Thermoacoustic heat pumps on the verge of commercial breakthrough

ssimonebrunozzi about 5 hours ago 3 commentsRead Article on pv-magazine.com

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slwvx•about 5 hours ago

For context: https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Thermoacoustic_heat_engine

The company cited in the article is [Bluehart](https://blueheartenergy.com/our-technology)

One disadvantage that Bluehart lists of classic heat pumps is the need for a refrigerant fluid. But Bluehar uses helium internally; I wonder how often the helium would need to be replaced.

allears•about 4 hours ago

I thought that helium was in short supply. Would that make these things expensive? Also, I know they said it's quiet, but if the thing operates on a 60hz cycle, wouldn't that create a pervasive hum?

rprwhite•about 2 hours ago

Yeah, I was also under the impression helium was in very short supply. The article doesn’t mention that, at all. But it does say the unit is quiet because it operates at a constant frequency, so they can use noise cancellation very effectively.