Modeling, design, and development of novel thermagoustic and therporaoustic systems

想象一下，一种使用环保气体的冰箱，而不是目前对环境有害的CFCs（氯氟烃）和HFCs（氢氟碳化物）。想象一下这个冰箱安静得听不见。进一步想象一下，昂贵的压缩机被替换为一个单一的运动部件，使冰箱本身坚固可靠。这种冰箱是存在的，它利用热声学。典型的热声发动机利用低品位的热源（如废热和太阳能）并将其转换为声功率。相比之下，典型的热声制冷机利用声源来产生冷却效果。问题是热声系统目前效率低下，因此它们只在空间或本杰里冰淇淋的环保推广等小众应用中找到。

Imagine a refrigerator that uses environmentally friendly gases instead of the current environmentally damaging CFCs (chlorofluorocarbons) and HFCs (hydrofluorocarbons). Imagine this refrigerator being so quiet that it cannot be heard. Further imagine that the costly compressor is replaced with a single moving part that makes the refrigerator inherently robust and reliable. Such a refrigerator exists and it utilizes thermoacoustics. A typical thermoacoustic engine utilizes a low grade heat source (e.g., waste heat and solar energy) and converts it to acoustic power. In contrast, a typical thermoacoustic refrigerator utilizes an acoustic source to produce a cooling effect. The catch is that thermoacoustic systems are currently inefficient, thus they have only found in niche applications such as in space or in environment friendly promotions by Ben and Jerry's Ice Cream. This research work proposes two novel branches of thermoacoustics, namely, thermagoustics (thermal-magnetic-acoustics) and therporaoustics (thermal-porous-acoustics) which represent major steps forward in the pursuit of more efficient thermoacoustic devices. In thermagoustics magnetic force controls thermoacoustic operation while in therporaoustics the acoustic sound waves travel through a porous medium to enhance thermoacoustic efficiencies. Thermagoustic and therporaoustic devices exhibit their potential application in several areas: electronic cooling (e.g., high frequency piezoelectric cooler), low-temperature applications (e.g., Stirling cryo-cooler), remote space applications (e.g., NASA's space shuttle), cryogenic applications (e.g., Thermoacoustic-Stirling system), refrigeration (e.g., solar powered thermoacoustic refrigerator), and hybrid systems (e.g., thermoelectric-thermoacoustic cooling systems) for vehicle applications. The outcomes of this research will lead to more efficient thermoacoustic device designs, thus aiding commercialization. Given the infancy of thermoacoustics and the potential consumer market, Canada has the potential to be a leader in the commercialization of this technology, especially if major efficiency breakthroughs are developed within Canada.