Patent ID: 8567187
Filing Date: 2013-10-29
Classification: F02G

Abstract:
1. A thermoacoustic engine, comprising: a looped tube filled with a gas; a first stack and a second stack disposed in parallel in the looped tube; and a heat storage unit disposed in the looped tube, the heat storage unit having hot and cold side heat exchangers, wherein a first acoustic circuit is defined by a portion of the tube extending from a center of the heat storage unit, around the hot side heat exchanger of the heat storage unit, around a center of one of the first stack and the second stack, and around the cold side heat exchanger of the heat storage unit, wherein a second acoustic circuit is defined by a portion of the tube extending from the center of the heat storage unit, around the hot side heat exchanger of the heat storage unit, around a center of the other one of the first stack and the second stack, and around the cold side heat exchanger of the heat storage unit, wherein a circuit length between the center of the first stack and the center of the heat storage unit is equal to a circuit length between a center of the second stack and the center of the heat storage unit, and wherein the first acoustic circuit has a length which is equal to a length of the second acoustic circuit.