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

想象一下，一台使用环保气体的冰箱，而不是目前破坏环境的CFCs(氯氟烃)和HFCs(氢氟烃)。想象一下，这台冰箱是如此安静，以至于听不见。进一步想象一下，昂贵的压缩机被一个单独的移动部件取代，这使得冰箱本身就坚固可靠。这样的冰箱是存在的，它利用了热声技术。典型的热声发动机利用低品位热源(例如，余热和太阳能)并将其转换为声能。相比之下，典型的热声制冷机利用声源产生冷却效果。问题是，热声系统目前的效率很低，因此它们只在利基应用中才能找到，比如在太空中，或者在本和曾傑瑞的冰淇淋的环保宣传中。

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.