Synthetic jet flow driven by a standing-wave thermoacoustic heat engine

This paper presents an experimental investigation of the formation of synthetic jets into external quiescent environment for cooling purposes using a thermoacoustic engine which converts heat into acoustic oscillations. Thermoacoustic technology is proposed in this study as an option for enhancing the cooling effect in equipment normally relying on natural convection. For this purpose, a standing-wave thermoacoustic heat engine was modelled and built and its ability to generate synthetic jet flow structures as well as their propagation were examined. It was found that the engine is able to drive synthetic jets through 10 orifices at a temperature difference less than 150 °C. The working medium is CO₂ at ambient pressure. In experiments, the performance of thermoacoustic engine was evaluated in terms of jet velocity and the required temperature difference across the stack by varying the heating power.