THERMOACOUSTIC ENGINE AS A LOW-POWER COGENERATION ENERGY SOURCE FOR AUTONOMOUS CONSUMER POWER SUPPLY

Abstract

The article deals with the issue of using a thermoacoustic engine as a low-power cogeneration source of energy for autonomous consumer power supply capable of operating on various types of fuel and wastes subject to combustion. The analysis of the world achievements in this field of energy has been carried out. A number of advantages make it very promising for developing energy sources capable of complex production of electrical and thermal energy with a greater efficiency than that of present day thermal power plants. The proposed scheme of a thermal power plant is based on the principle of a Stirling engine, but it uses the most efficient and promising thermoacoustic converter of heat into mechanical vibrations, which are then converted into electric current. The article contains a mathematical apparatus that explains the basic principles of the developed thermoacoustic engine. To determine the main parameters of the thermoacoustic engine, the methods of computer modeling in the DeltaEC environment have been used. A layout diagram of the laboratory sample of a thermal power plant has been proposed and the description of its design has been given. It has been proposed to use dry saturated steam as the working fluid, which makes it possible to increase the generated power of the thermoacoustic engine.