Work is created through the interaction of strong sound waves with the porous medium that is subject to external heating. This work explores the effect of resonator curvature on the thermoacoustic effect. A CFD analysis of a whole thermoacoustic engine was developed and the influence of a curved resonator on the thermoacoustic effect is discussed. The variation of pressure amplitude and operating frequency serves as metrics in this investigation. It was found that the introduction of curvature affects the pressure amplitude achieved. Severely curved resonators also exhibited a variation in operating frequency.     

Effects of variation in working fluids and operating conditions on the performance of a thermoacoustic refrigerator

This study reports on a numerical investigation of the effects of variation in working fluids and operating conditions on the performance of a thermoacoustic refrigerator. The performance of a thermoacoustic refrigerator is evaluated based on the cooling power, coefficient of performance (COP), and the entropy generation rate within the device. The effect of the variation of the working fluid is observed by changing the Prandtl number (Pr) between 0.7 and 0.28. The operating conditions investigated are drive ratio (DR), stack plate spacing (y₀), and mean pressure (p_m). The present research shows that lowering the Pr of the working fluid does not improve the performance of a thermoacoustic refrigerator for all of the selected operating conditions. COP increases 78% by reducing the Pr from 0.7 to 0.28 at y₀ = 3.33δ_k, at atmospheric pressure and a DR of 1.7%. While the COP decreases by reducing the Pr from 0.7 to 0.28 at y₀ = 1.0δ_k, at atmospheric pressure, and a DR of 1.7%. The results are compared with the available experimental data and found good agreement.     

Operating design conditions of a solar-powered vapor absorption cooling system with an absorber plate having different profiles: An analytical study

An effort has been devoted to analyze the collector performance parameters of a solar-assisted LiBr/H₂O vapor absorption cooling system with a flat-plate collector consisting of an absorber plate of different profiles. The effect of the collector fluid inlet temperature on the performance of solar collector, vapor absorption cycle, vapor absorption system and refrigerating efficiency has been studied for a wide range of design variables. A comparative study has also been made among the performance parameters of an absorber plate of different shapes with the variation of collector fluid inlet temperature. From the result, it can be highlighted that, at a particular collector fluid inlet temperature, the performances of a vapor absorption system attain a maximum value. Finally, an optimum collector fluid inlet temperature is determined by satisfying the minimization of volume of an absorber plate without affecting the cooling rate in the evaporator.     

中温地热能驱动的跨临界有机朗肯-蒸气压缩制冷系统的性能分析

跨临界有机朗肯?蒸气压缩制冷系统可以使工质与地热流体更好地匹配,减小系统的不可逆性。本文建立该系统的热力学模型,利用EES软件编程,分别对以R143a、R218及R125为工质的系统进行性能分析。计算结果表明,相比R218及R125,以R143a为工质的系统的性能是最佳的。为了避免膨胀机内产生湿蒸气,对于一定的膨胀机进口温度,膨胀机入口存在一个极限压力,并且存在一个最优压力使得系统的性能最佳。地热流体温度的升高可以提高系统的制冷能力,但系统的性能系数则随之先增大后减小;随着地热流体干度的增加,地热流体释放的潜热会大大增加系统的制冷量,而系统的性能系数保持不变。冷凝温度及蒸发温度对系统性能有着重要影响,其中冷凝温度的影响更为明显。以R143a为工质的跨临界有机朗肯?蒸气压缩制冷系统的最佳性能优于以R245fa为工质的亚临界有机朗肯-蒸气压缩制冷系统的最佳性能。     

A miniature thermoacoustic stirling engine

A miniature thermoacoustic stirling engine was simulated and designed, having overall size of length 0.65 m and height of 0.22 m. The acoustic field generated in this miniature system has been described and analyzed. Some efforts had been paid to coupling and matching, and a miniature thermoacoustic engine and some extra experimental components have been constructed. Analysis and experimental results showed that to obtain better performance of the engine, the diameter of the resonance tube must be chosen appropriately according to the looped tube dimension and the input heating power. It provided an effective way to miniaturize the thermoacoustic stirling heat engine. The experimental results showed that the engine had low onset temperature and high pressure amplitude and ratio. With the filling helium gas of 2 MPa and heating power of 637 W, the maximal peak to peak pressure amplitude and pressure ratio reached 2.2 bar and 1.116, respectively, which was able to drive a refrigerator, a heat pump or a linear electrical generator. The operating frequency of the engine was steady at 282 Hz.     

Optimization of the Stack Unit in a Thermoacoustic Refrigerator

ABSTRACT

A thermoacoustic refrigerator is a device that uses acoustic power to pump heat in the absence of harmful refrigerants with no or few moving parts. However, the performance of the thermoacoustic refrigerator, particularly the standing wave types, is currently not competitive compared to its counterpart, the conventional vapor-compression refrigerator. Presently, thermoacoustic refrigeration prototypes only achieved 0.1–0.2 relative coefficient of performance, compared with that of 0.33–0.5 for the conventional vapor-compression refrigerators. Past optimization efforts had been completed based on parametric studies where individual parameters are discretely varied and the final optimized outcome was based on the limited series of numerical/experimental tests. This paper discusses the initial investigation of the optimization of the thermoacoustic refrigerator stack parameters using a multi-objective genetic algorithm. The desired outputs, the maximization of the cooling load and the minimization of the acoustic power at the stack, are obtained with the parameters to be optimized set within some range of values. The stack length and center position are then optimized simultaneously. The optimized results showed that the coefficient of performance of the thermoacoustic refrigerator improves from the published value of 1.3 to 1.37.     

