Acoustics 08 Paris 3539 A Stirling cycle thermoacoustic engine is developed and performance measurements are performed. The engine uses thermal power to generate acoustic power. It consists mainly of three parts: a thermodynamic part consisting of a regenerator, two heat exchangers, and a thermal buffer tube; an acoustic network consisting of an acoustic compliance and an inertance; and a resonator. The thermodynamic part and the acoustic network are placed in a torus configuration. The hot

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... exchanger is placed on the top of the torus so that the shape and size of the hot heat exchanger can be designed or chosen independently of the regenerator dimensions. Two different resonators types of about a ¼-wave length have been tested during the study of the engine. The first resonator forms a too heavy load for the engine and could not be loaded with an RC-acoustic load. A second resonator is designed and built that has less loss than the first one. The performance measurements with the second resonator show that the engine at its most efficient operating point generates 190 watt of acoustic power with an efficiency of 22.5 %, corresponding to 36 % of Carnot.