• Journal of Hydrogen and New Energy
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• v.25 no.6
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• pp.648-655
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• 2014

This paper describes the continuing effort to develope a single acting free-piston Stirling engine/alternator combination for use of the household cogeneration. Free piston Stirling engines(FPSE) use variations of working gas pressure to drive mechanically unconstrained reciprocating elements. Stirling cycle free-piston engines are driven by the Stirling thermodynamic cycle which is characterized by an externally heated device containing working gas that is continuously re-used in a regenerative, reversible cycle. The ideal cycle is described by two isothermal process connected by two constant volume processes. Heat removed during the constant volume cooling process is internally transferred to the constant volume heating process by mutual use of a thermal storage medium called the regenerator. Since the ideal cycle is reversible, the ideal efficiency is that of Carnot. Free-piston Stirling engine is have no crank and rotating parts to generate lateral forces and require lubrication. The FPSE is typically comprised of two oscillating pistons contained in a common cylinder. The temperature difference across the displacer maintains the oscillations, and the FPSE operate at natural frequency of the mass-spring system. The power is generated from a linear alternator. The purpose of this paper is to describe the design process of the single acting free-piston Stirling engine/alternator. Electrical output of the single acting free-piston Stirling engine/alternator is about 0.95 kW.

• Journal of Hydrogen and New Energy
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• v.27 no.1
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• pp.114-120
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• 2016

This paper describes generating efficiency characteristics of the double acting Stirling engine/generator for domestic small-scale CHP (Combined Heat and Power) system. In small distributed generation applications, Stirling engine has competition from fuel cell, microturbine and etc. In order to be economical in the applications, a long life with minimum maintenance is generally required. Free piston Stirling engine (FPSE) has no crank and rotating parts to generate lateral forces and require lubrication. Double acting Stirling engine/generator has one displacer and two power piston which are supported by flexure springs. Two power pistons oscillate with symmetric displacement and are connected with moving magnet type linear generators for power generation from PV work. In experiments, 1 kW class double acting free piston Stirling engine/generator is fabricated and tested. Heat is supplied to hot end of engine by the combustion of natural gas and converted to electric power by linear generators which are assembled with power pistons. The electric parameters such as voltage, current and phase are measured with for variable flow rate of fuel gas. Especially, generating efficiency of FPSE is measured with three different measurement methods. Generating efficiency of the double acting Stirling engine/alternator is about 24%.

• Transactions of the Korean Society for Noise and Vibration Engineering
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• v.23 no.7
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• pp.654-661
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• 2013

The dynamic characteristics of a free-piston stirling engine(FPSE) with regard to the working frequency is investigated from theoretical and experimental studies. The FPSE is modeled as a two degree-of-freedom linear vibration system. A theoretical expression on the working frequency is derived from the instability condition for self-excitation based on the linear vibration model. A ${\gamma}$-type free-piston stirling engine is fabricated for experimental studies, and its working frequency is measured on various heater temperatures. Comparisons between the theoretical and experimental results reveal that the working frequency of the test FPSE depends on both the temperature of the compression space and the temperature difference between the expansion and compression spaces.

• Journal of Hydrogen and New Energy
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• v.26 no.6
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• pp.638-644
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• 2015

This paper describes the continuing effort to analysis and design on dynamic and electrical behavior of gamma-type free piston Stirling engine/generator with dual-opposed linear generator for domestic micro-CHP (Combined Heat and Power) system. The double acting Stirling engine/generator has one displacer and two power piston which are supported by flexure springs. Two power pistons oscillate with symmetric sinusoidal displacement and are connected with moving magnet type linear generators for power generation. To operate Stirling engine/generator, combustion heat of natural gas is supplied to hot-end and heat is rejected from cold-end by cooling water. The temperature difference across the displacer induces the oscillating motion, and it can be explained with mass-spring vibration system. The purpose of this paper is to describe the design process of linear generator for the double acting free-piston Stirling engine.

• Transactions of the Korean Society of Mechanical Engineers
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• v.18 no.7
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• pp.1751-1758
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• 1994

A new set of governing equations is derived for the dynamic analysis of the Free-Piston Stirling Engines(EPSE). Equations from the ideal adiabatic model for the thermodynamic analysis of the working fluid are incoporated with the equations of motion for the moving masses of the system, resulting in a set of nonlinear differential equations. The coupled set of equations are numerically integrated with proper intial conditions to obtain a steady state response of the engine. The proposed method is compared with the conventional method of analyzing EPSE based mainly on the ideal isothermal model. The results clearly shows the limitationsl of the conventional methods and the relative advantages of the method proposed in the present study.

