E3S Web of Conferences (Jan 2021)

Lifetime testing of a flexure based natural gas fired 1 kW thermoacoustic genset

  • Steiner Thomas W.,
  • Hoy M.,
  • Antonelli K. B.,
  • Malekian M.,
  • Archibald G. D. S.,
  • Kanemaru T.,
  • Aitchison W.,
  • De Chardon B.,
  • Gottfried K. T.,
  • Elferink M.,
  • Henthorne T.,
  • O’Rourke B.,
  • Kostka P.

DOI
https://doi.org/10.1051/e3sconf/202131301001
Journal volume & issue
Vol. 313
p. 01001

Abstract

Read online

Etalim has developed and lifetime tested a flexure-based thermoacoustic (TAC) genset operating at high pressure and frequency. It is an efficient and practical 1 kWe genset ready for deployment as a genset or a micro-cogeneration system when integrated with a recuperated natural gas burner and stroke controlling power electronics. It is a maintenancefree, extreme reliability genset particularly suited for remote power applications. The genset is fully costed and designed for manufacturing. Fuel-to-electric efficiency of 22% has been achieved, and one remaining avenue for significant improvement identified. A test TAC has been run for a cumulative time of about 8000 hours to date without any component failures.