Stirling engine

History

Stirling engine was first discovered by Dr. Robert Stirling and patented by him in 1816. In the family of heat engines, Stirling Engines regeneration machine is defined as a closed cycle hot air. In this context, the closed-cycle means that the fluid works are permanently stuck in the system, in which the open-cycle engines such as the internal combustion engine and some steam engines, fluid exchange with the environment works as bagiaan of the work cycle. Regeneration means that the use of an internal heat exchanger, which can improve the efficiency of the engine. There are so many possibilities of using stirling engines, with the majority in the category starting piston engines with reverse. Stirling engine is traditionally classified as an external combustion engine, although heat can be obtained from sources other than combustion such as solar or nuclear. Stirling engine operates through the use of an external heat source and an external heat sink, each guarded in order to have a sufficiently large temperature difference.

Background

In an effort to improve the conversion can be obtained from the change of heat energy into work, stirling engine has the potential to achieve the highest efficiency of all heat engines, theoretically up to a maximum efficiency of Carnot engine, although in practice these efforts continue to be limited by a variety of properties of non-ideal of both working fluid or material from the machine itself, such as friction, thermal conductivity, tensile strength, creep, melting point, etc.. This machine can be operated through a variety of heat sources that can suffice, such as solar, and nuclear chemistry. Compared to internal combustion engines, Stirling engines have the potential to be more efficient, quieter, and easier to maintain.

In recent years, increasing profits Stirling engine, made possible by the increase in energy prices, scarcity of energy resources, to concern about environmental issues such as global warming. Increased interest in the Stirling engine's results with continued increase in research on the Stirling equipment. Applications including water pumping, astronautik, and a power plant to heat sources that are not in accordance with the internal combustion engine such as solar energy. Characteristics of a Stirling engine is another useful mechanical energy supplied if he can operate as a heat pump.