STERLING ENGINE

SUBMITTED BY:
RAGHAV MAHESHWARI - 10107054
RAHUL BHATIA - 10107055
INTRODUCTION:
A Stirling engine is a heat engine operating by cyclic compression
and expansion of air or other gas, the working fluid, at different
temperature levels such that there is a net conversion of heat energy
to mechanical work. Like the steam engine, the Stirling engine is
traditionally classified as an external combustion engine, as all heat
transfers to and from the working fluid take place through the
engine wall. The Stirling engine encloses a fixed quantity of
permanently gaseous fluid such as air.

BASIC FUNCTIONING:
Stirling engines can be hard to understand. Here are the key points.
Every Stirling engine has a sealed cylinder with one part hot and the
other cold. The working gas inside the engine (which is often air,
helium, or hydrogen) is moved by a mechanism from the hot side to
the cold side. When the gas is on the hot side it expands and pushes
up on a piston. When it moves back to the cold side it contracts.
Properly designed Stirling engines have two power pulses per
revolution, which can make them very smooth running. Two of the
more common types are two piston Stirling engines and displacer-
type Stirling engines. The two piston type Stirling engine has two
power pistons. The displacer type Stirling engine has one power
piston and a displacer piston.
DISPLACER TYPE STERLING ENGINE:
The displacer type Stirling engine is shown here. The space below
the displacer piston is continuously heated by a heat source. The
space above the displacer piston is continuously cooled. The
displacer piston moves the air (displaces the air) from the hot side
to the cold side. Gas expands when heated, and contracts when
cooled. Stirling engines move the gas from the hot side of the engine,
where it expands, to the cold side, where it contracts.
DISPLACER PISTON
When there is a temperature difference between upper displacer
space and lower displacer space, the engine pressure is changed by
the movement of the displacer. The pressure increases when the
displacer is located in the upper part of the cylinder (and most of the
air is on the hot lower side). The pressure decreases when the
displacer is moved to the lower part of the cylinder. The displacer
only moves the air back and forth from the hot side to the cold side.
It does not operate the crankshaft and the engine. In other words,
the connecting rod to the displacer could be a string in this engine
and it would still work.

POWER PISTON
When the engine pressure reaches its maximum because of the
motion of the displacer, a power
piston is pushed by the expanding gas adding energy to the
crankshaft. The power piston should ideally be 90 degrees out of
phase with the displacer piston. The displacer type Stirling engine is
operated by the power of the power piston.

STERLING ENGINES EFFICIENCY:

In the mid 1800's a very bright Frenchman named Sadi Carnot
figured out the maximum efficiency possible with any heat engine. It
is a formula like this (Temperature of the hot side - Temperature of
the cold side)/Temp of hot side x 100 equals the max theoretical
efficiency. Of course the temperatures must be measured in degrees
Kelvin or Rankine. Stirling engines (with perfect regeneration)
match this cycle. Real Stirling engines can reach 50 percent of the
maximum theoretical value. That is an incredibly high percentage!
Stirling Engines - Mechanical Configurations:
The mechanical configurations of Stirling engines are generally
divided into three groups known as the Alpha, Beta, and Gamma
arrangements.
1. Alpha engines have two pistons in separate cylinders which
are connected in series by a heater, regenerator and cooler.
The Alpha engine is conceptually the simplest Stirling engine
configuration, however suffers from the disadvantage that both
pistons need to have seals to contain the working gas.
2. Beta engine use displacer-piston arrangements, the Beta
engine having both the displacer and the piston in an in-line
cylinder system. From the figure we see that unlike the Alpha
machine, the Beta engine has a single power piston and a
displacer, whose purpose is to "displace" the working gas at
constant volume, and shuttle it between the expansion and the
compression spaces through the series arrangement cooler,
regenerator, and heater.

3. Gamma engine uses separate cylinders. Gamma type engines

have a displacer and power piston, similar to Beta machines,
however in different cylinders. This allows a convenient
complete separation between the heat exchangers associated
with the displacer cylinder and the compression and expansion
work space associated with the piston.
STIRLING ENGINE PRESENT USE:
The modern uses of Stirling engines are invisible to almost
everyone. There are Stirling engines in Submarines, stirling
machines used as cryocoolers, and Stirling engines in classrooms.
Cryogenics is the science of things that are exceedingly cold and
Stirling engines are one tool that can be used to make things
exceedingly cold. It's not obvious but a Stirling engine is a reversible
device. If you heat one end and cool the other, you get mechanical
work out, but if you put mechanical work in, by connecting an
electric motor, one end will get hot and the other end will get cold. If
you design the machine correctly, the cold end will get extremely
cold.
Micro Stirling coolers have been produced in large numbers for
cooling infrared chips down to 80 degrees Kelvin.

MATERIALS USED:
Spokes (2mm and 3mm)
Disc
Plastic pipes
Plastic sheets
 M-seal
Cardboard
Metal circular sheet
Doctors tape

MAKING PROCEDURE:
Firstly cardboard is used to make power piston with the help
of doctors tape.
Then plastic sheet is attached to the metal with the help of m-
seal to make a cylinder in which cardboard piston has to be
fitted.
Then on other metal circular sheet having a hole of 3cm on its
side is fitted on the sheet.
Then a pipe of 4cm dia. Is fitted on the top of the hole.
Then 2nd piston is fitted.
Crank shaft is made and the rods from the pistons are fitted on
the crank shaft.
Then a flywheel using disc is attached to it.
To see its working, heat is supplied at the bottom and ice is
kept at its top.
After a few seconds it starts rotating.

DIFFICULTIES FACED DURING MAKING:

Pasting the plastic sheet on the metal piece.
Thinking of the substances to make the two pistons.
 Bending the spokes.
Making the crank shaft of exact size.