IDEAS home Printed from https://ideas.repec.org/a/eee/appene/v263y2020ics0306261920300970.html
   My bibliography  Save this article

Simulation, manufacture and experimental validation of a novel single-acting free-piston Stirling engine electric generator

Author

Listed:
  • de la Bat, B.J.G.
  • Dobson, R.T.
  • Harms, T.M.
  • Bell, A.J.

Abstract

Owing to its high thermal efficiency, fuel flexibility, low vibration and noise, and low emissions, the free-piston Stirling engine has in recent years attracted renewed interest worldwide for uses specifically relating to micro-combined heat and power generation. To aid prospective engine designers with the modelling and analysis of such engines, this paper presents the numerical simulation, manufacture and experimental validation of a free-piston Stirling engine electric generator. The paper firstly presents a 100 W electrical free-piston Stirling engine developed at Stellenbosch University. Secondly, an overview of a fully-explicit, one-dimensional numerical model is given in which both the engine thermodynamic and kinematic behaviours are solved as an initial-value problem. Thirdly, an experiential case study of passive engine operation is presented in which a peak electrical output of between 60 and 70 W was delivered. The obtained experimental data clearly validates the numerical model, with the piston stroke deviating by 2.61%; the piston-displacer phase difference by 12.42%; the workspace indicated power by 15.15%; and the average electrical output power by 23.30%. For future work it is recommended that the validated model be used to develop a more optimised and task-suited engine. The use of an active feedback controller is also recommended so that piston-casing collision can be eliminated.

Suggested Citation

  • de la Bat, B.J.G. & Dobson, R.T. & Harms, T.M. & Bell, A.J., 2020. "Simulation, manufacture and experimental validation of a novel single-acting free-piston Stirling engine electric generator," Applied Energy, Elsevier, vol. 263(C).
    • Handle: RePEc:eee:appene:v:263:y:2020:i:c:s0306261920300970
    DOI: 10.1016/j.apenergy.2020.114585
    as

    Download full text from publisher

    File URL: http://www.sciencedirect.com/science/article/pii/S0306261920300970
    Download Restriction: Full text for ScienceDirect subscribers only
    File URL: https://libkey.io/10.1016/j.apenergy.2020.114585?utm_source=ideas
    LibKey link: if access is restricted and if your library uses this service, LibKey will redirect you to where you can use your library subscription to access this item
    ---><---

    As the access to this document is restricted, you may want to search for a different version of it.

    References listed on IDEAS

    as
    1. Carrillo Caballero, Gaylord Enrique & Mendoza, Luis Sebastian & Martinez, Arnaldo Martin & Silva, Electo Eduardo & Melian, Vladimir Rafael & Venturini, Osvaldo José & del Olmo, Oscar Almazán, 2017. "Optimization of a Dish Stirling system working with DIR-type receiver using multi-objective techniques," Applied Energy, Elsevier, vol. 204(C), pages 271-286.
    2. Tavakolpour-Saleh, A.R. & Zare, SH. & Bahreman, H., 2017. "A novel active free piston Stirling engine: Modeling, development, and experiment," Applied Energy, Elsevier, vol. 199(C), pages 400-415.
    3. Karabulut, Halit, 2011. "Dynamic analysis of a free piston Stirling engine working with closed and open thermodynamic cycles," Renewable Energy, Elsevier, vol. 36(6), pages 1704-1709.
    4. Skorek-Osikowska, Anna & Remiorz, Leszek & Bartela, Łukasz & Kotowicz, Janusz, 2017. "Potential for the use of micro-cogeneration prosumer systems based on the Stirling engine with an example in the Polish market," Energy, Elsevier, vol. 133(C), pages 46-61.
    5. Ahmadi, Mohammad H. & Ahmadi, Mohammad-Ali & Pourfayaz, Fathollah, 2017. "Thermal models for analysis of performance of Stirling engine: A review," Renewable and Sustainable Energy Reviews, Elsevier, vol. 68(P1), pages 168-184.
    6. Qiu, Songgang & Gao, Yuan & Rinker, Garrett & Yanaga, Koji, 2019. "Development of an advanced free-piston Stirling engine for micro combined heating and power application," Applied Energy, Elsevier, vol. 235(C), pages 987-1000.
    7. Murugan, S. & Horák, Bohumil, 2016. "A review of micro combined heat and power systems for residential applications," Renewable and Sustainable Energy Reviews, Elsevier, vol. 64(C), pages 144-162.
    8. Wang, Kai & Dubey, Swapnil & Choo, Fook Hoong & Duan, Fei, 2016. "A transient one-dimensional numerical model for kinetic Stirling engine," Applied Energy, Elsevier, vol. 183(C), pages 775-790.
    Full references (including those not matched with items on IDEAS)

