Energy system feasibility study of an Otto cycle/Stirling cycle hybrid automotive engine

The aim of this study was to investigate the feasibility of utilising a Stirling cycle engine as an exhaust gas waste heat recovery device for an Otto cycle internal combustion engine (ICE) in the context of an automotive power plant. The hybrid arrangement would produce increased brake power output for a given fuel consumption rate when compared to an ICE alone. The study was dealt with from an energy system perspective with design practicalities such as power train integration, location of auxiliaries, manufacture costs and other general plant design considerations neglected. The study necessitated work in two distinct areas: experimental assessment of the performance characteristics of an existing automotive Otto cycle ICE and mathematical modelling of the Stirling cycle engine based on the output parameters of the ICE. It was subsequently found to be feasible in principle to generate approximately further 30% useful power in addition to that created by the ICE by using a Stirling cycle engine to capture waste heat expelled from the ICE exhaust gases over the complete range of engine operating speeds.     

EFFECT OF SOLAR COLLECTOR DESIGN PARAMETERS ON THE OPERATION OF SOLAR STIRLING POWER SYSTEM

An analysis has been carried out to find out the optimum operating temperature for solar Stirling power systems. The analysis has also clearly brought out the effect of solar collector design parameters, such as, concentration ratio, overall heat loss coefficient, and heat engine parameter on the overall efficiency of solar Stirling power systems. © 1997 by John Wiley & Sons, Ltd.     

Study of performance characteristics of a small Stirling refrigerator

A prototype Stirling cycle refrigerator employing helium as a working fluid was investigated to determine whether a freon‐free machine was a viable alternative for the current household refrigerator. A displacer‐type or β‐type Stirling cycle machine of 100‐W capacity was designed and tested using varying design parameters such as dead volume ratio, working fluids, the ratio of the compression volume to the expansion volume, and the phase difference between a power piston and displacer. The detrimental effect of the dead space on the refrigeration capacity was confirmed. The refrigeration produced by nitrogen in an expansion space was 28% less than that produced by helium. The optimum volume ratio and the phase difference for maximum refrigeration was determined under the design operation conditions. Moreover, the refrigeration correlation formula as a function of these parameters was obtained. © 2002 Wiley Periodicals, Inc. Heat Trans Asian Res, 31(5): 344–361, 2002; Published online in Wiley InterScience ( www.interscience.wiley.com ). DOI 10.1002/htj.10033     

Optimization of Output Power and Thermal Efficiency of Solar‐Dish Stirling Engine Using Finite Time Thermodynamic Analysis

This paper presents an investigation on finite time thermodynamic (FTT) evaluation of a solar‐dish Stirling heat engine. FTTs has been applied to determine the output power and the corresponding thermal efficiency, exergetic efficiency, and the rate of entropy generation of a solar Stirling system with a finite rate of heat transfer, regenerative heat loss, conductive thermal bridging loss, and finite regeneration process time. Further imperfect performance of the dish collector and convective/radiative heat transfer mechanisms in the hot end as well as the convective heat transfer in the heat sink of the engine are considered in the developed model. The output power of the engine is maximized while the highest temperature of the engine is considered as a design parameter. In addition, thermal efficiency, exergetic efficiency, and the rate of entropy generation corresponding to the optimum value of the output power is evaluated. Results imply that the optimized absorber temperature is some where between 850 K and 1000 K. Sensitivity of results against variations of the system parameters are studied in detail. The present analysis provides a good theoretical guidance for the designing of dish collectors and operating the Stirling heat engine system.     

A universal expression for optimum specific work of reciprocating heat engines having endoreversible carnot efficiencies

