Double-acting stirling engines with optimal parameters and waveforms
OwnerDaniel Norvin Browninventor
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Abstract
The price per performance advantages of double-acting Stirling engines have long been known, and recent experiments have demonstrated the performance and behavior advantages of Stirling engines which involve optimal parameters, such as an optimal phase angle between the pistons. Herein disclosed are new Stirling engine designs which permit both of these advantages to be achieved at once, as well as other benefits such as compactness, simplicity, reliability and lower cost.
Claims11
A two cycle double-acting Stirling engine comprising:
- a first expansion volume modulated by an expansion piston, a first compression volume modulated by a compression piston, and a first working gas circuit including said first expansion and first compression volumes,
- a second expansion volume modulated in inverse phase relation by the same said expansion piston, a second compression volume modulated in inverse phase relation by the same said compression piston, and a second working gas circuit including said second expansion and second compression volumes,
- a phase offset between the expansion and compression pistons with an effective alpha angle between 100 and 160 degrees,
- whereby two Stirling cycles can be generated with internally balanced pressure forces and a minimal number of components while also enabling near-optimal phase angles, yielding improved performance and more robust engine behavior.
A two cycle double-acting Stirling engine with rotary pistons comprising:
- a first expansion volume modulated by a rotary expansion piston, a first compression volume modulated by a rotary compression piston, and a first working gas circuit including said first expansion and first compression volumes,
- a second expansion volume modulated in inverse phase relation by the same said rotary expansion piston, a second compression volume modulated in inverse phase relation by the same said rotary compression piston, and a second working gas circuit including said second expansion and second compression volumes,
- whereby two Stirling cycles can be generated with internally balanced pressure forces and a minimal number of components, near-optimal phase angles are enabled, and the rotary pistons allow the overall engine to be more compact than otherwise possible.
A four cycle double-acting Stirling engine comprising two double-acting expansion pistons and two double-acting compression pistons, in which each of said double-acting pistons is connected so as to be a member of one matched cyclic set with a given phase angle of 90 degrees or more as well as one mis-matched cyclic set with a supplementary phase angle of 90 degrees or less,
- whereby four Stirling cycles can be generated in a new, novel and useful engine configuration, permitting near optimal phase angles to be simultaneously achieved in all four cycles at once.
Dependencies are inferred from the claim text.