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Stirling Laboratory

The document provides an overview of Stirling engines. It defines a Stirling engine as a heat engine that operates through the cyclic compression and expansion of a gas at different temperature levels, resulting in the conversion of heat energy to mechanical work. It notes that Stirling engines have certain advantages, such as high efficiency, ability to use various heat sources, quiet operation, long lifespan, and being non-polluting. The document then describes the basic functional components and thermodynamic cycle of Stirling engines.

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65 views

Stirling Laboratory

The document provides an overview of Stirling engines. It defines a Stirling engine as a heat engine that operates through the cyclic compression and expansion of a gas at different temperature levels, resulting in the conversion of heat energy to mechanical work. It notes that Stirling engines have certain advantages, such as high efficiency, ability to use various heat sources, quiet operation, long lifespan, and being non-polluting. The document then describes the basic functional components and thermodynamic cycle of Stirling engines.

Uploaded by

Silviu Dnl
Copyright
© © All Rights Reserved
We take content rights seriously. If you suspect this is your content, claim it here.
Available Formats
Download as ODT, PDF, TXT or read online on Scribd
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1.

Introduction
1.1 General definition
A Stirling engine is a heat engine operating by cyclic compresion and
expansion of a gas, the working fluid, at different temperature levels, resulting into a
conversion of heat energy to mechanical work. It is a closed-cycle regenerative
engine with a permanently gaseous working fluid. The closed-cycle is defined as a
thermodynamic system in which the working fluid is permanently contained within
the system and it is regenerative because it uses a specific type of internal heat
exchanger and thermal store, known as the regenerator.
or many years during the last century, Stiling engines occupied an
unimportant role in the engine industry. They were called air engines and were
characteri!ed by low specific power. "owadays, Stirling engines have gained the
attention of the researchers for their properties#
high efficiency, particulary at part of load$
ability to use any source of heat$
%uiet operation and low vibrations$
long life$
non-polluting character$
1.2Functional description
As any existing engine, the engine starts with the help of a starter. The working
gas is generally compressed in the colder portion of the engine and expanded in the
hotter portion, resulting in a net conversion of heat into mechanical work. The
regenerator increases the engine thermal efficiency.
The heat driving the the engine must be transmitted from a heat source to the
working fluid by heat exchangers and finally to a heat sink. A heat exchanger is a
piece of e%uipment built for efficient heat transfer from one medium to another. The
heat sink is a passive heat exchanger that cools a device by dissipating heat into the
surrounding medium.
The heat source may be the combustion of a fuel, electrical heating,
concentrated solar energy, nuclear energy, geothermal energy, waste energy etc.
The regenerator is an internal heat exchanger and temporary heat store, placed
between the hot and cold spaces that the working fluid passes through it, first in one
direction then the other. It must retain within the system the heat which would
otherwise be exchanged with the environment.
2.Thermodynamic Theory
The themodynamic cycle is composed of two isothermal transformations,
linked between them by two isochore transformations.
&'( It is an isothermal process, the power piston, in contact with the cold reservoir
is compressed isothermally, hence heat )Q*) has been re+ected, and ,isothermal
compression ' dU - ., / is positive and Q* is negative0 the heat re+ected is#
( ' 1 It is an isochoric process, the power piston moves down while the displacer
moves to right. The volume of system is kept constant, thus no work has been done
by the system, but heat Q2 has been input to the system which causes temperature to
raise to q3.
1 ' 4 It is an isothermal expansion process, the displacer in contact with hot
reservoir expanded isothermally at temperature %3. Therefore#
4 ' & It is an isochoric process which is a reversed process of ( ' 1, but from %3 to
%*.
3. Devices

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