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Working gases in thermoacoustic engines
J R Belcher1, W V Slaton, R Raspet
1Jackson State Community College, Tennessee 38301, USA.
Abstract:
The best working gases for thermoacoustic refrigeration have high ratios of specific heats and low Prandtl numbers. These properties can be optimized by the use of a mixture of light and heavy noble gases. In this paper it is shown that light noble gas-heavy polyatomic gas mixtures can result in useful working gases. In addition, it is demonstrated that the onset temperature of a heat driven prime mover can be minimized with a gas with large Prandtl number and small ratio of specific heats. The gas properties must be optimized for the particular application of thermoacoustics; it cannot be assumed that high specific heat ratio and low Prandtl number are always desirable.
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