A sustainable solution for electricity generation using thermo-acoustic technology (August 2017)

This work explores the use of thermo-acoustic system as alternative technology for electricity generation. This technology is proposed as a potential replacement for low-cost electrical power generation because of its simplicity and lack of moving parts. Thermo-acoustic generators providing clean electrical energy to power small appliances. The energy conversion from heat into sound wave is done within thermo-acoustic engine. The latter is coupled to a linear alternator for electricity generation. The study investigates the influence of the geometrical configuration of the device on to the whole functionality of the generator. The paper studies the technology through experimental trails performed using a simple arrangement to simulate the generator. The experiment is conducted in phases; the first phase identifies the best geometrical configuration of the thermo-acoustic engine by measuring the sound pressure level and the temperatures. The second phase consist of measuring the electricity generated using a Loudspeaker. The results obtained show the potential for this sustainable solution for electricity generation.