DESIGN OF A STIRLING

ENGINE AS A PORTABLE
LIGHT RESOURCE
Table of Contents
I. Literature review .......................................................................................................................... 3
I.I Historical background and development of Stirling engines ...................................................... 3
I.II The working methodology of Stirling engines ............................................................................ 4
I.III Designs of Stirling engines ......................................................................................................... 7
I.IV Applications and benefits of Stirling engines .......................................................................... 10
I.V Ability of Stirling engine to run from body heat ...................................................................... 11
References ..................................................................................................................................... 14

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Table of Figures

Figure 1, The first invented sterling engine (Organ, 2014) ............................................................. 4

Figure 2,Philips sterling generator(Philps, 1993) ............................................................................ 4

Figure 3,schematic diagram of a simple Stirling Beta engine (Mark E. Hofacker, 2014) ................ 5

Figure 4,P-v and T-s diagrams with piston arrangement of Stirling engine (Walker, 1980) ........... 6

Figure 5, A simplified representation of a Gamma engine (Roy Darlington, 2005) ........................ 7

Figure 6, A simplified representation of a Beta engine (Roy Darlington, 2005) ............................. 7

Figure 7, A simplified representation of low differential temperature engine (Senft, 1996) ......... 9

Figure 8,A simplified representation of alpha engine (Walker, 1980) ............................................ 9

Figure 9,Parabolic mirror for Stirling engine ................................................................................. 11

Figure 10,low differential temperature Stirling engine which powered by human temperature11

Figure 11, Testing of MM-7 LTD Low differential temperature Stirling engine (G. Aragon-
Gonzalez, 2013) ............................................................................................................................ 12

Figure 12, Results of the research work MM-7 LTD engine, Shaft speed(RPM) VS Break Power
(milli watt(mW)) and powering temperature difference (Celsius) (G. Aragon-Gonzalez, 2013) 13

Figure 13, Results of the research work MM-7 LTD engine, Shaft speed(RPM) VS Efficiency of
the engine and powering temperature difference (Celsius) (G. Aragon-Gonzalez, 2013) ......... 13

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I. Literature review

I.I Historical background and development of Stirling engines

One of the biggest problems facing our society in modern times is the dilemma of finding
energy sources other than traditional resources, such as oil and natural gas. Recently, many
studies have concluded that the utilisation of clean energy sources will grow at high rates
reaching about sixty percent of current consumption from total energy sources compared
to future consumption in the next ten years (Albertone, 2017).In the late 20th century;
researches and studies about alternative sources of energy began to develop an energy
equipment that can contribute to massive requirements of the industrial revolution In
Europe at that time. One of those energy sources that was invented at this period was the
Stirling engine (Martini, 1971) . In the past, during the industrial revolution in Europe, the
explosion of the steam engines was considered as a major problem in many industries and
applications that need a reliable and safe source of energy (Walker, 1980). In early 1816,
Robert Stirling had invented a new type of engines (Figure 1). This equipment was an
innovative masterpiece since it was the first engine that can produce power with external
combustion process compared to the internal combustion and steam engines; Therefore,
the explosion issue of the traditional engines was solved so far (Sier, 1999). The invention
of Robert Stirling had named the economiser (Vineeth, 2011). This is because its high
thermal efficiency compared to the steam engines at that time. In his engine design, Robert
Stirling had concerned about the explosion problem of steam engines boilers at that time,
so the design included an external heat of source to avoid the explosion. In 1818 one of
Robert Stirlings engine was used as a quarry pump and ran for two years before its failure.
Because when Robert Stilling created his first engine, cast iron was the most dominant
used metal; which was unable to withstand the high operating temperature for a long time,
hence cause many of problems such as oxidation and low output efficiency with time (helal,
2006). In 1824 Carnot published a research paper with the working theory beyond the
Stirling engines and he proved that these types of engines rely only on the temperature
difference and not on the powering fuel. (Roy Darlington, 2005).In 1826 there were many
experiments that held by John Ericsson to power the Stirling engine utilizing the coal, but
the experiment was un successful due to the intense heat generated that tend to destroy the
Stirling engine mechanism (Senft, 1996). In 1833 Ericsson developed a new generation of
Stirling engine which was able to generate about 5bhp with two acting cylinders attached
to a tubular regenerator (Senft, 1996).With the rapid deployment of electricity in the early
20th century and the widespread use of gasoline as a fuel for most of the applications,
Electric and gasoline engines have taken the place of Sterling engines (helal, 2006).Then
many of researchers in the early 21st century had worked on the development of the sterling
engine. One of those researchers was Philips, who could make a qualitative leap in the
development of sterling engine by introducing a sterling generator(Figure2) that could
produce about 200 watts of energy in 1950 (helal, 2006).

