A brief Stirling engine history

Reverend Robert Stirling On September 27, 1816, Church of Scotland minister Robert Stirling applied for a patent for his economiser in dinburgh, Scotland! "he de#ice $as in the form of an in#erted beam engine, and incorporated the characteristic phase shift bet$een the displacer and piston that $e see in all Stirling ngines today! "he engine also featured the cyclic heating and cooling of the internal gas by means of an e%ternal heat source, but the de#ice $as not yet &no$n as a Stirling ngine! "hat name $as coined nearly one hundred years later by 'utch engineer Rolf (ei)er to describe all types of closed cycle regenerati#e gas engines! Stirling engines are uni*ue among heat engines because they ha#e a #ery high theoretical Carnot efficiency, in fact it is almost e*ual to their theoretical ma%imum Carnot efficiency! Stirling engines are po$ered by the e%pansion +heating, and contraction +cooling, of gas! "he fi%ed amount of gas inside a Stirling engine is transferred bac& and forth bet$een a hot end and a cold end, $hich cyclically e%pands and contracts the gas! Robert Stirling continued to $or& on his engines throughout his life! -n the 182./s he $as )oined by his younger brother 0ames, $hose ma)or contribution $as to suggest pressuri1ing the internal gas to increase the po$er output! 2urther impro#ed design patents $ere applied for in 1827 and 183.! Professor Ivo Kolin arly in 1485, 6rofessor -#o 7olin of the 8ni#ersity of 9agreb, Croatia, demonstrated the #ery first lo$ temperature differential Stirling engine to an ama1ed audience! "his engine ran on a temperature difference of 1..:C, $hich at the time $as an astonishingly lo$ figure! "he demonstrated engine ran for a long time as the temperature differential lo$ered, e#entually stopping $hen the difference dropped belo$ 2.:C! "his feat $as all the more remar&able $hen you consider the engine $as constructed entirely $ith hand tools! "he engine had no po$er piston and cylinder, instead relying on a rubber diaphragm to transmit the po$er from the s*uare main chamber! A feature of this engine $as the /slip;lin&/, a de#ice for imparting an intermittent motion to the displacer inside the main chamber! At the lo$ speed that this engine ran at, a d$ell at each end of the displacer stro&e $as #ery beneficial! 'uring the 148./s, 6rofessor 7olin continued to refine his lo$ temperature engines, still relying on a diaphragm but simplifying the original comple% displacer dri#e mechanisms! Professor James Senft 'uring the late 148./s and the early 144./s 6rofessor Senft of the 8ni#ersity of <isconsin too& up the idea of lo$ temperature differential Stirling engines! "he first models he produced $ere Ringbom engines, $here there is no direct connection bet$een the fly$heel and the displacer, the Ringbom engine is reliant on the changing pressure inside the main chamber to mo#e the displacer bac& and forth! 6rofessor Senft, $or&ing closely $ith 6rofessor 7olin, continued $or&ing $ith stirling engines, $or&ing out many of the design solutions that are used today in lo$ temperature differential Stirling engines! -n 1442 6rofessor Senft $as as&ed to design and build a lo$ temperature differential engine for =ASA! "his engine, called the =;42, $as optimised for hand held operation, $ith a temperature difference as lo$ as 6:C enough to po$er it! 6rofessor Senft continues to $or& $ith Stirling ngines, and has $ritten se#eral boo&s detailing the history and manufacture of Stirling engines! Kontax Engineering Ltd "he 7S range of lo$ temperature differential Stirling engines $as designed and de#eloped in ngland in 2..2, and has been in continual production e#er since! 7onta% use modern production machinery to manufacture most of the parts in; house, $hich allo$s for #ery strict *uality control! The Future >ecause Stirling ngines are able to operate from a $ide #ariety of heat sources they ha#e attracted a lot of attention in today/s energy conscious $orld! -nefficient combustion of fuel need not ta&e place in a Stirling engine po$er plant, the combustion can ta&e place e%ternally thus allo$ing for harmful emissions to be controlled and drastically reduced! (any countries and institutions are no$ researching Stirling ngines! -n countries that ha#e a lot of geothermal acti#ity, such as =e$ 9ealand, Stirling engines are seen as a #iable alternati#e to fossil fuels and nuclear po$er! Stirling ngine po$ered #ehicles are being in#estigated! 8nits designed to e%tract po$er from the $aste heat generated by domestic gas;fired boilers ha#e been built! Stirling ngine applications are being in#estigated by =ASA, for use in spacecraft! <ith the recent ratification of the 7yoto 6rotocol by 131 countries, Stirling ngines $ould seem perfectly placed to ta&e up the challenge presented by an energy conscious $orld!

?2..7 stirlingengine!co!u&