Asee peer logo

Evolution of the Stirling Cycle: Emphasis on Reliability, Durability, and Long-term Unattended Operation

Download Paper |

Conference

2012 ASEE Annual Conference & Exposition

Location

San Antonio, Texas

Publication Date

June 10, 2012

Start Date

June 10, 2012

End Date

June 13, 2012

ISSN

2153-5965

Conference Session

Engineering Technology Curriculum Issues

Tagged Division

Engineering Technology

Page Count

13

Page Numbers

25.593.1 - 25.593.13

DOI

10.18260/1-2--21350

Permanent URL

https://peer.asee.org/21350

Download Count

743

Paper Authors

biography

Phillip R. Foster University of North Texas

visit author page

Phillip Foster is Associate Professor of engineering technology at the University of North Texas. He is Program Coordinator for the Mechanical and Manufacturing Engineering Technology programs in the department.

visit author page

Download Paper |

Abstract

Evolution of the Stirling Cycle: Emphasis on Reliability, Durability, and Long Term Unattended OperationThe Stirling cycle is characterized by high efficiency coupled with the ability to effectivelyfunction on a range of heat sources. Included are industrial process waste heat, biomass,geothermal heat, and conventional combustion. Some of these sources are considered to beenvironmentally friendly and have, therefore, interested researchers in the pursuit of pollutionfree or near pollution free electrical power generation. Drawbacks to the cycle include a highlevel of mechanism complexity which can impact reliability and durability. Further, the cycledemonstrates a relatively low power output per engine size when compared with that of otherprime movers. Contemporary Stirling engine classification, Alpha, Beta or Gamma, is based onthe physical layout of displacer and power cylinders with respect to a crankshaft.This report concerns a contemporary development of the Stirling cycle heat engine in whichreliability, durability, and long term unattended operation are key objectives. To meet theseobjectives, the engine design focused on several factors which included: minimizing the numberof moving parts, particularly reciprocating parts; incorporating materials not typicallyencountered in Stirling technology; use of liquid cooling; and, utilizing helium as the workingfluid. The initial design parameters, e.g., phase angle, volume compression ratio, etc., weretaken from those applicable to Gamma type engines. The literature suggests that Gammaengines represent state-of-the-art in the technology. Design efforts resulted in a workingprototype with three moving parts per power cylinder. Included are a rotary displacer, a powerpiston and a connecting rod. Operation of the prototype demonstrated that Gamma designparameters were less than ideal for the new engine. This report summarizes the design elementsof a new classification of Stirling engine and presents the results of optimization work to date. A.jpg showing the engine (patent pending) with the rotary displacer housing open is attached.

Foster, P. R. (2012, June), Evolution of the Stirling Cycle: Emphasis on Reliability, Durability, and Long-term Unattended Operation Paper presented at 2012 ASEE Annual Conference & Exposition, San Antonio, Texas. 10.18260/1-2--21350

ASEE holds the copyright on this document. It may be read by the public free of charge. Authors may archive their work on personal websites or in institutional repositories with the following citation: © 2012 American Society for Engineering Education. Other scholars may excerpt or quote from these materials with the same citation. When excerpting or quoting from Conference Proceedings, authors should, in addition to noting the ASEE copyright, list all the original authors and their institutions and name the host city of the conference. - Last updated April 1, 2015