• Transactions of the Korean Society of Mechanical Engineers A
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• v.39 no.10
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• pp.985-993
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• 2015

Free-piston Stirling engines (FPSEs) have attracted much attention in the renewable energy field as a key device in the conversion from thermal to mechanical energy, and in the recycling of waste energy. Traditional Stirling engines consist of two pistons that are connected by a mechanical link, while FPSEs are formed as a vibration system by connecting each piston to a spring without a physical link. To ensure the correct design and control of operations, this requires elaborate dynamic-performance predictions. In this paper, we present the performance-prediction methodology using a linear and nonlinear dynamic analytical model considering the external load of FPSEs. We perform linear analyses to predict the operating point of the engine using the root locus technique. Using nonlinear analysis, we also predict the amplitude of pistons by performing numerical integration considering both the linear and nonlinear damping terms of the external load. We utilize the predicted dynamic behavior to predict the engine performance. In addition, we compare the experiment results and existing model predictions for RE-1000 to verify the reliability of the analytical model.

• Transactions of the Korean Society for Noise and Vibration Engineering
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• v.26 no.3
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• pp.248-257
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• 2016

Recently, researches on the free-piston Stirling engines(FPSEs) are actively investigated. FPSEs have merits in its light weight, simple structure, and little need for maintenance, thus becoming a promising solution for the power conversion of renewable energy and waste heat recycle. This paper presents the methodology that estimates damping coefficients using analytical models of linear and nonlinear dynamics for FPSEs, and validates the methodology by comparing with existing experimental results. The analysis model predicts an operable range of linear damping coefficients forming limit cycles by using the root locus, and time responses obtained by numerical integration determines nonlinear damping coefficients. The model predictions are compared with experimental results of the well-known FPSE B-10B. We also investigate the damping characteristics regarding heater temperatures and power piston motions.

• Nuclear Engineering and Technology
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• v.53 no.2
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• pp.637-646
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• 2021

The free-piston Stirling engine (FPSE) has been widely used in aerospace owing to its advantages of high efficiency, high reliability, and self-starting ability. In this paper, a 20-kW FPSE is proposed by analyzing the requirements of space nuclear power reactor. A code was developed based on an improved simple analysis method to evaluate the performance of the proposed FPSE. The code is benchmarked with experimental data, and the maximum relative error of the output power is 17.1%. Numerical results show that the output power is 21 kW, which satisfies the design requirements. The results show that: a) reducing the pressure shell's thickness can improve the output power significantly; b) the system efficiency increases with the wire porosity, while the growth of system efficiency decreases when the porosity is higher than 80%, and system efficiency exhibits a linear relationship with the temperatures of the cold and hot sides; c) the system efficiency increases with the compression ratio; the compression ratio increases by 16.7% while the system efficiency increases by 42%. This study can provide valuable theoretical support for the design and analysis of FPSEs for space nuclear power reactors.

• Nuclear Engineering and Technology
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• v.53 no.7
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• pp.2184-2194
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• 2021

The Free-Piston Stirling engine (FPSE) is of interest for many research in aerospace due to its advantages of long operating life, higher efficiency, and zero maintenance. In this study, a 1-kW FPSE was proposed by analyzing the requirements of Space Reactor Power Systems (SRPS), of which performance was evaluated by developing a code through the Simple Analysis Method. The results of SAM showed that the critical parameters of FPSE could satisfy the designed requirements. The heater of the FPSE was designed with the copper rectangular fins to enhance heat transfer, and the parametric study of the heater was performed with Computational Fluid Dynamics (CFD) software STAR-CCM⁺. The Performance Evaluation Criteria (PEC) was used to evaluate the heat transfer enhancement of the fins in the heater. The numerical results of the CFD program showed that pressure drop and Nusselt number ratio had a linear growth with the height of fins, and PEC number decreased as the height of fins increased, and the optimum height of the fin was set as 4 mm according to the minimum heat exchange surface area. This paper can provide theoretical supports for the design and numerical analysis of an FPSE for SRPSs.

• Proceedings of the Korean Society for Noise and Vibration Engineering Conference
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• 2013.10a
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• pp.479-480
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• 2013