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Published in David A. Cardwell, David C. Larbalestier, Aleksander I. Braginski, Handbook of Superconductivity, 2023
The Stirling cycle was invented in 1815 by Robert Stirling for use as a prime mover. Though used occasionally in the latter part of that century as a refrigerator, it was not until the middle of the 20th century that it was first used to liquefy air and soon thereafter for cooling infrared sensors for tactical military applications. They cannot provide the very fast cooldown times of JT cryocoolers, so they are not used on missile guidance systems. The long history of the Stirling cryocooler in cooling infrared equipment has resulted in the development of models tailored specifically to that application that are manufactured by several manufacturers. The refrigeration powers of these models range from 0.15 to 1.75 W, which is also appropriate for many superconducting electronic applications, though issues of reliability and EMI are important issues that must be considered.
Modular Solar Energy Systems
Published in Yatish T. Shah, Modular Systems for Energy and Fuel Recovery and Conversion, 2019
The high concentration ratios achievable with dish concentrators allow for efficient operation at high temperatures. Stirling cycle engines are well suited to construction at the size needed for operation on single dish systems, and they function with good efficiency with receiver temperatures in the range of 650°C–800°C. To achieve good power-to-weight ratios, working gas pressures in the range of 5–20 MPa are employed, and use of the high conductivity gases either hydrogen or helium gives improved heat transfer. The Advanco corporation and McDonnell Douglas have produced 25 kWe dish Stirling units which have achieved solar to electric conversion efficiencies of close to 30%. This represents the maximum solar to net electric conversion efficiency achieved by any solar energy conversion technology.
Renewable Resource Distributed Generators
Published in H. Lee Willis, Walter G. Scott, Distributed Power Generation, 2018
H. Lee Willis, Walter G. Scott
A Stirling-cycle engine is a reciprocating piston engine driven by an external heat source, unlike gasoline and diesel engines, which are internal combustion engines. Somewhat like a steam engine, a Stirling-cycle engine uses a closed gaseous expansion system to convert heat to mechanical power. The Stirling cycle is similar to that of a two-cycle gasoline engine, with a “power cycle” on every revolution. Traditionally developed and applied as an external combustion engine (a boilerless coal or wood-fired engine), most Stirling engines used air as their operating fluid.7Figure 9.7 shows a very simplified conceptual illustration of a Stirling cycle. To understand the Stirling-cycle function from this diagram, the reader must bear in mind that: a) air heats when compressed and cools when it expands; b) gas is compressible and mechanical parts aren’t; c) a very large flywheel provides “stored energy” to get the engine through each cycle of operation.
A practical approach-based technical review on effective utilization of exhaust waste heat from combustion engines
Published in Energy Sources, Part A: Recovery, Utilization, and Environmental Effects, 2023
Rajesh Ravi, Oumaima Douadi, Manoranjitham Ezhilchandran, Mustapha Faqir, Elhachmi Essadiqi, Merouan Belkasmi, Shivaprasad K. Vijayalakshmi
Stirling engines work on a regenerative thermodynamic cycle known as “the Stirling cycle.” Unlike the ICEs, the Stirling engines lack associated valves and do not contain any intake or exhaust gases (Mohd Noor et al. 2015). This characteristic helps in preventing pollution. The engine’s air is contained within itself, whereas the heat energy is converted into mechanical energy by alternate pushing of the air from cold side of the engine to the hot side (Zafer and Selenay Önal 2018). Figure 9 depicts a Stirling engine coupled with a diesel engine to recover the waste heat energy. Even small temperature differences have the ability to power a Stirling engine by a few degrees. The Stirling engines are utilized in a variety of applications, particularly when a requirement exists for a large heat source and a noise-free motor (Mahmoudzadeh Andwari et al. 2017).
Performance of scientific law-inspired optimization algorithms for constrained engineering applications
Published in Engineering Optimization, 2022
Bansi D. Raja, Vivek K. Patel, Ali Riza Yildiz, Prakash Kotecha
The power-generating cycle is an important engineering application. The Stirling cycle is one such cycle, in which a heat engine works to generate power. The Stirling heat engine works on the Stirling cycle, which requires a high-temperature heat source for its operation. Performance enhancement of the heat engine cycle is achieved by optimization of its operating variables within predefined operating and output constraints. Most of the constraints are active at the optimized value of operating variables with linear or nonlinear behaviour. Furthermore, some of the operating variables of the Stirling heat engine cycle are continuous while others are discrete. This behaviour of the operating variables and constraints makes the optimization problem of the Stirling heat engine cycle challenging.
Enhancing Cooling System of a Combustion Engine by Integrating with a Stirling Cycle
Published in Energy Engineering, 2019
Ehab Bani-Hani, Mamdouh El HajAssad, Mohammad Tawalbeh, Bashira Yousef, Ahmad Sedaghat
The excessive local heat effect on the radiator is resolved by exploiting a Stirling cycle mechanism. The Stirling cycle unit consists of an engine block where hot and cold temperatures are produced, and two connection joints where the heat transfer occurs. The shaft rotation is used to power the Stirling cycle, inducing extremely hot and cold ends, which drive higher heat transfer rates. These ends are connected to the radiator, improving the radiator's efficiency and reliability [2, 3]. The Stirling cycle is a cycle that exploits compressible fluids of which density is an exponential function with temperature by thermodynamic means such as that compression and expansion cycles are formed, producing mechanical power [4]. Thus, the Stirling cycle is considered as means of energy conversion [5, 6]. Because the importance of Stirling cycles and their many advantages, recent studies [7, 8] have focused on Stirling cycle performance optimization for efficiency and output power points of view. A good attempt to use a Stirling cycle in an integrated system with an internal combustion engine (ICE) has been demonstrated in Aladayleh and Alahmar [9]. In that work [9], the Stirling cycle used the waste heat available in the exhaust gas of the ICE, where it is shown that there is a great potential for energy recovery.