    Citations

    Citations are extracted by the CitEc Project, subscribe to its RSS feed for this item.
    as


    Cited by:

    1. Carmela Perozziello & Lavinia Grosu & Bianca Maria Vaglieco, 2021. "Free-Piston Stirling Engine Technologies and Models: A Review," Energies, MDPI, vol. 14(21), pages 1-22, October.
    2. Chin-Hsiang Cheng & Surender Dhanasekaran, 2021. "Numerical Analysis and Parametric Study of a 7 kW Tubular Permanent Magnet Linear Alternator," Sustainability, MDPI, vol. 13(13), pages 1-15, June.
    3. Ahmed, Fawad & Zhu, Shunmin & Yu, Guoyao & Luo, Ercang, 2022. "A potent numerical model coupled with multi-objective NSGA-II algorithm for the optimal design of Stirling engine," Energy, Elsevier, vol. 247(C).
    4. Masoumi, A.P. & Tavakolpour-Saleh, A.R. & Rahideh, A., 2020. "Applying a genetic-fuzzy control scheme to an active free piston Stirling engine: Design and experiment," Applied Energy, Elsevier, vol. 268(C).
    5. Zare, Shahryar & Tavakolpour-saleh, A.R. & Aghahosseini, A. & Sangdani, M.H. & Mirshekari, Reza, 2021. "Design and optimization of Stirling engines using soft computing methods: A review," Applied Energy, Elsevier, vol. 283(C).
    6. Xiao, Gang & Qiu, Hao & Wang, Kai & Wang, Jintao, 2021. "Working mechanism and characteristics of gas parcels in the Stirling cycle," Energy, Elsevier, vol. 229(C).
    7. Chin-Hsiang Cheng & Surender Dhanasekaran, 2022. "Design of a Slot-Spaced Permanent Magnet Linear Alternator Based on Numerical Analysis," Energies, MDPI, vol. 15(13), pages 1-22, June.
    8. Uchman, Wojciech & Kotowicz, Janusz & Li, Kin Fun, 2021. "Evaluation of a micro-cogeneration unit with integrated electrical energy storage for residential application," Applied Energy, Elsevier, vol. 282(PA).
    9. Chen, Pengfan & Yang, Peng & Liu, Liu & Liu, Yingwen, 2021. "Parametric investigation of the phase characteristics of a beta-type free piston Stirling engine based on a thermodynamic-dynamic coupled model," Energy, Elsevier, vol. 219(C).
    10. Guillermo Salinas & Juan A. Serrano-Vargas & Javier Muñoz-Antón & Pedro Alou, 2021. "Thermal Resistance Matrix Extraction from Finite-Element Analysis for High-Frequency Magnetic Components," Energies, MDPI, vol. 14(11), pages 1-14, May.
    11. Qiu, Hao & Wang, Kai & Yu, Peifeng & Ni, Mingjiang & Xiao, Gang, 2021. "A third-order numerical model and transient characterization of a β-type Stirling engine," Energy, Elsevier, vol. 222(C).

