Proceedings of IMECE03

2003 ASME International Mechanical Engineering Congress

Washington, D.C., November 1521, 2003
Proceedings of IMECE03
2003 ASME International Mechanical Engineering Congress & Exposition
IMECE2003-41306
IMECE2003-41306

OSCILLATORY HEAT TRANSFER AT THE HEAT EXCHANGERS

OF THE THERMOACOUSTIC REFRIGERATION SYSTEM
By

Emmanuel C. Nsofor, and Xudong Wang

Department of Mechanical Engineering and Energy Processes
Southern Illinois University
Carbondale, IL 62901

ABSTRACT Dr drive Ratio, (%)

f frequency of oscillation, (Hz)
Thermoacoustic refrigeration systems utilize h heat transfer coefficient, (W/m2 K)
high intensity sound waves and the k thermal conductivity, (W / m K)
interactions with solid boundaries to create L length (m)
temperature gradient, heat pumping and M Mach number
consequent cooling. In this study, a P perimeter (m)
thermoacoustic refrigeration system was Re Reynolds number (dimensionless)
designed and constructed. The stack was s surface area (m2)
fabricated from a thermoplastic material to T temperature, (K)
reduce conduction in the direction opposite Tb base temperature of the fin, (K)
to heat pumping. The direction of the stack T gas free stream or time averaged
plates perpendicular to the thickness was temperature, (K)
lined with an aluminum material to increase x axial coordinate, (dimensionless)
the heat transfer in this direction. A study y axial coordinate, (dimensionless)
on the oscillatory flow heat transfer at the change
heat exchangers was performed using k thermal penetration depth, (m)
helium as the working gas. Some important wavelength, (m)
factors that influence the heat transfer temperature (K)
coefficient in oscillatory fluid flow and
density, (kg/m3)
relations to stack fabrication were identified.
angular frequency, (2f)
NOMENCLATURE
INTRODUCTION
cp specific heat at constant pressure,
A number of thermoacoustic systems have
(J/kg K)
been designed, constructed and reported.
D diameter, (m)

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 Also, some heat transfer studies in the
system have been reported. In a
comprehensive article, Swift [1]
documented a review and in-depth
description of thermoacoustic physics.
Previous work related to this study includes
that by Adeff and Hoffler [2] on the design
and construction of a solar-powered
thermoacoustically driven thermoacoustic
refrigerator. Herman and Wetzel [3, 4]
developed a thermoacoustic model, reported
on the design optimization of the models
and recommended areas for more research.
Minner et al. [5] evaluated the performance
of a thermoacoustic refrigerator and found
that the choice of working fluid and the heat
exchanger configuration were critical design
factors affecting the performance of the
system. A report on an experimental study
carried out by Bai et al. [6] discussed the
effect of the working fluid, resonator length,
charging pressure and heating temperature
on the performance of the thermoacoustic
prime mover. For the determination of the
appropriate working gas for use in the
system, Belcher et al [7] studied working
gases suitable for use in thermoacoustic
systems and stated that the best working
gases for thermoacoustic refrigeration
should have high ratios of specific heats and
low Prandtl numbers. Tijani et al [8, 9],
designed, constructed and tested a
thermoacoustic refrigerator and described
some design procedures, selection of
parameters, components optimization and
fabrication techniques.
Regarding the oscillatory flow around the
heat exchangers, of the thermoacoustic
system, it should be noted that although an
oscillatory flow can either be a reciprocating
flow or a pulsating flow, the flow on the
outside of the heat exchangers of the
thermoacoustic refrigeration system is a
reciprocating flow. In this type of flow, the
direction reverses periodically and the
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amplitude of the oscillating velocity is
greater than the time-mean flow. This is
different from a pulsating flow in which the
flow direction never reverses and the
amplitude of the oscillating velocity is less
than the time-mean flow velocity. Iwabuchi
and Kanzaka [10] carried out experiments to
investigate the heat transfer on a
reciprocating flow in a set-up that was
designed to obtain data for a particular
prototype engine and presented the heat
transfer data in terms of piston speed, mean
pressure and phase difference between the
opposing pistons.
Mozurkewich [11] developed a one-
dimensional model for transverse heat
transfer in parallel thermoacoustic pores,
and Aniruddha et al [12] reported that the
optimization of heat exchanger size and
location relating to the stack could improve
the performance of the stack significantly.
Mozurkewich [13] tested three heat
exchanger configurations located at the hot
end of a thermoacoustic stack and showed
that the time-average steady-flow equivalent
approximation could be applied in the
analysis of thermoacoustic heat exchangers,
which consist of transversely oriented tubes.
Ishikawa and Hobson [14] presented an
expression for optimum dimensionless heat
exchanger area, and developed a design
method to obtain the optimum surface area
of thermoacoustic heat exchangers.
In this study, a thermoacoustic refrigeration
system was designed and constructed with
the experimental accessories and data
acquisition system using information from
published reports. The stack was fabricated
from a thermoplastic material to reduce
conduction in the direction opposite to heat
pumping. The direction of the stack plates
perpendicular to the thickness was lined
with an aluminum material to increase the
heat transfer in this direction. A study on
 the oscillatory flow heat transfer at the heat
exchangers was performed. Results from Dynamic Pr essure Amplitude
the study identified some important Dr = (1)
Mean Pr essure
parameters that influence oscillatory fluid
flow heat transfer rate.
of 0.02 was selected to satisfy M < 0.1 and
SUMMARY OF THE DESIGN AND Re < 500. Thermal penetration depth k
CONSTRUCTION was calculated using the equation
2k
Figure 1 shows a schematic of the system. k = (2)
The major components are the acoustic c p
driver, the resonator, a stack, the heat
exchangers and the working gas. The An optimized / 4 length, resonator tube,
schematic of the experimental setup is introduced by Hofler [15], was adopted for
shown in figure 3. The auxiliary this study, but a cone-shaped buffer was
components include the audio frequency substituted for the sphere in order to produce
generator, power amplifier, pressure
transducers and gauges, thermocouples, an Table 1. Design and operating
oscilloscope and the data acquisition system. parameters and properties under
operating conditions.
Some of the design and operating
parameters and properties are listed in Table PROPERTY OR VALUE
1. The desired cooling power, the PARAMETER
temperature difference between the hot heat Mean Pressure 5.06625 bar
exchanger and the cold heat exchanger, and Cooling Power 5W
the operating frequency of the system were Gas Thermal 0.146 W/m K
some of the critical items selected for the Conductivity
design. Gas Density 0.8845 kg/m3
Speed of sound in gas 978.1 m/s
Gas Specific heat (cp) 5193 J/kg K
Gas Dynamic 188 x 10-7 N s/m2
Viscosity
Gas Prandtl number 0.667
Gas Thermal 3.19 x 10-5 m2/s
Diffusivity
Diameter of the 0.0318 m
smaller portion of the
resonator tube
Figure 1 Schematic of the Diameter of the larger 0.0589 m
Thermoacoustic Refrigeration System. portion of the
resonator tube
The acoustic Mach number M was limited Stack length 0.0845 m
to M 0.1 to eliminate nonlinear effects [1] Length of the large 0.13127 m
and the Reynolds number was also limited portion (l)
to less than 500 to avoid turbulence [8]. The Length of the cold 0.34 m
drive ratio, defined as portion

