Numerical simulation of key linear alternator performance indicators under thermoacoustic-power-conversion conditions

Thermoacoustic power converters consist of thermoacoustic heat engine and linear alternator. The linear alternator converts the acoustic power generated by the thermoacoustic engine to electric output. Efficient and stable operation of a thermoacoustic power converter requires acoustic matching between the engine and the alternator. It also requires matching between the linear alternator and the connected load. An experimental setup was built to measure and analyze the linear alternator performance under different thermoacoustic power converter operating conditions. The effects of the different design and operation factors on the key linear alternator performance parameters such as mechanical stroke, the generated electric power, the acoustic-to-electric conversion efficiency, the mechanical motion loss, the electric loss, and the fluid-seal loss were investigated experimentally and numerically. The experimental results were simulated using DeltaEC and reasonable agreement was obtained.