Theoretical Study on the Performance of a Standing-Wave Thermoacoustic Refrigerator Under Various Boundary Conditions

The thermoacoustic refrigerator (TAR) is a device that converts acoustic energy into thermal energy to generate a cooling effect. This paper establishes a simplified theoretical model of a loudspeaker-driven standing-wave TAR based on the linear thermoacoustic theory. A parametric analysis is carried out to study the effect of the boundary conditions on the performance of the TAR. The result shows that variation in the acoustic impedance at the end of the resonance tube affects the acoustic characteristics and the cooling effect of the system and, thus, the selection of the optimal driving frequency of the loudspeaker. This work provides guidelines for designing TARs to meet specific requirements of thermoacoustic refrigeration.