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 an open-end condition [8]. Helium was
selected as the working gas for the design.
The choice was influenced by the study,
Belcher et al [7], which made
recommendations on the suitability of
working gases used in thermoacoustic
refrigeration systems. The acoustic driver
was selected to provide the required total
acoustic power within a wide range of
frequency and drive ratios. The resonator
was constructed from aluminum tubing but
with plastic tubing at the inner diameter
portion to reduce heat loss by conduction.
The stack was fabricated from a
thermoplastic material to reduce conduction
fin. To obtain an expression for the heat
transfer coefficient h along the plate, a
number of assumptions were introduced. It
is assumed that the fin has the same fin base
temperature Tb at both ends due to the
symmetric geometry of the heat exchanger.
The working gas is assumed to be an ideal
gas. A small part of the fin, shown shaded
in figure (b) was used as the control volume
for the analysis. Equation (3) gives the
energy balance for the control volume
dT dT
ks + hPdx(T T ) = ks (3)
dx x dx x + x

in the direction opposite to heat pumping.

The direction of the stack plates
perpendicular to the thickness was lined
with an aluminum material to increase the
heat transfer in this direction. The heat
exchangers consist of copper fins soldered to
aluminum flange. From the inlet and outlet
temperatures of flowing water, the heat
added to or removed from the heat
exchangers was calculated. Data acquisition
was through input signals from
thermocouples and pressure transducers fed
to a data acquisition system connected to a
personal computer.

HEAT TRANSFER AT THE HEAT

EXCHANGERS

Figure 2 shows the geometry of the heat Figure 2 Schematic of the Heat Transfer
exchanger and a single plate of the heat from the Fin of the Hot Heat Exchanger.
exchanger. Figure (a) shows the overall
arrangement of the fins and geometry of the Equation (3) can be rearranged to give
heat exchanger, (b) shows a single fin of the d 2
heat exchanger and (c) illustrates the control 2
m 2 = 0 (4)
dx
volume for the analysis. The width of a hP
single fin is 6.6 mm and the thickness is where = T ( x ) T and m 2 =
0.15 mm. The oscillating gas flow with ks
The solution of equation (4) is
time-averaged temperature T flows across
the fins in the x direction. The fin has a
= C1e mx + C 2e mx (5)
temperature distribution T(x) along the fin,
where x is the distance from the base of the

