PULSATILE FLOW PAST A THERMALLY PARTICIPATING CYLINDER: A REGENERATOR MODEL

Abstract

The present work is concerned with the analysis of the performance of a regenerator used in Stirling coolers. A mathematical model has been developed for this purpose at the level of the mesh fiber. The model employs fluid flow equations for the gaseous phase, while the thermal problem involves conjugate heat transfer between the fluid and the solid phases. The model is driven by a pulsatile flow with hot and cold fluid moving past the solid fiber. The governing equations have been numerically solved using a finite element method. Results show that as the frequency is raised above the characteristic value, the effectiveness also increases, but the amplitude of the wire temperature fluctuation decreases. Conversely, as the frequency decreases, the effectiveness decreases, while the temperature amplitude increases. Hence the regenerator performance is optimum when the pulsing frequency is matched with the time constant of the fiber.

Notes

Address correspondence to Dr. K. Muralidhar, Indian Institute of Technology, Department of Mechanical Engineering, Post Office I.I.T., Kanpur-208016, India. E-mail: kmunli@ iitk.emet.in