Abstract
This work provides valid experimental
evidence on the difference between design for
maximum cooling and maximum efficiency for
thermoacoustic refrigerators. In addition, the
influence of the geometry of the honeycomb
ceramic stack on the performance of
thermoacoustic refrigerators is presented as it
affects the cooling power. Sixteen cordierite
honeycomb ceramic stacks with square cross
sections having four different lengths of 26 mm, 48
mm, 70 mm and 100 mm are considered.
Measurements are taken at six different locations of
the stack hot ends from the pressure antinode,
namely 100 mm, 200 mm, 300 mm, 400 mm, 500
mm and 600 mm respectively. Measurement of
temperature difference across the stack ends at
steady state for different stack geometries are used
to compute the cooling load and the coefficient of
performance. The results obtained with
atmospheric air showed that there is a distinct
optimum depending on the design goal.