Increasing the efficiency and effectiveness of energy systems remains as one of the critical issues today with depleting
energy resources and increasing energy demand. Utilization of alternative fuels and utilization of waste heat has also
become a major research area. This study reports an investigation on a development of a portable thermoacoustic heat
engine that converts energy from a combustion process into acoustic power. The prime mover operates with a temperature
gradient imposed on a celcor ceramic stack which then induced pressure oscillations. The system consists of a 42-cm long
stainless steel alloy 304 tube with a diameter of 50 mm open at one end. A propane torch is used to model a potential heat
source from biomass combustion. No hot heat exchanger is required while copper plates are used as the ambient heat
exchanger. At 500 C, thermoacoustic effects and pressure oscillations have been observed with a calculated power of 50 W
at the stack. The system which operates at atmospheric pressure with air as the working fluid indicates the potential in
utilizing the heat produced from biomass combustion that is widely applied in the rural areas.