Optimized Cooling Power of a Vuilleumier Refrigerator with Limited Regeneration

Abstract

Vuilleumier refrigerators provide cooling power by utilizing a heat source at temperatures above the ambient. This is particularly helpful in situations where waste heat is available and other power sources are limited. Vuilleumier refrigerators come in different technical configurations; here we analyze the thermodynamic performance of a configuration utilizing two displacer pistons with integrated regenerators. More specifically, we optimize the cooling power by optimizing the piston movement for a range of operation speeds. The optimization is based on the AS motion class for cyclic dynamics and uses an endoreversible model for the refrigerator. Our focus is on the influence of the regeneration extent present, and we find performance gains of about 17% for high regeneration extent and of about 28% for lower regeneration extent.

Efficient Power Characteristic Analysis and Multi-Objective Optimization for an Irreversible Simple Closed Gas Turbine Cycle

“…Since the inception of finite-time thermodynamics (FTT) theory, some scholars have conducted in-depth research in this new branch and made great progress [ 1 , 2 , 3 , 4 , 5 ]. Some have introduced FTT theory to search optimal configurations of cycles and devices, including commercial engine [ 6 ], internal combustion engines [ 7 , 8 ], heat exchange system [ 9 ], hydraulic recuperation system [ 10 ], Stirling engines [ 11 , 12 ], refrigerators [ 13 , 14 , 15 ], chemical reactor [ 16 ], finite source heat engines [ 17 , 18 ], etc. Others have introduced FTT theory to search optimal performances of cycles and devices, including Atkinson cycles [ 19 , 20 ], Otto cycles [ 21 , 22 ], Brayton cycles [ 23 , 24 ], Carnot cycles [ 25 , 26 , 27 ], Dual cycles [ 28 , 29 ], Stirling cycles [ 30 , 31 ], thermal Brownian cycles [ 32 , 33 , 34 ], porous medium cycle [ 35 ], combined cycles [ 36 , 37 ], etc.…”