Influence of resonance tube length on performance of thermoacoustically driven pulse tube refrigerator Original Research Article

A resonance tube is an important component of a thermoacoustic engine, which has great influence on the performance of the thermoacoustically driven pulse tube refrigerator. A standing wave thermoacoustic engine is simulated with linear thermoacoustics. Computed results show that an appropriate accretion of the resonance tube length may lead to a decrease of the working frequency and an increase of the pressure amplitude, which will improve the match between the thermoacoustic engine and the pulse tube refrigerator. The theoretical prediction is verified by experiments. A refrigeration temperature as low as 88.6 K has been achieved with an optimized length of the resonance tube, helium as working gas, and 2200 W of heating power.