Acoustic resonance excited heat exchange

Abstract

New exemplary heat exchange configurations that incorporate internal or external surfaces equipped with perturbators, for changing the thermal behavior of the system, or for modulating the surface temperature distribution of the flow surfaces. This is achieved by applying an acoustic wave to the fluid flow in a heat exchange passage, and selecting the frequency of the acoustic exciting wave to be the same as the acoustic resonance frequency of the heat exchange passage itself. As the traveling waves interact with the boundaries confining the heat exchange passages, constructive interference of the incident and reflected waves give rise to a standing wave. Thus, the heat exchange passages act as a resonator, and by superimposing this standing wave on the separating and reattaching fluid flow, significant heat transfer improvement can be achieved. This is accomplished without the need to significantly increase the pressure required to achieve the desired through flow.

Dependencies are inferred from the claim text.