Experimental Study of Stack Porosity on the Performance of Thermoacoustic Refrigerator with Unparalleled Wire Mesh Stacks

Abstract

The effect of stack porosity on thermoacoustic refrigerator performance with different wire mesh stack designs is investigated experimentally in this paper. Thermoacoustic refrigeration is an innovative technique that employs the principles of thermodynamics and acoustics to achieve cooling effects without the need for hazardous refrigerants or mechanical components. Regardless of their potential, the wire mesh stacks' density and porosity are crucial characteristics that significantly impact the system's performance. The influence of three different types of wire mesh on the performance of thermoacoustic refrigerators was investigated in this study. The meshes used were #14, #16, and #18. The hydraulic radius, porosity, and clear opening differed for each variant. To determine which wire mesh structure was most effective in cooling, we tracked the changes in temperature in both the hot and cold heat exchangers. Based on the experimental results, it was observed that wire mesh #18 had a porosity of 72.6% and a hydraulic radius of 0.211 mm. This wire mesh demonstrated the most notable temperature reduction, decreasing by 4.8 °C and reaching a minimum temperature of 22.3 °C in the prototype model. The results indicate that thermoacoustic refrigerators can be improved with a larger porosity layout, leading to more noticeable temperature differences across the stack and better cooling efficiency. Findings from this study highlight the importance of optimizing parameters and designing stacks for sophisticated thermoacoustic refrigerator systems. These findings highlight the possible advantages of thermoacoustic refrigerators that use stacks of high-porosity wire mesh and give direction for future design considerations.