December 9th, 2009

A very recent development is the use of thermoacoustics for biomass energy systems. Thermoacoustics is a concept in which heat is used to generate a sound wave. This sound wave can be converted to electricity using a generator, similar to a loudspeaker.  FACT is interested in supporting this technology for a number of reasons:

1) in most biomass energy processes, redundant heat is produced which could still be used by this technology;

2) the technology has almost no moving parts and can have extremely long life;

3) the energy efficiency of the conversion are quite high, even for small scale application; and

4) the manufacturing of thermo-acoustic systems is relatively straightforward, and the materials used are not exotic.  

FACT supports the “proof-of-concept” of a 50 Watt system using the redundant heat of a cooking stove, and aims to involve students in the further development. FACT has contracted ASTER thermoacoustic systems as the technology partner. ASTER has a long track record in system design for other applications like heat pumps.  The complete system is expected to ready for testing in mid-2010. For more information on this project please contact Winfried Rijssenbeek.