Thermoacoustic electric generation at high frequency?
The goal: cheap, easy(ish) electricity.
The power source: concentrated sunlight or fire.
The question: Has anyone here made them self one of these? :
a thermoacoustic electric generator which runs at high frequency.
I'm not talking about a sterling engine at least not exactly. Rather I'm looking to make something that resonates much faster and could be harnessed with a voicecoil or a piezo electric transducer. This has been done by grad students and researchers but I haven't seen any built by the DIY crowd.
There are some startups around who tout this method because it is more efficient than a sterling engine and easier to build because there are essentially no moving parts or sliding seals.
The higher frequency seems to be the tipping point in efficiency because there is less gas moving but moving with the same energy:
"Minimizing the flow velocity of the gas overcomes viscous losses inside the regenerator, whose tiny pores allow heat to move between gas and solid most efficiently." http://www.americanscientist.org/issues/feature/the-power-of-sound/5
I'm thinking of making something with common materials: a loop of steel pipe and speakers or a bunch of piezo buzzers and a bike tire valve to add compressed air (for higher frequency oscillation).
Can anyone lend the voice of experience for us?
Here's some reference material:
http://www.wired.com/science/discoveries/news/2003/01/57063
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Thermoacoustic_hot_air_engine
In greater depth: http://www.americanscientist.org/issues/feature/the-power-of-sound/
http://www.aster-thermoacoustics.com/?page_id=141
Videos:
http://science.discovery.com/videos/invention-nation-thermal-acoustics.html
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Vv0ulNLRkWM
And there's a good explanatory video out of Europe but I can't find it now.
Key words for 'bots: TAPEC ECN TAP (Thermo Acoustic power) SCORE (Stove for Cooking,
Refrigeration and Electricity)
The power source: concentrated sunlight or fire.
The question: Has anyone here made them self one of these? :
a thermoacoustic electric generator which runs at high frequency.
I'm not talking about a sterling engine at least not exactly. Rather I'm looking to make something that resonates much faster and could be harnessed with a voicecoil or a piezo electric transducer. This has been done by grad students and researchers but I haven't seen any built by the DIY crowd.
There are some startups around who tout this method because it is more efficient than a sterling engine and easier to build because there are essentially no moving parts or sliding seals.
The higher frequency seems to be the tipping point in efficiency because there is less gas moving but moving with the same energy:
"Minimizing the flow velocity of the gas overcomes viscous losses inside the regenerator, whose tiny pores allow heat to move between gas and solid most efficiently." http://www.americanscientist.org/issues/feature/the-power-of-sound/5
I'm thinking of making something with common materials: a loop of steel pipe and speakers or a bunch of piezo buzzers and a bike tire valve to add compressed air (for higher frequency oscillation).
Can anyone lend the voice of experience for us?
Here's some reference material:
http://www.wired.com/science/discoveries/news/2003/01/57063
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Thermoacoustic_hot_air_engine
In greater depth: http://www.americanscientist.org/issues/feature/the-power-of-sound/
http://www.aster-thermoacoustics.com/?page_id=141
Videos:
http://science.discovery.com/videos/invention-nation-thermal-acoustics.html
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Vv0ulNLRkWM
And there's a good explanatory video out of Europe but I can't find it now.
Key words for 'bots: TAPEC ECN TAP (Thermo Acoustic power) SCORE (Stove for Cooking,
Refrigeration and Electricity)
