The Influence of the working fluid and Regenerator material on the Performance of the types Gamma Stirling Engine

Abstract

In concentrated solar energy applications, the Stirling engine is the optimum option for extracting mechanical work. The engine's most notable features are minimal noise, vibration, and pollution, as well as its capacity to function with any external heat source, including biomass, solar energy, and industrial waste. The gamma-type STE-1008 Stirling engine is the subject of our research. This engine can handle a maximum charging pressure of 10 bar. The engine is divided into two sections (expansion and compression) and three heat exchangers (regenerator, cooler, and heater). The cooler is a finned aluminium heat exchanger with 144 internal fins, each with a cross-sectional area of 1 mm by 10 mm. The regenerator is fitted with a diameter of 31 m and a volumetric porosity of 90%. This investigation employed a random fiber with three different metals: stainless steel, copper, and aluminium. Nitrogen and air served as the working fluids. From the results, stainless steel, copper, and aluminium regenerators produced 583 W, 562 W, and 553 W, respectively. When nitrogen is utilized at 500 °C, the engine generates 11 N.m of torque compared to 8.5 N.m when air is used, and the engine has a thermal efficiency of 19% compared to 15% when air is used. The results of other researchers were used to compare and validate our model. With errors of no more than 12%, the results were close enough to the experimental data to be useful.