Theoretical and experimental investigation of onset characteristics of standing-wave thermoacoustic engines based on thermodynamic analysis

A simplified physical model for calculating the onset temperature ratio and the frequency of a standing wave thermoacoustic engine (SWTE) in the time domain is built based on thermodynamic analysis. Coefficients of transient pressure drop and heat transfer are first deduced from linear thermoacoustic theory. By numerical computation, the evolutions of the pressure amplitude and the spectrum characteristics during the onset process are presented. Furthermore, the effects of stack spacing, charge pressure, and resonator length on the onset temperature ratio and the frequency are calculated. Relatively good agreement between the computational and the experimental results has been achieved, which validates the model for calculating the onset characteristics.