Post-positioned gas spring enables ultra-high output power of hybrid thermoacoustic electric generators

Chen, Yuanhang; Yu, Guoyao; Chen, Yanyan; Zhu, Shunmin; Luo, Jing; Sun, Yanlei; Luo, Ercang

Abstract

High-capacity hybrid thermoacoustic electric generators (HTAEGs) are ideal in different small- and micro-scale energy systems, especially in space nuclear power systems. In this work, an HTAEG with a post-positioned gas spring is proposed. To demonstrate the superiority of the gas-spring-post-positioned design on high-capacity HTAEGs, an HTAEG prototype is modeled, built, and tested from the perspective of thermoacoustics accordingly. Experimental results demonstrate an output electric power of 15.0 kW. Furthermore, it could achieve the highest efficiency of 39.2% with an output electric power of 11.1 kW. Given that a 15-kW power output is an ultra-high level on a single-piston HTAEG of this type to date, and the achieved efficiency on the prototype is also encouraging, this work marks an important milestone in the development of high-capacity HTAEGs. It also demonstrates that the gas-spring-post-positioned design has significant advantages and enormous potential for application.

Citation

Chen, Y., Yu, G., Chen, Y., Zhu, S., Luo, J., Sun, Y., & Luo, E. (2024). Post-positioned gas spring enables ultra-high output power of hybrid thermoacoustic electric generators. Cell Reports Physical Science, 5, Article 101835. https://doi.org/10.1016/j.xcrp.2024.101835

• Journal Article Type: Article
• Acceptance Date: Jan 25, 2024
• Online Publication Date: Feb 21, 2024
• Publication Date: Mar 20, 2024
• Deposit Date: Feb 22, 2024
• Publicly Available Date: Feb 23, 2024
• Journal: Cell Reports Physical Science
• Print ISSN: 2666-3864
• Electronic ISSN: 2666-3864
• Publisher: Elsevier
• Peer Reviewed: Peer Reviewed
• Volume: 5
• Article Number: 101835
• DOI: https://doi.org/10.1016/j.xcrp.2024.101835
• Public URL: https://durham-repository.worktribe.com/output/2272440