Investigation of the Specific Acoustic Impedance Control of a Linear Generator for a Thermoacoustic Generator

Abstract

This study focused on a thermoacoustic generator, which a linear generator without a spring mechanism was connected to a branch tube of "a loop-type thermoacoustic engine with the branch tube, and proposed a system adds feedback control of displacement and velocity on the piston surface of the linear generator to the voltage". For the proposed system, numerical calculations were performed to investigate the feasibility of changing the specific acoustic impedance and operating the thermoacoustic generator. The numerical results showed that the specific acoustic impedance of the linear generator could be changed to an arbitrary value using the proposed system, and that the thermoacoustic generator could operate over a wide range. Furthermore, the system exhibits the potential to achieve efficiency comparable to that of conventional linear generators equipped with spring mechanism.