Irreversible heat transfer (finite time) analysis is used to obtain the optimum thermodynamic specific work potential at maximum power for various practical reciprocating cycles having endoreversible Carnot efficiencies. The theory of finite‐time thermodynamics for reciprocating endoreversible cycles with heat transfer irreversibilities gives rise to an optimum efficiency at maximum power output, of η=1−(T_L/T_H)^0·5 for Carnot‐like cycles in contrast to the upper limit for Carnot‐like cycles of η=1−(T_L/T_H) obtained from infinite‐time thermodynamics. It is shown here that, additionally, for this same general family of regenerative reciprocating cycles which includes the Stirling, the Ericsson and the reciprocating Carnot cycle, the finite‐time optimum specific work output at maximum power, (w_opt), is exactly half of that obtained for infinite‐time reversible cycles (Carnot work, w_rev) operating between the same temperature limits (i.e., w_opt=½w_rev). To accomplish this, the analysis makes use of time symmetry to minimize overall cycle time and to thus optimize net cycle power. Based on linear heat transfer laws, the expression for optimum specific work is shown to be independent of heat conductances. Moreover, this optimum specific work output is the same expression for all of the members of this family of cycles. This analysis makes use of the ideal gas model with constant specific heats, though the results are shown to be universal for the Carnot cycle for vapours and real gases. A sample calculation is given which shows that while operating under the same optimized conditions, the endoreversible Stirling engine will have the same thermal efficiency as the endoreversible Ericsson, but will have a higher optimum power output. The optimum power of the reciprocating endoreversible Carnot engine will be superior to both. Copyright © 1999 John Wiley & Sons, Ltd.     

碟式斯特林发动机的研究进展

太阳能的利用和斯特林发动机的研发符合目前解决全球能源危机问题的需要。对斯特林热机的发展过程和循环工作原理进行了总结,综述了国内外对于碟式斯特林发电技术的应用现状,归纳了碟式斯特林发电系统中太阳光跟踪控制系统、接收器聚热技术、斯特林发动机功率控制技术和斯特林发动机密封技术等关键技术的研究成果和应用现状,总结并展望了碟式斯特林发电技术的发展重心,为进一步的研究工作提供参考。     

Continuous hydrino thermal power system

The specifics of a continuous hydrino reaction system design are presented. Heat from the hydrino reactions within individual cells provide both reactor power and the heat for regeneration of the reactants. These processes occur continuously and the power from each cell is constant. The conversion of thermal power to electrical power requires the use of a heat engine exploiting a cycle such as a Rankine, Brayton, Stirling, or steam-engine cycle. Due to the temperatures, economy goal, and efficiency, the Rankine cycle is the most practical and can produce electricity at 30–40% efficiency with a component capital cost of about $300 per kW electric. Conservatively, assuming a conversion efficiency of 25% the total cost with the addition of the boiler and chemical components is estimated at $1064 per kW electric.     

Finite-time power limit for solar-radiant Ericsson engines in space applications

The power output and thermal efficiency of a finite-time optimized solar-radiant Ericsson heat engine is studied. The thermodynamic model adopted is a regenerative gas Ericsson cycle coupled to a heat source and heat sink by radiant heat transfer. Both the heat source and heat sink have infinite heat capacity rates. Mathematical expressions for optimum power and the efficiency at optimum power are obtained for the cycle based on higher and lower temperature bounds. The results of this theoretical work provide a base line criteria for use in the performance evaluation and design of such engines as well as for use in performance comparisons with existing extra-terrestrial solar power plants.     

The effect of the overall heat transfer coefficient variation on the optimal distribution of the heat transfer surface conductance or area in a Stirling engine

This study aims to assess for a Stirling engine the influence of the overall heat transfer coefficient variation on the optimum state and on the optimum distribution of the heat transfer surface conductance or area among the machine heat exchangers. The analysis is based on a Stirling machine optimization method, previously elaborated, which is now applied to a cycle with total heat regeneration. The method was conceived for an irreversible cycle with heat transfer across temperature differences at the source and the sink, and heat losses between the hot-end and the cold-end of the engine. Source and sink of finite thermal capacity as well as thermostats are considered. The new approach considers a linear variation of the overall heat transfer coefficient of the machine heat exchangers with respect to the local temperature difference. A comparison of the optimum state and the optimum distribution of the heat transfer surface conductance or area among the heater and the cooler is made for several cases.     

Analysis of an endoreversible stirling cooler

An internally reversible and externally irreversible Stirling refrigeration cycle which achieves cryogenic temperatures in a single stage is presented in this paper. The equations relating the maximum cooling load, working fluid temperatures and power input of the cryocooler are found. These relationships provide a base for practicing engineers to design a new cryocooler.     

Optimum absorber temperature of a once-reflecting full conical concentrator of a low temperature differential Stirling engine

This paper provides a theoretical investigation on the optimum absorber temperature of a once-reflecting full conical concentrator for maximizing overall efficiency of a solar-powered low temperature differential Stirling engine. A mathematical model for the overall efficiency of the solar-powered Stirling engine is developed. The optimum absorber temperature for maximum overall efficiency for both limiting conditions of maximum possible engine efficiency and maximum possible engine power output is determined. The results indicated that the optimum absorber temperatures calculated from these two limiting cases are not significantly different. For a given concentrated solar intensity, the maximum overall efficiency characterized by the condition of maximum possible engine power output is very close to that of the real engine of 55% Carnot efficiency, approximately.     

