Development of a Small 50W Class Stirling Engine

In order to develop a compact and low cost Stirling engine, a gamma type Stirling engine with simple moving-tube-type heat exchangers and a Rhombic mechanism was developed. Its target shaft power is 50 W at engine speed of 4000 rpm and mean pressure of 0.8 MPa using helium as working gas. This paper describes the outline of the engine design and the performance test. The test was done without load, using air in atmospheric condition. Also, a mechanical loss measurement was done in highly pressurized condition, in which the engine was driven by a motor compulsory. Then, methods to get higher performance were considered based on the comparison of experimental and calculated results. The results indicate that a higher performance heat exchanger and decreasing of mechanical loss are needed for the attainment of the target performance