accustic heat pump

[gohm]

I just came across some brief information on an acoustic resonating heat pump that uses no oil/cfc but sound wave pressure differential to operate the heat pump. How amazing!!! They had some small working models operating household refrigerators. Of course it still uses electricity however it is more effecient (no gas/oil to heat/cool after each cycle) and is a much greener option. Has anyone had any experiece with such a system or know more details?

thanks,

[gohm]

Still no takers on chatting about this idea?
Here's a link for some info on the operation of thermoacoustic heat pumps. Ben & Jerry's ice cream is planning on using this technology in the near future for their refrigeration needs.

http://www.osd.rutgers.edu/gs/07papers/thermoacoustic.pdf

[gnomic]

There is a lot of info on the web about such items, but much of it is research and filled with math that is beyond me. Penn State has a nice demo kit for experiementors for $14 + $10 shipping. For more about these demo kits, check out this article in The Citizen Scientist (magazine for the Society for Amateur Scientists) and this article in the American Scientist magazine (the magazine of Sigma Xi). There is a nice article (simple) here:
http://www.osd.rutgers.edu/gs/07pape...moacoustic.pdf

I'm just getting into this area and working on a series of articles on the subject for makezine (makezine.com) aimed at someone getting started in this area as a hobbyist.

What are you trying to make?

[gohm]

Gnomic,

Thanks for the information! I as well have been keeping up as this technology develops. I'm not currently making anything specific with this device, I was interested in sparking conversation about this technology, its possible applications/impact as well as the theory behind its function. I was planning on making a home built unit in the coming months as a tech demonstration. I'll also check out that demo kit as well.

[gnomic]

What amazes me is that there is tons of research, but lots of room for non-scientists (engineers, hobbyists) to experiment and still learn things. One of the things I did when narrowing down the field of projects I wanted to focus on was apply TRIZ to the variables. Thermoacoustics (TA) has a lot of variations that haven't been fully tried. A lot of the focus is on higher cooling efficiencies, but my focus is on lower power inputs and scaling up (i.e. brute force) the effect for a greener solution. If people can build and sell wine coolers that use grossly inefficient pelter chips, then I think there is a market for low-tech TA coolers.

[vishal nadpara]

This topic is very interesting.
I chose this topic as my seminar topic.
If you have a further information mail it at vishal2009mech@gmail.com

[gohm]

Vishal,

Please share with us all your seminar ideas when you are able. Hope it goes well!