Mobile hydraulic power supply: Liquid piston Stirling engine pump

Conventional mobile hydraulic power supplies involve numerous kinematic connections and are limited by the efficiency, noise, and emissions of internal combustion engines. The Stirling cycle possesses numerous benefits such as the ability to operate from any heat source, quiet operation, and high theoretical efficiency. The Stirling engine has seen limited success due to poor heat transfer in the working chambers, difficulty sealing low-molecular weight gases at high pressure, and non-ideal piston displacement profiles. As a solution to these limitations, a liquid piston Stirling engine pump is proposed. The liquid pistons conform to irregular volumes, allowing increased heat transfer through geometry features on the interior of the working chambers. Creating near-isothermal operation eliminates the costly external heat exchangers and increases the engine efficiency through decreasing the engine dead space. The liquid pistons provide a positive gas seal and thermal transport to the working chambers. Controlling the flow of the liquid pistons with valves enables matching the ideal Stirling cycle and creates a direct hydraulic power supply. Using liquid hydrogen as a fuel source allows cooling the compression side of the engine before expanded the fuel into a gas and combusting it to heat the expansion side of the engine. Cooling the compression side not only increases the engine power, but also significantly increases the potential thermal efficiency of the engine. A high efficiency Stirling engine makes energy regeneration through reversing the Stirling cycle practical. When used for regeneration, the captured energy can be stored in thermal batteries, such as a molten salt. The liquid piston Stirling engine pump requires further research in numerous areas such as understanding the behavior of the liquid pistons, modeling and optimization of a full engine pump, and careful selection of materials for the extreme operating temperatures. Addressing these obtainable research quandaries will enable a transformative Stirling engine pump with the potential to excel in numerous applications.     

Thermodynamic optimization of Stirling heat engine with methane gas using finite speed thermodynamic model

With the daily rise in environmental issues due to the use of conventional fuels, researchers are motivated to use renewable energy sources. One of such waste heat and low-temperature differential driven energy sources is the Stirling engine. The performance of the Stirling engine can be improved by finding out the optimum operating and geometrical parameters with suitable working gas and thermal model. Based on this motivation, the current work focuses on the multiobjective optimization of the Stirling engine using the finite speed thermodynamic model and methane gas as the working fluid. Considering output power and pressure drop as two objective functions, the system is optimized using 11 geometrical and thermal design parameters. The optimization results are obtained in the form of the Pareto frontier. A sensitivity assessment is carried out to observe the decision variables, which are having a more sensitive effect on the optimization objectives. Optimization results reveal that 99.83% change in power output and 78% change in total pressure drop can take place in the two-dimensional optimization space. The optimal solution closest to the ideal solution has output power and pressure drop values as 12.31 kW and 22.76 kPa, respectively.     

Analysis and design consideration of mean temperature differential Stirling engine for solar application

This article presents a technical innovation, study of solar power system based on the Stirling dish (SD) technology and design considerations to be taken in designing of a mean temperature differential Stirling engine for solar application. The target power source will be solar dish/Stirling with average concentration ratio, which will supply a constant source temperature of 320 °C. Hence, the system design is based on a temperature difference of 300 °C, assuming that the sink is kept at 20 °C. During the preliminary design stage, the critical parameters of the engine design are determined according to the dynamic model with losses energy and pressure drop in heat exchangers was used during the design optimisation stage in order to establish a complete analytical model for the engine. The heat exchangers are designed to be of high effectiveness and low pressure-drop. Upon optimisation, for given value of difference temperature, operating frequency and dead volume there is a definite optimal value of swept volume at which the power is a maximum. The optimal swept volume of 75 cm³ for operating frequency 75 Hz with the power is 250 W and the dead volume is of 370 cm³.     