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 Figure 1, The first invented sterling engine Figure 2,Philips sterling generator
(Organ, 2014) (Philps, 1993)

Then, in 1983 Dr Kulin (Zagreb University of Croatia) developed a Stirling engine that
can work with a temperature less than water boiling temperature. (Roy Darlington, 2005).

I.II The working methodology of Stirling engines

The working principle of the Stirling engine (Figure 3) is that a limited amount of the
operating body (usually air or other gasses as hydrogen or helium) is exposed to
periodically heat and cooling processes. The reciprocating motion of both displacer and
power pistons leads to expansion and contraction of the operating body. The cycle of the
Stirling engine resembles some extent the Carnot cycle. The plain design of the Stirling
engine consists of a cylinder with two pistons located opposite to each other, and a
regenerator attached between those pistons. The function of the regenerator is to work as a
thermal sponge that can absorb and release the working heat in an alternate way. There are
two volumes exists in between the regenerators and the working pistons. The first volume
is called the space of expansion, and it is usually operated at elevated temperature (T max).
The second volume is called the space of compression, and it is usually operated at a low
temperature (T min). Hence there is a temperature gradient that exists at the both sides of
regenerators (T max: T min) , and it is considered here that the thermal conduction is zero
along the cylinder. Also the other assumptions of Carnot cycle is assumed here. The friction
force of piston is eliminated and there is no fluid leakage outward the cylinder (Walker,
1980).In the ideal cycle of Stirling engine (figure 4) it is assumed that the piston of
compression space is at the outer border of the dead point, and the piston of the expansion
space is at the inner border of the dead point approaching the front end of the regenerator
at the starting of the cycle. So, at point 1, the total volume of the working fluid is at the
space of compression with the lowest temperature and pressure (maximum volume).

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 Figure 3,schematic diagram of a simple Stirling Beta engine
(Mark E. Hofacker, 2014)

Then at the compression stroke (from 1 to 2), the piston of the compression space starts to
move to the inner border of the dead point, while as the piston of expansion space remains
at its position. The fluid is compressed in the space of compression, therefore the pressure
increases. During this process, the temperature remains constant since the heat of the
compression space is taken away from the surroundings. Then in the second process (from
2 to 3) the piston of the compression space move toward the regenerator while as the piston
of the expansion space moves outward the regenerator. Therefore the volume within this
process (from 2 to 3) is remaining constant. The working fluid is then going through the
regenerator from the space of compression to the space of expansion. The regenerator is
usually made from the porous matrix. During this transfer process of the working fluid, its
temperature is raised from (Tmin) to (Tmax) at the expansion space by the transfer of heat
through the matrix of the regenerator. The progressive increase in temperature through the
regenerator causes a pressure increase at constant volume. Then at the third process (from
3 to 4), the expansion process starts. During this process, the piston of the expansion space
starts to move outward the regenerator approaching the outer dead point; while as the piston
of the compression space remains at its position at the inner border of the dead point.
During this process, the volume increases and pressure decrease while as the temperature
remains constant due to the addition of the heat from some external source, which could
be solar energy or any other heating source (Organ, 2014). The final stage of Sterling cycle
is the transfer process (from 4 to 1). During this process, the two pistons move at the same
time, and the working fluid is transferred from the space of expansion to the space of
compression. The temperature of the working fluid is decreased to (Tmin) at the
compression space by losing heat during the transfer through the matrix of the regenerator,
hence the temperature of the working fluid decreases (Walker, 1980).

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 Figure 4,P-v and T-s diagrams with piston arrangement of Stirling engine (Walker, 1980)

So, the cycle of the Stirling engine would be summarized in four processes:
Process (1-2):
Through which heat is transferred from the working fluid to the surroundings by an
isothermal compression operation.
Process (2-3):
Through which heat is transferred to the working fluid from the pours matrix of the
regenerator by a constant volume heat addition operation.
Process (3-4):
Through which heat is transferred to the working fluid from the external source by an
isothermal expansion operation.
Process (4-1):
Through which heat is transferred from the working fluid to the matrix of the regenerator
by a constant volume heat subtraction operation.
If the heat added in the process (2-3) is equal to heat rejected in the process (4-1), then the
second law of thermodynamics is satisfied to obtain the maximum thermal efficiency from
the Stirling engine. Moreover. There is an advantage of the sterling engine at this point
over the Carnot engine, which is the replacement of the two isentropic operations in Carnot
cycle by two constant volume heat addition and rejection operations (Finkelstein, 2010).
Hence, the area of the P-V diagram increases and thus more work is obtained by using low
pressures compared to high pressures required to obtain a useful work by the Carnot cycles
(Cheng, 2012).

