Publication Date:
2019
Description:
〈div data-abstract-type="normal"〉〈p〉Thermoacoustic instability – self-sustained pressure oscillations triggered by temperature gradients – has become an increasingly studied topic in the context of energy conversion. Generally, the process relies on conductive heat transfer between a solid and the fluid in which the generated pressure oscillations are sustained. In the present study, the thermoacoustic theory is extended to include mass transfer; specifically, the working fluid is modified so as to incorporate a ‘reactive’ gas, able to exchange phase with a solid/liquid boundary through a sorption process (or through evaporation/condensation), such that most heat is transferred in the form of latent heat rather than through conduction. A set of differential equations is derived, accounting for phase-exchange heat and mass transfer, and de-coupled via a small-amplitude asymptotic expansion. These equations are solved and subsequently manipulated into the form of a wave equation, representing the small perturbation on the pressure field, and used to derive expressions for the time-averaged, second-order heat and mass fluxes. A stability analysis is performed on the wave equation, from which the marginal stability curve is calculated in terms of the temperature difference, 〈span〉〈span〉〈img data-mimesubtype="gif" data-type="simple" src="http://static.cambridge.org/resource/id/urn:cambridge.org:id:binary:20190304132813781-0140:S0022112019000879:S0022112019000879_inline1.gif"〉
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〈/span〉〈/span〉, required for initiation of self-sustained oscillations. Calculated stability curves are compared with published experimental results, showing good agreement. Effects of gas mixture composition are studied, indicating that a lower heat capacity of the inert component, combined with a low boiling temperature and high latent heat of the reactive component substantially lower 〈span〉〈span〉〈img data-mimesubtype="gif" data-type="simple" src="http://static.cambridge.org/resource/id/urn:cambridge.org:id:binary:20190304132813781-0140:S0022112019000879:S0022112019000879_inline2.gif"〉
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〈/span〉〈/span〉. Furthermore, an increase in the average mole fraction of the reactive gas, 〈span〉〈span〉〈img data-mimesubtype="gif" data-type="simple" src="http://static.cambridge.org/resource/id/urn:cambridge.org:id:binary:20190304132813781-0140:S0022112019000879:S0022112019000879_inline3.gif"〉
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〈/span〉〈/span〉 strongly affects onset conditions, leading to 〈span〉〈span〉〈img data-mimesubtype="gif" data-type="simple" src="http://static.cambridge.org/resource/id/urn:cambridge.org:id:binary:20190304132813781-0140:S0022112019000879:S0022112019000879_inline4.gif"〉
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〈/span〉〈/span〉 at the highest value of 〈span〉〈span〉〈img data-mimesubtype="gif" data-type="simple" src="http://static.cambridge.org/resource/id/urn:cambridge.org:id:binary:20190304132813781-0140:S0022112019000879:S0022112019000879_inline5.gif"〉
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〈/span〉〈/span〉 achievable under atmospheric pressure. An analysis of the system limit cycle is performed for a wide range of parameters, indicating a systematic decrease in the temperature difference capable of sustaining the limit cycle, as well as a significant distortion of the acoustic wave form as the phase-exchange mechanism becomes dominant. These findings, combined, reveal the underlying mechanisms by which a phase-exchange engine may produce more acoustic power than its counterpart ‘classical’ thermoacoustic system, while its temperature difference is substantially lower.〈/p〉〈/div〉
Print ISSN:
0022-1120
Electronic ISSN:
1469-7645
Topics:
Mechanical Engineering, Materials Science, Production Engineering, Mining and Metallurgy, Traffic Engineering, Precision Mechanics
,
Physics
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