水下工作柴油机排气降温系统设计及试验

排气背压对柴油机的动力性能和油耗有着重要的影响,排气背压过大会造成动力性能的损失和油耗的增加,因此,在为柴油机设计排气后处理装置时,要充分考虑排气背压的大小。本文针对水下工作的柴油机,设计了一套排气降温系统,可以使得该柴油机在水下工作时,其排气可以被冷却后直接排向大气,并且其动力性能不受影响,这就要求在设计过程中要使整个排气降温系统的流动阻力尽可能最小。通过试验结果表明:加装该排气降温系统后柴油机输出动力性能良好,无功率和转矩损失;特殊管壳式换热器换热效果良好,能使最高温度为503.4℃的高温烟气降低到39.4℃。本文研究的结果对小型水下动力装置排气降温系统的选择和设计有一定的参考价值。     

Cooling load density characteristics of an endoreversible variable‐temperature heat reservoir air refrigerator

The performance optimization of an endoreversible air refrigerator with variable‐temperature heat reservoirs is carried out by taking the cooling load density, i.e. the ratio of cooling load density to the maximum specific volume in the cycle, as the optimization objective in this paper. The analytical relations of cooling load, cooling load density and coefficient of performance are derived with the heat resistance losses in the hot‐ and cold‐side heat exchangers. The maximum cooling load density optimization is performed by searching the optimum pressure ratio of the compressor, the optimum distribution of heat conductance of the hot‐ and cold‐side heat exchangers for the fixed total heat exchanger inventory, and the heat capacity rate matching between the working fluid and the heat reservoirs. The influences of some design parameters, including the heat capacitance rate of the working fluid, the inlet temperature ratio of heat reservoirs and the total heat exchanger inventory on the maximum cooling load density, the optimum heat conductance distribution, the optimum pressure ratio and the heat capacity rate matching between the working fluid and the heat reservoirs are provided by numerical examples. The refrigeration plant design with optimization leads to a smaller size including the compressor, expander and the hot‐ and cold‐side heat exchangers. Copyright © 2002 John Wiley & Sons, Ltd.     

On the thermal cooling of central processing unit of the PCs with vapor chamber

An experimental investigation on the thermal cooling of vapor chamber for cooling computer processing unit of the personal computer is performed. Two different configurations of the vapor chambers with de-ionized water as working fluid are tested under the real operating conditions of PCs. Parametric studies including different aspect ratios, fill ratios, and operating conditions of PC on the CPU temperature are considered. It was found that the vapor chamber cooling technique has significant effect on the thermal cooling of CPU. Average CPU temperatures obtained from the vapor chamber cooling system are 4.1%, 6.89% lower than those from the conventional cooling system for no load and 90% operating loads, respectively. In additional, this cooling system requires 6.89%, 10.53% lower energy consumption for no load and 90% operating loads, respectively. The results of this study are of technological importance for the efficient design of cooling systems of the personal computers or electronic devices to enhance cooling performance.     

以氦气为工质的行波热声发动机研究

随着对热声热机研究的深入，特别是行波热声发动机概念的提出，热声发动机效率得到了质的提高。为了实现热声发动机与制冷机的良好匹配，以氦气为工质时热声发动机需具有较低的起振温度、较大的压力波强度、较好的单频率特性。本文对自行研制的新型热声发动机进行了深入研究，以氦气为工质，在充气压力为2．0MPa时获得了1．19的压比，系统频率稳定在约73Hz，为利用新型热声发动机驱动脉管制冷机或其它热声制冷机创造了有利条件。此外，该热声发动机起振温度较低，初步具备了利用工业废热等低品位能源驱动的条件。     

太阳能烟囱制冷系统的研究

通过分析制冷系统和太阳能烟囱热气流发电系统的技术和特点,提出了太阳能烟囱制冷系统.将太阳能烟囱系统与制冷系统相结合进行制冷,可实现制冷不用电.该系统由烟囱、集热棚、蓄热层、涡轮机、开启式制冷压缩机、冷凝器和变速器等组成.介绍了太阳能烟囱制冷系统的结构特点、工作原理以及系统相关参数的计算方法.分析结果表明,太阳能烟囱制冷系统结构简单,运行维护方便,制冷不用电,无污染,具有良好的环境效应,可根据环境温度改变压缩机运行转速调节供冷负荷,能有效解决热带及沙漠地区的供冷及供电问题.     

Heat exchanger design effect on the system performance of silica gel adsorption refrigeration systems

This article presents a numerical investigation of the heat exchanger design effect on the performance of closed cycle, two-bed adsorption cooling systems with silica gel as adsorbent and water as refrigerant. It is well known that the shorter the cycle time, lower is the performance (cooling capacity and coefficient of performance). A long cycle time is responsible for lower cooling capacity. In this study, a non-dimensional switching frequency, which is inversely proportional to the cycle time, is defined and an optimum switching frequency is derived based on parametric analysis. The effect of other heat exchanger design parameters such as adsorbent number of transfer unit (NTU), bed Biot number (Bi), the heat exchanger aspect ratio (Ar) and the ratio of fluid channel radius to the adsorbent thickness (Hr), on the system performance has been investigated. The results show that the switching frequency ω, bed NTU, Ar and bed Bi have strong effects on the system performance. It is also seen that for a given set of design parameters, the system has an optimum switching frequency and the system performance will be declined seriously if the system is not operated at optimum switching frequency. The optimum switching frequency increases with the increase of NTU, Hr and with the decrease of Bi and Ar.