Stirling Cycle Engines: Inner Workings and Design

Some 200 years after the original invention, internal design ofa Stirling engine has come to be considered a specialist task,calling for extensive experience and for access to sophisticatedcomputer modelling. The low parts-count of the type is negated bythe complexity of the gas processes by which heat is converted towork. Design is perceived as problematic largely because thoseinteractions are neither intuitively evident, nor capable of beingmade visible by laboratory experiment. There can be little doubtthat the situation stands in the way of wider application of thiselegant concept.

Stirling Cycle Engines re-visits the design challenge,doing so in three stages. Firstly, unrealistic expectations aredispelled: chasing the Carnot efficiency is a guarantee ofdisappointment, since the Stirling engine has no such pretentions.Secondly, no matter how complex the gas processes, they embody adegree of intrinsic similarity from engine to engine. Suitablyexploited, this means that a single computation serves for aninfinite number of design conditions. Thirdly, guidelines resultingfrom the new approach are condensed to high-resolution designcharts – nomograms. 

Appropriately designed, the Stirling engine promises highthermal efficiency, quiet operation and the ability to operate froma wide range of heat sources. Stirling Cycle Engines offerstools for expediting feasibility studies and for easing the task ofdesigning for a novel application. 

Key features:

• Expectations are re-set to realistic goals.
• The formulation throughout highlights what the thermodynamicprocesses of different engines have in common rather than whatdistinguishes them.
• Design by scaling is extended, corroborated, reduced to the useof charts and fully Illustrated.
• Results of extensive computer modelling are condensed down tohigh-resolution Nomograms.
• Worked examples feature throughout.
   

Prime movers (and coolers) operating on the Stirling cycle areof increasing interest to industry, the military (stealthsubmarines) and space agencies. Stirling Cycle Engines fillsa gap in the technical literature and is a comprehensive manual forresearchers and practitioners. In particular, it will supporteffort world-wide to exploit potential for such applications assmall-scale CHP (combined heat and power), solar energy conversionand utilization of low-grade heat.