Condensation in a steady-flow thermoacoustic refrigerator.

Condensation may occur in an open-flow thermoacoustic cooler with stack temperatures below the saturation temperature of the flowing gas. In the experimental device described here the flowing gas, which is also the acoustic medium, is humid air, so the device acts as a flow-through dehumidifier. The humid air stream flows through an acoustic resonator. Sound energy generated by electrodynamic drivers produces a high-amplitude standing wave inside of the resonator, which causes cooling on a thermoacoustic stack. Condensation of water occurs as the humid air passes through the stack and is cooled below its dew point, with the condensate appearing on the walls of the stack. The dry, cool air passes out of the resonator, while the condensate is wicked away from the end of the stack. Thermoacoustic heat pumping is strongly affected by the form of the condensate inside of the stack, whether condensed mostly on the stack plates, or largely in the form of droplets in the gas stream. Two simple models of the effect of the condensate are matched to a measured stack temperature profile; the results suggest that the thermoacoustic effect of droplets inside the stack is small.