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I.III Designs of Stirling engines
According to the design of Stirling engine, there are many variations as Gamma, Beta,
Alpha (or Rider), Low differential temperature, Fluidyne, marble, lag(thermos-acoustic),
cryocooler and martini. For Gamma design (Figure 5), this type has two separate cylinders,
a displacer cylinder, and a power cylinder, joined by a pipe or slot in casting. The two
cylinders can be bolted to a base or frame and can be connected to a single crank and
flywheel. It is the very simple engine. The disadvantages of this type of engine are that the
connecting pipe is dead space, which leads to inefficiency. A typical Gamma engine has
two pistons, one power piston and one displacer piston. These two pistons are usually
coupled to a common crankshaft with a crank disk and a flywheel. Where the displacer
piston is connected to the fly wheel, and it is typically attached 90 degrees in advance of
the power piston attachment. This may be varied by a few degrees advanced or retreated,
but 90 degrees is easy and works well. There should be a passage for the air or gas to move
from one-cylinder chamber to the other. Gamma engines can be air-cooled or water-cooled
(IWAMOTO, 2010). For Beta designs (Figure 6), the Beta engine, sometimes referred to
as concentric, is the most efficient. One of Robert Stirlings first engines was a Beta engine.
The displacer piston and power piston are both in the same cylinder. The displacer piston
is operated by the displacer rod, which runs through a gland or bush right through the
middle of the power piston. The displacer piston runs at the hot cap end of the cylinder,
and the power piston runs at or beyond the cold end (Shahed Md. Abu Sufian, 2014), (helal,
2006).

Figure 5, A simplified representation of a Figure 6, A simplified representation of a Beta

Gamma engine (Roy Darlington, 2005) engine (Roy Darlington, 2005)

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Its high efficiency characterises beta engines. There are two reasons for its high efficiency.
Firstly, there is very little dead space since no connecting pipe is needed as with separate
cylinders. Secondly, at one stage of the cycle the two pistons come very close together. In
Stirling Beta engine, the two pistons come to within a few thou of each other (J.R.Senft,
1985). This causes a lot of turbulence, which is one of the things that makes the Stirling
cycle work well at this design; the greater the turbulence, the better the results. In Beta
design, a connecting rod to a crankpin is needed to drive each piston. To get symmetrical
thrust on the power piston, two con-rods are required and pass either side of the displacer
con -rod. This extra linkage in a Beta engine causes some more friction, but the overall
efficiency of the engine more than compensates for this. Some Beta engines use one rod
for the power piston, but this is not ideal as it puts unequal pressures on the piston and
causes more wear and more friction (Organ, 2014). There is a disadvantage when running
a Beta engine horizontally due to the load of the displacer bearing down through the power
piston guide. This transfers to the walls of the cylinder via the power piston creating drag.
Despite this, it is still very efficient. One solution is to run the engine vertically so that the
weight of the displacer transfers on to the crankpin and the problem of the drag is not so
marked. In the vertical position, a ring-type burner is required (Roy Darlington, 2005).
Usually, in Beta designs, the cylinder housing the displaced, and the power pistons, are the
same internal bore throughout their length. In a lot of other engines, the power piston is a
smaller diameter with a longer stroke to achieve the capacity or required swept volume. A
shorter stroke means that the engine will complete the cycle quicker and consequently will
rev more easily (Hargreaves, 1991). Beta engines are also named the linear engines, as they
have no linkage. The displacer and power piston are suspended by springs and the pressure
variation operates the engine. The balance of the springs needs the care to set up. A linear
alternator is connected to the piston which produces alternating current (Hasci, 2014).For
alpha designs (Figure 8). This type of Sterling's engines has a different configuration. This
configuration has two separate cylinders. One is the hot cylinder, and the other is the cold
cylinder. There is a power piston on the cold side. In the hot side, there also a power piston,
which has a displacer mounted on to the crown of it. The two pistons have an adjoining
tube. Cooling fins will usually be found on the cold cylinder. One advantage is that the
engine lends itself to regeneration. The two cylinders can be mounted in a V shape at 90
degrees to each other (Rizzo, 1995). Each con rod is coupled to a single crankshaft. The
connecting pipe, although dead space, can be filled with regenerative material such as
stainless-steel gauze or ceramic beads, creating an external regenerator built between the
two cylinders. The dead space can be successfully reduced by using this technique
(Gingery, 1991). The alpha design can make a compact four-cylinder engine in which each
piston has a principle and diaphragm moves with the reciprocation set up by the heat
differential. There are very few moving parts in the engine, and subsequently, it is a design
that has the potential to be reliable in service (LockWood, 2010). For the Low differential
temperature designs (Figure 7), the displacer piston is suspended in the cylinder halfway
up the stroke by a spring attached in the centre. The other end of the spring is connected to
a chamber above the displacer cylinder. For the Low differential temperature designs
(Figure 7), the displacer piston is suspended in the cylinder halfway up the stroke by a