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 where C1 and C2 are constants which are An Endevco model 8510C-100 pressure
determined by the boundary conditions. The transducer was used to measure the dynamic
constants C1 and C2 were obtained as: pressure. The pressure transducer was
mounted on the aluminum flange by
threading and O-ring sealing. The data
b (1 e mL )
C1 = (6)
e mL e mL

b (e mL 1)
C2 = (7)
e mL e mL

where b = Tb T

The temperature distribution T(x) was thus

obtained as:
Figure 3 Schematic of the experimental
hP

hP
e
x x
Tb T ks
e ks
+ (8) facility.
T ( x ) = T +
hP

hP
hP
(L x)
hP
(L x)
e
L L
e ks
e ks

ks
e ks
acquisition consisted of a PCI-773-T board
with 16 differential analog inputs and Wave
Except the heat transfer coefficient (h), all View for windows software. The
the variables in equation (8) can be thermocouples were mounted on the
determined or measured directly from terminal panel. An acrylic block Omega
experiments. Thus h can be obtained using flow meter was used to measure the flow
experimental results. rate of water through the heat exchangers.
EXPERIMENTAL SETUP Figure 4 shows the location of the
thermocouples inside the system. Three
The experimental facility, which includes
the gas charging system, the test section,
instruments, and the data acquisition system,
was set up as shown in figure 3. The
working gas was charged and discharged
through the gas charging system. The
charging system was connected to a vacuum
pump and a pressurized working gas tank
with appropriate valves so that each of them
can be used as desired. The test section can
be operated under various working
conditions that include different pressures
and operating frequencies. Instruments Figure 4. Location of the thermocouples
include thermocouples, pressure transducers, inside the system.
oscilloscope and flow meters. The data
acquisition system receives signals from the thermocouples were installed at the hot heat
thermocouples and the pressure transducers. exchanger. One was mounted at the base of
the fin (shown in the diagram as location

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 No. 5) to measure base temperature Tb . The
second thermocouple which measures T(x)
is mounted at a variable point x, a specific
distance x from the base of the fin (shown
in the diagram at this point as location No.
6). The third thermocouple, (located in the
gas flow away from the fin) measures T .
A total of ten thermocouples were used to
collect temperatures at different locations in
the system. All the thermocouples are
Omega Type T. The thermocouples could
measure temperatures in the range of 200
C to 350 C. The standard error for the
thermocouples is 0.75%, if the temperature
is above 0 C and 1.5% if the temperature is
below 0 C.
With the measurements of Tb , T(x) and T
the convection heat transfer coefficient h
could be determined by using equation (8).
Two thermocouples were installed at both
ends of the stack to measure the
temperatures occurring at both ends of the
stack while one thermocouple was located in
the middle of the stack. Location of this
thermocouple is variable. The temperature
of the acoustic driver was monitored by one
thermocouple mounted at the surface of the
driver. Two thermocouples were used to
measure the inlet and outlet temperatures of
the cooling water.
RESULTS AND DISCUSSION
The model developed was used to study the
factors affecting the heat transfer at different
operating conditions. The expression from
which the heat transfer coefficient (h) was
determined is given by equation (8). Figure
5 shows the relationship between the heat
transfer coefficient, the mean pressure and
the operating frequency. The experimental
results for h versus frequency (f) for
different operating pressures are shown in
the figure. The results show that within the
limits of the experimental studies, there
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appears to be a parabolic relationship
between h and f at constant mean pressure.
The heat transfer coefficient h increases with
f at constant mean pressure until h reaches a
maximum value at some value of f before it
starts to decrease. This indicates that there
is a critical value of frequency for a given
mean pressure outside of which the heat
transfer coefficient will not increase. This
maximum value of f is the resonant
frequency and results show that it also
increases with mean pressure. The heat
transfer drops significantly if the
thermoacoustic refrigerator does not operate
at the resonance frequency.
The acoustic heat transfer coefficient for the
system increases with increasing mean
pressure and operating frequency up to the
180
160
heat transfer coefficient (W/sq-m-K)
140
120
2 bar
100
3 bar
80 4 bar
60
40
20
0
200 250 300 350 400 450 500
frequency (Hz)
Figure 5. Heat transfer coefficient h
versus frequency at different operating
pressures.
critical value of frequency (or resonant
frequency). Thus higher operating pressures
at critical frequency are desired for the
system. However, it is to be noted that the
thermal penetration depth depends on the
thermophysical properties of the working
 gas and the operating frequency. Increase in Society of America, 84, No.4, pp. 1145
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operation and performance of the 3. Herman, C and Wetzel, M, 1995,
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