Energy generating system
AssigneeDaimler-Benz Aerospace Airbus GmbH
InventorDietrich Ehrig
Life of this patent
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Abstract
In an energy generating system, which is preferably suitable for satellites and space stations, a total of four Stirling engines are assembled together into a cross-shaped unit, at the center of which is arranged a cross-gear drive that is acted upon by the pistons of the Stirling engines. The heaters of the Stirling engines are impinged upon by solar energy. The incident sun's rays either are guided by a radiation trap that is arranged in the center of a collector onto an umbrella-shaped tubular heating heat exchanger, or are absorbed by disk collectors that are arranged inside a fusion heat reservoir.
Claims20
An energy generating system comprising a Stirling engine and a radiant heat absorber arrangement coupled to said Stirling engine, wherein said Stirling engine includes a plurality of heaters, wherein said heat absorber arrangement comprises a tubular heat exchanger that is arranged to receive radiant energy and that comprises a plurality of tubes arranged to form a spiral flow pattern, and wherein said plurality of heaters is combined together to form said tubular heat exchanger.
An energy generating system comprising a Stirling engine and a radiant heat absorber arrangement coupled to said Stirling engine, wherein said Stirling engine includes a plurality of heaters, and said heat absorber arrangement comprises a plurality of disk collectors connected with said heaters.
An energy generating system comprising a Stirling engine including a plurality of working cylinders arranged around a central axis, a respective piston arranged in each of said cylinders so as to divide each of said cylinders into a hot chamber and a cold chamber, a respective cooler and a respective regenerator and a respective heater arranged in successive flow communication between said cold chamber of each respective one of said cylinders and said hot chamber of a next adjacent one of said cylinders, wherein each said heater comprises a plurality of flow-parallel heat exchange tubes arranged and adapted to receive incident radiant energy and grouped substantially in a respective one of a plurality of spherical sectors corresponding to said plurality of working cylinders.
Dependencies are inferred from the claim text.