A heat-driven combined cooling and heating system based on thermoacoustic technology

Abstract

Energy crisis and environmental pollution have become global issues. This study reported a heat-driven combined cooling and heating system based on thermoacoustic technology, which adopted two units of thermoacoustic engine and cooler cores to improve the efficiency. This system can be used as a refrigerator and a heat pump at the same time. Experimental results showed that with a charging pressure of 10 MPa, a high temperature of 300 °C, and a medium temperature of 45 °C, cooling power ranging from 0.61 to 3.89 kW and coefficient of performance varying from 0.08 to 0.30 with low temperature changing from −30 to −5 °C were achieved when the system was working as a refrigerator. Meanwhile, under a low temperature of −30 and −10 °C, a heating power of 7.85 and 14.3 kW with a medium temperature of 45 °C could be achieved corresponding to a coefficient of performance of 1.08 and 1.24 when the system was working as a heat pump. These experimental performances show remarkable advantages and a promising prospect for thermal energy utilization in the future.