Sonic Compressor

The concept is to induce resonant high amplitude sound waves in an acoustic resonator with inlet and outlet check valves at the
pressure antinode. The proof of principle of sonic compression was shown by Tim Lucas at Los Alamos. The large amplitudes required by the compressor induce large non-linear coupling between the modes of the resonator. This coupling can be suppressed with changes in the geometry of the resonator, but has not been studied in detail and its understanding is necessary for the design of efficient resonators. The technology is currently in its infancy and large strides in the design and understanding of these resonators can be made.

With the banning of CFC"s in 1996, the refrigerant of the future seems to be HFC 134a. Unfortunately, there are not known lubricants that are compatible with HFC 134a; and consequently, the refrigerant requires an oilless compressor. The sonic compressor could potentially fill this need. We intend to investigate the nonlinear behavior of gases in various resonators in order to develop a model to predict resonator performance. Ultimately, this model will be used to design optimized resonators.