System Configuration Study of Free-Piston Stirling Engine with Additive Design Components

Songgang Qiu and Joshua Caswell*

Benjamin M. Statler College of Engineering Department of Mechanical and Aerospace Engineering, West Virginia University, Morgantown, WV 26505

Presentation Category: Physical Sciences & Engineering (Poster Presentation #157)

Student’s Major: Aerospace and Mechanical Engineering

A Free-Piston Stirling Engine (FPSE) is a reliable, efficient, and quiet engine that would be ideal in situations where maintenance is a major factor. In the construction of an FPSE, various configurations, manufacturing techniques, and materials are crucial to its performance. FPSE’s are driven by variations in internal pressure. It is a closed system that relies on external combustion which can be facilitated by fuels like solar, biogas, natural gas, and waste gas. The key components of an FPSE are as follows: a heater head, which must withstand high heat and pressure; a regenerator, which improves efficiency; a displacer, which drives the cyclic motion; and heat exchangers. Major design factors considered were the benefits of additive manufacturing to complex components of the engine. This allowed the engine to be more reliable and have increased thermal conductivity where it was important. Large scale power generation can be achieved with multiple engines working simultaneously. This is called modular upscaling and the resulting power output will be increased, depending on the number of engines. The various configurations of these systems are catered towards the spatial constraints afforded by the project at hand and serve for redundancy and stability.

Funding:

Program/mechanism supporting research/creative efforts: WVU's Research Apprenticeship Program (RAP) & accompanying HONR 297-level course