Comparison of a thermoacoustic refrigerator stack performance: Mylar spiral, celcor substrates and 3D printed stacks

Abstract

Although the thermoacoustic refrigeration (TAR) system has been recognized as a potential alternative environmentally cooling system, the low coefficient of performance (COP) has yet to make it marketable. One major factor contributing towards the low COP is the fabrication method applied to the stack component which is the most important component in the TAR. In this paper, comparison of the performance of a (i) 3D printed stack, (ii) a hand fabricated Mylar stack and (iii) an off-the-shelf Celcor substrates stack has been done; these being based on optimized design parameters using Multi-Objective Genetic Algorithm (MOGA). The performance is determined from the temperature attained at the cold end of the stack and the temperature difference across the stack. Experimental results showed that the 3D printed stack has the best performance by achieving a temperature, Tc=18.9°C at the cold end and a temperature difference of δT=18.1°C across the stack, about 60% of the designed temperature difference even though the fabricated 3D printed stack deviated from the optimal design due to fabrication constraint as compared to that of the Mylar stack which was closer to the optimal design. This 3D printing of the stack promises a big potential in the improvement of the TAR performance because of the consistency achievable with the precise dimensions of the stack.