Traveling-wave device with mass flux suppression

Abstract

A traveling-wave device is provided with the conventional moving pistons eliminated. Acoustic energy circulates in a direction through a fluid within a torus. A side branch may be connected to the torus for transferring acoustic energy into or out of the torus. A regenerator is located in the torus with a first heat exchanger located on a first side of the regenerator downstream of the regenerator relative to the direction of the circulating acoustic energy; and a second heat exchanger located on an upstream side of the regenerator. The improvement is a mass flux suppressor located in the torus to minimize time-averaged mass flux of the fluid. In one embodiment, the device further includes a thermal buffer column in the torus to thermally isolate the heat exchanger that is at the operating temperature of the device.

Dependencies are inferred from the claim text.