Talk:Thermoacoustic hot air engine

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efficency compared to traditional methods?

environmental impact?

ɴ== tube ==

there is some T shaped tube you can blow into that cools off one end while heatin the other. i forget what it's called. uses a vortex, sort of like acoustic refridgeration? - Omegatron 14:30, Sep 8, 2004 (UTC)

That'll be a vortex tube: see http://www.fortunecity.com/greenfield/bp/16/vortex.htm. We should have an article on this, if we don't already. It sounds like it might be a realisation of Maxwell's Demon - amazing! --Heron 14:49, 8 Sep 2004 (UTC)

It's not.  :-) That's what the article I was reading was about. - Omegatron 15:08, Sep 8, 2004 (UTC)

Oh, all right. I just got that impression from the article I referred to, which said that one of the names of the device was "Maxwell's Demon". I guess whoever gave it that name was wrong. --Heron 20:09, 8 Sep 2004 (UTC)

Well it sort of is, but the demon doesn't work for free... - Omegatron 18:57, May 12, 2005 (UTC)

[edit] frequency

"but is said to be inaudible outside the refrigerator."

I would assume it would also be infrasonic. - Omegatron 19:03, May 12, 2005 (UTC)

The example project linked to (which is a quick, coherent read, by the way) had a resonance frequency of 385 Hz, which is audible, and somewhat above what you would usually think of as "bass". Breakpoint (talk) 21:48, 5 January 2008 (UTC)

[edit] Internal decibel level

The internal decibel level used and the comparison to the level at which humans experience pain is a little misleading, although both statements are true.

An article on the BBC News site, http://news.bbc.co.uk/1/hi/technology/2543085.stm, states that this level of noise can only be created within the chamber containing pressurized gas (helium in the Penn State model), so were there ever to be a breach, there wouldn't be the risk of a harmfully loud noise that is somewhat implied in the current Wiki article.

[edit] Penn State?

In the Penn State part, it says it will be released in 2004...that was a few years ago. Mike6271 02:10, 25 May 2007 (UTC)