PubMed Health⌕ Search

Biomedical subjects

G W Swift

Publications and source records attributed to G W Swift.

9 recordsLinked to original sources
PubMed2003

An acoustic streaming instability in thermoacoustic devices utilizing jet pumps.

Thermoacoustic-Stirling hybrid engines and feedback pulse tube refrigerators can utilize jet pumps to suppress streaming that would otherwise cause large heat leaks and reduced efficiency. It is desirable to use jet pumps to suppress streaming because they do not introduce moving parts such as bellows or membranes. In most cases, this form of streaming suppression works reliably. However, in some cases, the streaming suppression has been found to be unstable. Using a simple model of the acoustics in the regenerators and jet pumps of these devices, a stability criterion is derived that predicts when jet pumps can reliably suppress streaming.

Journal Article↗
PubMed2003

Power dissipation and time-averaged pressure in oscillating flow through a sudden area change.

Experiments on oscillating flow at the abrupt transition between a two-dimensional channel and essentially infinite space are presented. It is shown that phenomena associated with the transition are functions of three independent dimensionless parameters including the dimensionless radius rounding the edge of the end of the channel. The effect of each of these three parameters on the time-averaged pressure difference across the transition and the acoustic power dissipation is explored by holding two parameters fixed while varying the third. Evidence is presented that the losses due to oscillatory flow in this geometry are smaller than would be expected from commonly accepted values for steady flow in similar geometry.

Acoustics↗
PubMed2003

A cascade thermoacoustic engine.

A cascade thermoacoustic engine is described, consisting of one standing-wave stage plus two traveling-wave stages in series. Most of the acoustic power is produced in the efficient traveling-wave stages. The straight-line series configuration is easy to build and allows no Gedeon streaming. The engine delivers up to 2 kW of acoustic power, with an efficiency (the ratio of acoustic power to heater power) of up to 20%. An understanding of the pressure and volume-velocity waves is very good. The agreement between measured and calculated powers and temperatures is reasonable. Some of the measured thermal power that cannot be accounted for by calculation can be attributed to Rayleigh streaming in the two thermal buffer tubes with the largest aspect ratios. A straightforward extension of this work should yield cascade thermoacoustic engines with efficiencies of around 35-40% of the Carnot efficiency.

Journal Article↗
PubMed2002

Saturation of thermoacoustic mixture separation.

The theory for thermoacoustic mixture separation is extended to include the effects of a nonzero concentration gradient. New data are presented, which are in excellent agreement with this theory. The maximum concentration gradient which may be achieved in a binary mixture of gases through this separation process is intrinsically limited by the fractional pressure amplitude, by the tidal displacement, and by the size of the thermal diffusion ratio. Ordinary diffusion further detracts from the attainable final concentration gradient and can become the dominant remixing process as the cross section of the duct is increased. Rayleigh streaming also works against thermoacoustic separation, and an estimate of the molar flux from streaming is given.

Journal Article↗
PubMed2002

Thermodynamic efficiency of thermoacoustic mixture separation.

The acoustic power loss in the thermoacoustic mixture-separation process is derived, including the contributions due to a nonzero gradient in concentration. The significance of the gradient-dependent term is discussed. The limiting thermodynamic efficiency of the separation is calculated. Under reasonable circumstances, the efficiency approaches 10(-2) nHnL(delta m/m(avg))2, where nH and nL are the mole fractions of the two components of the mixture, and delta m/m(avg) is the fractional difference between the molar masses of the two components. This efficiency is of the same order of magnitude as that of some other, more conventional separation methods.

Journal Article↗
PubMed2000

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.

Acoustics↗
PubMed1992

Two-sensor power measurements in lossy ducts.

Theory and measurements of the use of two adjacent pressure sensors to measure acoustic power flow of a simple harmonic sound wave in a duct are presented. This theory differs from the usual intensity-times-area formulation of this problem by including the phase shift between pressure gradient and velocity, which is caused by viscous drag on the gas at the duct wall. For high standing-wave ratios, the power obtained by this method differs significantly from the product of mid-duct intensity and duct area. These measurements confirm the method to an accuracy of 5%, even at high amplitudes where the acoustic flow is turbulent and the theory might not necessarily be valid.

Acoustics↗
PubMed1985

Nonlinear natural engine: Model for thermodynamic processes in mesoscale systems.

To develop intuition on the possible application of concepts from thermodynamic heat engines to mesoscale systems, we have constructed and studied a model thermoacoustic heat engine. The model consists of a chain of coupled nonlinear acoustic vibrators in which the primary thermodynamic medium is argon gas, the secondary thermodynamic medium is constituted by solids bounding the gas, and frequencies are ca. 3 x 10(2) Hz. The nonlinear elements are the necks, made flexible by means of an oil-loaded DuPont Kapton film, of Helmholtz resonators. When the primary medium is driven uniformly by an acoustic driver at a frequency somewhat below the low-amplitude resonant frequency and at a high enough driving amplitude, stationary localized or solitary states appear irreversibly on the chain. These are characterized by a higher vibrational amplitude than that in surrounding vibrators, where the amplitude can decrease; by the appearance of deep subharmonics of the drive frequency, corresponding to driven low-frequency vibrations of the Kapton film-oil systems; and by the pumping of heat toward the localized states. Possible implications of these results for mesoscale systems consisting of chains of molecular vibrators are then discussed.

Journal Article↗