    Most related items

    These are the items that most often cite the same works as this one and are cited by the same works as this one.
    1. Wojciech Uchman & Janusz Kotowicz & Leszek Remiorz, 2020. "An Experimental Data-Driven Model of a Micro-Cogeneration Installation for Time-Domain Simulation and System Analysis," Energies, MDPI, vol. 13(11), pages 1-26, June.
    2. de la Bat, B.J.G. & Harms, T.M. & Dobson, R.T. & Bell, A.J., 2020. "Derivation and numerical case study of a one-dimensional, compressible-flow model of a novel free-piston Stirling engine," Energy, Elsevier, vol. 199(C).
    3. Remiorz, Leszek & Kotowicz, Janusz & Uchman, Wojciech, 2018. "Comparative assessment of the effectiveness of a free-piston Stirling engine-based micro-cogeneration unit and a heat pump," Energy, Elsevier, vol. 148(C), pages 134-147.
    4. Carmela Perozziello & Lavinia Grosu & Bianca Maria Vaglieco, 2021. "Free-Piston Stirling Engine Technologies and Models: A Review," Energies, MDPI, vol. 14(21), pages 1-22, October.
    5. Chahartaghi, Mahmood & Sheykhi, Mohammad, 2019. "Energy, environmental and economic evaluations of a CCHP system driven by Stirling engine with helium and hydrogen as working gases," Energy, Elsevier, vol. 174(C), pages 1251-1266.
    6. Uchman, Wojciech & Kotowicz, Janusz & Li, Kin Fun, 2021. "Evaluation of a micro-cogeneration unit with integrated electrical energy storage for residential application," Applied Energy, Elsevier, vol. 282(PA).
    7. Masoumi, A.P. & Tavakolpour-Saleh, A.R., 2020. "Experimental assessment of damping and heat transfer coefficients in an active free piston Stirling engine using genetic algorithm," Energy, Elsevier, vol. 195(C).
    8. Zhu, Shunmin & Yu, Guoyao & O, Jongmin & Xu, Tao & Wu, Zhanghua & Dai, Wei & Luo, Ercang, 2018. "Modeling and experimental investigation of a free-piston Stirling engine-based micro-combined heat and power system," Applied Energy, Elsevier, vol. 226(C), pages 522-533.
    9. Zare, Shahryar & Tavakolpour-saleh, A.R. & Aghahosseini, A. & Sangdani, M.H. & Mirshekari, Reza, 2021. "Design and optimization of Stirling engines using soft computing methods: A review," Applied Energy, Elsevier, vol. 283(C).
    10. Zhu, Shunmin & Yu, Guoyao & Liang, Kun & Dai, Wei & Luo, Ercang, 2021. "A review of Stirling-engine-based combined heat and power technology," Applied Energy, Elsevier, vol. 294(C).
    11. Yousefzadeh, H. & Tavakolpour-Saleh, A.R., 2021. "A novel unified dynamic-thermodynamic method for estimating damping and predicting performance of kinematic Stirling engines," Energy, Elsevier, vol. 224(C).
    12. Jose Egas & Don M. Clucas, 2018. "Stirling Engine Configuration Selection," Energies, MDPI, vol. 11(3), pages 1-22, March.
    13. Tavakolpour-Saleh, A.R. & Zare, SH. & Bahreman, H., 2017. "A novel active free piston Stirling engine: Modeling, development, and experiment," Applied Energy, Elsevier, vol. 199(C), pages 400-415.
    14. Jiang, Han & Xi, Zhongli & A. Rahman, Anas & Zhang, Xiaoqing, 2020. "Prediction of output power with artificial neural network using extended datasets for Stirling engines," Applied Energy, Elsevier, vol. 271(C).
    15. Skorek-Osikowska, Anna & Kotowicz, Janusz & Uchman, Wojciech, 2017. "Thermodynamic assessment of the operation of a self-sufficient, biomass based district heating system integrated with a Stirling engine and biomass gasification," Energy, Elsevier, vol. 141(C), pages 1764-1778.
    16. Chen, Pengfan & Yang, Peng & Liu, Liu & Liu, Yingwen, 2021. "Parametric investigation of the phase characteristics of a beta-type free piston Stirling engine based on a thermodynamic-dynamic coupled model," Energy, Elsevier, vol. 219(C).
    17. Zare, Shahryar & Tavakolpour-Saleh, A.R. & Binazadeh, T., 2023. "Analytical investigation of free piston Stirling engines using practical stability method," Chaos, Solitons & Fractals, Elsevier, vol. 167(C).
    18. Kotowicz, Janusz & Uchman, Wojciech, 2021. "Analysis of the integrated energy system in residential scale: Photovoltaics, micro-cogeneration and electrical energy storage," Energy, Elsevier, vol. 227(C).
    19. Zare, Shahryar & Tavakolpour-Saleh, A.R., 2020. "Predicting onset conditions of a free piston Stirling engine," Applied Energy, Elsevier, vol. 262(C).
    20. Qiu, Songgang & Gao, Yuan & Rinker, Garrett & Yanaga, Koji, 2019. "Development of an advanced free-piston Stirling engine for micro combined heating and power application," Applied Energy, Elsevier, vol. 235(C), pages 987-1000.

    Corrections

    All material on this site has been provided by the respective publishers and authors. You can help correct errors and omissions. When requesting a correction, please mention this item's handle: RePEc:eee:appene:v:263:y:2020:i:c:s0306261920300970. See general information about how to correct material in RePEc.

    If you have authored this item and are not yet registered with RePEc, we encourage you to do it here. This allows to link your profile to this item. It also allows you to accept potential citations to this item that we are uncertain about.

    If CitEc recognized a bibliographic reference but did not link an item in RePEc to it, you can help with this form .

    If you know of missing items citing this one, you can help us creating those links by adding the relevant references in the same way as above, for each refering item. If you are a registered author of this item, you may also want to check the "citations" tab in your RePEc Author Service profile, as there may be some citations waiting for confirmation.

    For technical questions regarding this item, or to correct its authors, title, abstract, bibliographic or download information, contact: Catherine Liu (email available below). General contact details of provider: http://www.elsevier.com/wps/find/journaldescription.cws_home/405891/description#description .

    Please note that corrections may take a couple of weeks to filter through the various RePEc services.

    IDEAS is a RePEc service. RePEc uses bibliographic data supplied by the respective publishers.