8
spring attached in the centre. The other end of the spring is connected to a chamber above
the displacer cylinder.

Figure 8,A simplified representation of Figure 7, A simplified representation of low

alpha engine (Walker, 1980) differential temperature engine (Senft, 1996)

There is a weight on the cylinder at the front, which acts not only as a handle to pick up
but also keeps the whole mass of the engine symmetrical. This helps to keep it balanced
when operating on a frame and has the advantage of providing additional cooling (Senft,
1996). The power piston is usually made of graphite running in a glass cylinder. The glass
cylinder was cut from a hypodermic syringe originally used by a vet (Sier, 1999). Two
round plates on the top and bottom of the engine are the hot and the cold side. Nylon screws
together hold these. There is O-ring material placed in a groove turned into the two plates
so that the Perspex displacer sidewall tube sits on this O-ring top and bottom to seal it.
When the nylon screws are tightened, they help to make displacer chamber airtight. The
nylon screws stretch when tightened, and any excess that protrudes is cut off (Roy
Darlington, 2005). Commonly, the low-temperature differential Stirling engines have a
displacer cylinder differential swept volume of about one hundred times greater than the
power piston, with the equivalent size pistons to suit. The difference between the volume
of the power cylinder and the displacer cylinder allows it to work using a very low-
temperature differential. Their small power cylinder can instantly recognise most low
differential temperature engines. These engines have large flywheels that are light and
often use intricate parts for the connecting rods to keep the weight down (IWAMOTO,
2010). Professor Senft, Professor of Mathematics, has done a lot of excellent work on the
theory, mathematics, and reduction of the temperature differential that these engines
require to operate (J.R.Senft, 1985).
For Fluidyne design, it works on Stirling principle whereby a heat source heats up one end
of a chamber that is cooled at the opposite end. This air chamber takes the form of a tube.
The pressure change that takes place in this chamber acts at either end of the tube on a
piston. That piston is, in fact, a fluid and is generally in a U-shaped tube which is connected

9
to either end of the underside of the air chamber(tube). This fluid piston moves up and
down as the pressure of the air above it changes. Began from the cold side of the fluid
piston is a further tube which connects to another tube via the second tee. This tube has
two one -way valves in series on opposite sides of the second tee. Both valves flow in the
same directions. As the air pressure increases it forces part of the fluid that makes up the
piston out through its only escape route, one of the one-way valves. When the pressure
decreases, it draws fluid in through the other one-way valve. This complete the cycle. This
cycle is similar to the cycle found in thermos acoustic engines. Fluidyne engines are self-
starting, and the only mechanical moving parts are the one-way valves. The one-way valves
can be adapted from other applications such as reed valves, tire valves or one-way valves
used to fish tanks. The fluid engine is comparatively inefficient about Stirling engines in
general, but its simplicity and niche applications such as water pumping from waste heat
outweigh make it useful in some time (Hasci, 2014).There is another design which named
as Single/Double Acting Stirling engines. A double-acting design is appropriate for a four-
cylinder Stirling engine. The reason for this is that the power stroke must be 90 degrees out
of phase with the displacer pistons stroke. If there were just two pistons, it would be 180
degrees out of phase and would be unlikely to work. The power and the displacer piston in
this instance are the same component and have working gas above and below. The working
gas on the underside of the piston will work with the next piston in sequence, and the
working gas above the piston will work with the previous piston. The gas from underside
acts on the top side of the next piston in series. In effect, the top of the piston chamber is
the hot space, and the underside is the cold space, although the reciprocation set up by the
heat differential acts on a different piston in the adjacent cylinder. This double acting
design is very economical concerning some parts required to build the engine and is
typically used for high power engines and engines that are proposed for a volume
manufacturer. One of the most well-known examples of this engine layout was used in a
Ford Torino which was built in a joint venture with Philips (Gingery, 1991).

