Added: 2 years ago
From: blackcreekresearch
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  • the perfect scarecrow.

  • So in reverse, you put sound into it and get light out the other end? How loud was this thermoacoustic engine?

  • @locouk: In reverse, you put sound in at the proper resonant frequency and it moves heat from one part of the device to another. One end gets hotter and the other gets colder. I haven't measured the output with a sound level meter but it's audible tans of meters away.

  • nice i need one to annoy the hell out of people for free ! woo hoo

  • ABSOLUTELY a completely cool device. Whats the patent number ?

  • @happyfox711 Thanks! There are several existing patents on this technology; none of which are mine. I just did this as a fun demonstration device. One primary person to search the patent records for is Greg Swift of Los Alamos National Lab.

  • i am stupid because i think you are stupid ( and because i cant spell or correct typos)

  • Nyvendor: Good questions!

    This device turns a temperature difference into acoustic power. Properly designed ones will also run backwards, turning acoustic power into a temperature difference, making a refrigerator with no moving parts or environmentally harmful gasses! There are some commercial scale applications in use where for instance natural gas is burned to make sound which powers a refrigerator to liquefy natural gas. The technology is still being refined of course. This is just a demo.

  • I don't get it? I understand that this "Converts Light into Sound" but, so what? I this to be some new source of musical instrument? or is sound some new source of energy? seriously, I get its awesomeness, now if you could do the reverse an turn sound into light that would be something special as light can be converted to energy ( btw, if this is a new thought, give me credit :) but why it is> I just don't get it. Please explain the practical application of such a conversion PLEASE !

  • @nyvendor The technology you're talking about already exists. Yell into a speaker (which makes it a microphone), and you create electricity.

    If you want your mind blown, research Stirling Engines, thermoaccoustics, and the engine technology from companies like Sunpower and WhisperGen.

    But don't expect to be able to buy the technology. It'll never be sold on the open market again.

  • @nyvendor - you can convert sound into other forms of energy too. Light isn't some special case.

  • I don't get it? I mean, as I understand it, it turns light into sound? So what? Is sound some sort of unknown source of energy? If so please explain as I am unfamiliar.

  • Hmmm.. Seems that first tube starting to oscillate (mid tone) has the best Q-factor. Perhaps ratio of diameter vs. length of the tube play some important role?

    If so, then everything may be optimized even further to get maximum efficiency with minimum power invested. Also starting threshold may be somewhat lower.

    Okay, it seems that higher one with higher pitch has the maximum acoustic power, some 12-18 dB above others, but that may be due to other factors as is distance of the microphone.

  • What is it good for?

  • @kilejo : As the caption states, it was for a science park. It demonstrates a technology which is being developed for uses in refrigeration and power generation.

  • @kilejo : As the caption states, it was for a science park. It demonstrates a technology which is being developed for uses in refrigeration and power generation.

  • sounds like the old test pattern days when the t/v broadcast was over for the nite! and all the t/v stations would shut off. change the chanel and see a different pattern and hear a different tone. as humans we are limited to a certain amount of all our senses. We only see a small % of electromagnetic spec and hear even less.

  • Although this does use similar principles as a Sondhauss or Rikje Tube, these Thermoacoustic engines are a next-generation device which use a large number of parallel ceramic capillaries within the resonator to achieve higher power output.

    Los Alamo and Penn State have both been doing a lot of research into this technology.

  • The devices are basically "Sondhauss tubes".  One end of a test-tube is heated while the other end remains cool; there's a piece of steel wool half-way down the tube. Air that's heated at the tube's hot end flows to the cool end; then the air cools, and the external air pressure pushes the cooled air back to the hot end, where the cycle repeats. The process occurs at the rate of sound; hence the tone that you hear.

  • Incredible, can you show me how did you made that splendid experiment? please?

  • bullshit.

    light don't have an sound. in fact not to us humans.

  • @kopjesenseo You sir, are "ignant"!

  • I am stupid. Tell me what is being done here?

  • No, you're certainly not stupid. Asking an honest question is about the least stupid thing one can see in a YouTube comment! This is a heat engine that converts a difference in temperature to sound with no moving parts. Only the air is moving, and that counts as a working fluid, not a part. Google "thermoacoustic engine" for some details of how this works. It would be hard to describe in text here.

  • Is this by any chance commercially viable for small applications? Any thoughts on that, or is it just a Lab Toy for the moment? Has anyone really tried to fill it with a liquid that drives something, and if so, what is the energy output that is expected from this thingmagic?

  • @salt1955

    They can work as cryocoolers, similarly to the way Stirling cryocoolers work. A lot of work is going into thermoacoustic refrigeration right now- it is a very promising technology.

  • very cool !

  • Beautiful!

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