Similarity design and experimental investigation of a beta‐type Stirling engine with a rhombic drive mechanism

Stirling engines are power machines that operate over a closed, regenerative thermodynamic cycle with the ability to use any heat source from the outside, including hydrogen, solar energy, and biomass fuels. In this work, the development of a beta‐type Stirling engine is presented. The improved similarity design and optimization methods are described in detail, as are the key parameters of the constructed prototype and the arrangement of the entire test rig. A new structure for the expansion exchangers is developed to reduce the flow loss. The performance test of the prototype engine is conducted under laboratory conditions using an electrical heating system. In this test, the temperature and the pressure of the working fluid are monitored by thermocouples and pressure sensors, respectively. The speed and the torque of the output shaft are obtained by the dynamometer. Finally, the preliminary test results with the prototype engine are shown. The maximum output shaft power can reach 288 W at 600°C and 15‐bar charge pressure. Copyright © 2014 John Wiley & Sons, Ltd.     

Thermal model of a dish/Stirling systems

This paper presents a global thermal model of the energy conversion of the 10 kW_el Eurodish dish/Stirling unit erected at the CNRS-PROMES laboratory in Odeillo. Using optical measurements made by DLR, the losses by parabola reflectivity and spillage are calculated. A nodal method is used to calculate the heat losses in the cavity by conduction, convection, reflection and thermal radiation. A thermodynamic analysis of a SOLO Stirling 161 engine is made. The Stirling engine is divided in 32 control-volumes and equations of ideal gas, mass and energy conservation are written for each control-volume. The differential equation system is resolved by an iterative method developed using Matlab^™ programming environment. Temperature, mass, density of working gas, heat transfers and the mechanical power are calculated for one Stirling engine cycle of 40 ms and for a constant direct normal irradiation (DNI). The model gives consistent results correctly fitting with experimental measurements.     

Design and performance optimization of GPU-3 Stirling engines

To increase the performance of Stirling engines and analyze their operations, a second-order Stirling model, which includes thermal losses, has been developed and used to optimize the performance and design parameters of the engine. This model has been tested using the experimental data obtained from the General Motor GPU-3 Stirling engine prototype. The model has also been used to investigate the effect of the geometrical and physical parameters on Stirling engine performance and to determine the optimal parameters for acceptable operational gas pressure. When the optimal design parameters are introduced in the model, the engine efficiency increases from 39% to 51%; the engine power is enhanced by approximately 20%, whereas the engine average pressure increases slightly.     

Study of a Stirling engine used for domestic micro‐cogeneration. Thermodynamic analysis and experiment

One of the aims of this work is the study of the geometry of a micro‐cogenerator using a Stirling engine with four double effect pistons. The complex geometry of the heat exchangers was determined by optical measurements. Results of three thermodynamic models: Direct Method from Finite Speed Thermodynamics (FST), isothermal model (Schmidt), and adiabatic model (Finkelstein) are confronted to experimental ones. Direct Method consists of the study and the evaluation of the irreversibilities of thermal machines by analyzing the cycle, step by step, and directly integrating the equation of the First Law for processes with finite speed combined with Second Law of Thermodynamics, for each process of the cycle. The expression of efficiency and power, depending on the speed of the processes and geometric and functional parameters, is then obtained in a straightforward manner. The isothermal and adiabatic models are based on the division of Stirling engine in 3, respectively 5 control volumes, for which the ideal gas law and the equations of mass and energy balance are applied. Analysis of the process of heat transfer and flow of the working gas, taking place in the Stirling engine, is carried out taking into account instantaneous representation of the working fluid volume in the engine. A system of differential equations is solved by iteration using Matlab/Simulink software. The theoretical results are compared to experimental ones. This comparison allows to point out a good accuracy of the Direct Method and the Adiabatic Model, for the thermal operating parameters of the system, noting the different assumptions of each analysis. Copyright © 2015 John Wiley & Sons, Ltd.     

斯特林发动机功率控制系统设计

基于Matlab的建模仿真,采用PID调节,设计一种斯特林发动机功率控制方法,对GPU-3β型斯特林发动机以改变压力的方式进行功率调节.根据20组实际数值模拟出传递函数,模拟的数据与真实数据对比符合度高于99％.输入压力值通过传递函数计算得到实际的输出功率,调节输入压力值,输出结果随之改变.结果表明运用闭环负反馈和PI...     

Analysis of the stirling heat engine at maximum power conditions

The Stirling heat engine operating in a closed regenerative thermodynamic cycle is analyzed. Polytropic processes are used for the power and displacement pistons. Following regeneration, the maximum power density and efficiency are found and the compression ratio at maximum power density is determined.