Abstract
Abstract:
This work develops a novel mathematical programming model to optimize the performance of a simple thermoacoustic refrigerator (TAR). This study aims to optimize the geometric parameters namely the
stack position, the stack length, the blockage ratio and the plate spacing involved in designing TARs. System parameters and constraints that capture the underlying thermoacoustic dynamics
have been used to define the models. The cooling load, the coefficient of performance and the acoustic power loss have been used to measure the performance of the device. The optimization task is
formulated as a three-criterion nonlinear programming problem with discontinuous derivatives (DNLP). Since we optimize multiple objectives simultaneously, each objective component has been given a
weighting factor to provide appropriate user-defined emphasis. A practical example is given to illustrate the approach. We have determined a design statement of a stack describing how the geometrical
parameters describing would change if emphasis is given to one objective in particular. We also considered optimization of multiple objectives components simultaneously and identify global optimal
solutions describing the stack geometry using a lexicographic multiobjective optimization scheme. Additionally, this approach illustrates the difference between a design for maximum cooling and best
coefficient of performance of a simple TAR.