I.IV Applications and benefits of Stirling engines

Probably the major factor that will ensure an exponential growth in the mainstream use of
sterling engines will be the need to maximise the use of our existing energy reserves such
as oil and gas.The basic efficiency of the sterling engine approaches nearly twice that of
an internal combustion engine (Organ, 1997) and can be up to 15 percent more efficient
than a jet or CI (combustion ignition) engine. In the short term, this will return a 25 percent
fuel saving in areas such as CHP(Combined heat and power), where the energy used to
heat domestic hot water can be used to generate electricity instead of wasted.Any excess
electricity can be returned to the National Grid, and such the Stirling engine is placed to
meet policies to decentralise power generation.And as our reliance on fossil fuels
diminishes m the ability of the Stirling engine to run efficiently on any fuel that is capable
of producing heat such as methane, hydrogen or renewable fuels such as clippings or straw
will go along way to ensuring its continued development and success (Roy Darlington,
2005). There is a wide range of applications that can utilise Stirling engine either small or large-
scale applications from pump engines passing through marine engines and even medical

10
 applications as there were many researchers to use it in artificial heart implant (Pettingill, 1977).
For automotive applications, Stirling engines had shown many disadvantages, as too long start-up
time of the automotive engine, low response of acceleration, too long shutdown time and of course
the high weight that the engine will add to the vehicle. For air craft engines, Stirling engines had
also shown a major problem which is the low density of power compared to the power produced
by the Brayton cycle. Stirling engines showed a superior performance when they utilised in solar
energy applications as it converts the solar energy into electrical energy using the intensive solar
energy generated from the parabolic mirror (Hasci, 2014) as showed in (Figure 9). Also, Stirling is
succeeded in generating power from just the temperature of the humans (Figure 10) using low-
temperature difference Stirling engine, where the difference between the humans hand and
surrounding temperature is enough to start up this kind of Stirling engine (Roy Darlington, 2005).

Figure 9,Parabolic mirror for Stirling engine (from SES) Figure 10,low differential temperature Stirling engine
which powered by human temperature (from SES)

I.V Ability of Stirling engine to run from body heat

A lot of work had done by many researchers to provide a Stirling engine that can be
powered from the heating body least possible temperature as an energy source. That kind
of Stirling engines is called later as low-temperature differential hot air engines (Figure
10). Professor Ivo Kolin did a lot of the early work with low differential temperature
engines (Roy Darlington, 2005). One of his notable engines had a square displacer piston
and used a diaphragm method of replacing the power piston. The engine of Professor Kolin
could produce a mechanical work from a heat source that has a temperature which was
lesser than the boiling temperature of water (Kolin, 1991). Then a unique work had
presented by James R. Senft upon a special request from NASA to create a Stirling engine
that can produce power from the least possible heat source temperature (J. R., 1993). The
Stirling engine of Senft was able to produce power from very low-temperature difference
reaching only 6 Celsius degrees or even produce power from a warm hand on a normal or
cold day (G. Aragon-Gonzalez, 2013).This engine was named as N-92 Stirling engine (J.

11
R., 1993). And this was the first time that a Stirling engine could produce power from the
body heat of human. A new promising research (G. Aragon-Gonzalez, 2013) was
implemented to enhance the performance of Senft engine so that it can produce more power
from the heat of the humans body (Figure 11). The laboratory results of this research work
(Figures 12-13) showed that maximum brake power that could be obtained from this engine
is about 2.61 mW at body temperature difference of 22 C with generated shaft speed of
about 86 rpm and efficiency of 0.06 %. These researches are now in the development stage
(G. Aragon-Gonzalez, 2013).

Figure 11, Testing of MM-7 LTD Low differential temperature Stirling engine (G. Aragon-Gonzalez, 2013)

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Figure 12, Results of the research work MM-7 LTD engine, Shaft speed(RPM) VS Break Power (milli watt(mW)) and powering
temperature difference (Celsius) (G. Aragon-Gonzalez, 2013)

Figure 13, Results of the research work MM-7 LTD engine, Shaft speed(RPM) VS Efficiency of the engine and powering
temperature difference (Celsius) (G. Aragon-Gonzalez, 2013)

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helal, M., 2006. A research study for sterling engine, s.l.: Damascus university.

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