Heater for a stirling engine
AssigneeAisin Seiki Kabushiki Kaisha
InventorsTomokimi Mizuno, Tetsumi Watanabe, Nobuhiro Tanatsugu, Ryojiro Akiba
Life of this patent
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Abstract
A heater for use with a Stirling engine and a method for heating a working fluid for a Stirling engine is disclosed. The heater has a burner, heater tubes disposed in the burner, a space formed around the heater tubes which is filled with heat-storing material, and a high-temperature heat source. The heat-storing material is sealed by a seal member. Heat produced by the high-temperature heat source is supplied to the heater tubes via the heat-storing material; hence the heat-storing material acts as a secondary heat source. Heat is stored in the heat-storing material in the form of sensible heat or latent heat, or a chemical reaction is employed.
Claims16
A heater for a Stirling engine, comprising:
- a burner;
- heater tubes disposed in the burner;
- a primary high-temperature heat source providing a variable amount of heat for heating the heater tubes;
- and
- a space formed around the heater tubes in the burner and filled with heat-storing material, the heat storing material being in direct contact with the heater tubes and the space being separated from said primary heat source by a seal member, heat produced by the primary heat source being supplied to the heater tubes solely through the heat-storing material, the heat-storing material acting as a secondary heat source for supplying stored heat by phase change or chemical reaction to the heater tubes, wherein the heat-storing material is substantially free of sensible heat-storing material.
A method for heating a working fluid in a Stirling engine, comprising:
- providing a high-temperature heat source having a variable output including a low output range and a high output range;
- transferring heat to the working fluid from the heat source solely through a heat-storing material, the working fluid being contained in heater tubes and the heat-storing material directly contacting the heater tubes and being contained in a space surrounding the heater tubes;
- storing heat from said heat source when said source is in said high output range in the heat-storing material;
- and
- maintaining said heat transfer to said working fluid at a substantially steady rate through transfer by phase change or chemical reaction of said stored heat when said heat source is in said low output range;
- wherein the heat-storing material is substantially free of sensible heat-storing material;
- and
- wherein said heat transferring step includes transferring heat from the high-temperature heat source to the heat-storing material via a seal member separating the high temperature heat source from the space containing the heat-storing material.
A heater for a Stirling engine, comprising:
- a burner housing;
- heater tubes disposed in the burner housing;
- a primary high-temperature heat source providing a variable amount of heat for supplying heat to the heater tubes in the burner housing;
- and
- a heat-storing material directly contacting the heater tubes and contained in a space surrounding the heater tubes, said heat storing material being sealed from said heat source via a seal member disposed between the heat source and the space containing the heat-storing material, heat produced by the high-temperature heat source being supplied to the heater tubes solely through the heat-storing material, the heat-storing material acting as a secondary heat source for supplying stored heat by phase change or chemical reaction to the heater tubes;
- wherein the heat-storing material is substantially free of sensible heat-storing material.
A heater for a Stirling engine, comprising:
- a burner;
- heater tubes disposed in the burner;
- a primary high-temperature heat source for heating the heater tubes wherein said heat source is intermittent solar heat, and a secondary heat source for heating the heater tubes, wherein said secondary heat source is heat-storing material which directly contacts the heater tubes;
- and
- a space formed around the heater tubes in the burner and filled with said heat-storing material, said heat-storing material being sealed from said solar heat source by a seal member, and wherein the heat produced by said solar heat source is supplied to the heater tubes by phase change or chemical reaction solely through said heat-storing material;
- wherein the heat-storing material is substantially free of sensible heat-storing material.
Dependencies are inferred from the claim text.