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Title: High frequency thermoacoustic refrigerator. Annual summary report, 2 September 1993-31 May 1994

Technical Report ·
OSTI ID:7229955

A small thermoacoustic refrigerator was developed for operation at 5 kHz. Its main components are a piezoelectric driver of the bimorph type, a cotton wool stack, a 1/2-wave resonator (operated at its 3rd harmonic), and photolithographically processed copper heat exchangers. Tests with air at 1 atmosphere as the working gas produced a temperature difference Delta T across the stack of 32 deg C in 4 seconds for an acoustic power input level of 160 dB. The refrigerator did not have thermal insulation. Improved performance is expected with pressurized helium gas and helium-xenon mixtures. The performance of this refrigerator and its small size make it attractive for applications in high speed electronics and possibly IR detectors.

Research Organization:
Utah Univ., Salt Lake City, UT (United States). Dept. of Physics
OSTI ID:
7229955
Report Number(s):
AD-A-280925/9/XAB; CNN: N00014-93-J-1126
Country of Publication:
United States
Language:
English