Heat Transfer Analysis in Thermoacoustic Regenerators Using CFD Simulation

This work is a continuation of previously published work, which focused on a working simulation of a thermoacoustic engine using Fluent [1]. The present work utilizes the developed model to investigate four different resonator geometries and the effect of curvature on the pressure, velocity and temperature over the course of one period of oscillations. It is shown that all relevant flow variables are adversely affected, as the respective amplitudes decrease. As a cumulative parameter, the total energy transfer between the walls of the thermoacoustic stack and the working gas is also discussed. It is concluded that the energy transfer also decreases as a result of increasing curvature.