On designing low pressure loss working spaces for a planar Stirling micromachine

In this paper, research was undertaken with the objective to design low pressure loss working spaces for a Stirling cycle micro heat engine operating from low temperature waste heat. This planar free-piston heat engine is anticipated to operate at the kHz level with mm3 displacement. Given the reson...

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Bibliographic Details
Published in:Journal of physics. Conference series 2015-12, Vol.660 (1), p.12138
Main Authors: Hachey, M-A, Léveillé, É, Fréchette, L G, Formosa, F
Format: Article
Language:English
Subjects:
Complexity
Configurations
Experimentation
Flow geometry
Frequency analysis
Heat engines
Low pressure
Low temperature
Physics
Pressure loss
Prototyping
Stirling cycle
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Summary:In this paper, research was undertaken with the objective to design low pressure loss working spaces for a Stirling cycle micro heat engine operating from low temperature waste heat. This planar free-piston heat engine is anticipated to operate at the kHz level with mm3 displacement. Given the resonant nature of the free-piston configuration, the complexity of its working gas' flow geometry and its projected high operating frequency, flow analysis is relatively complex. Design considerations were thus based on fast prototyping and experimentation. Results show that geometrical features, such as a sharp 90° corner between the regenerator and working spaces, are strong contributors to pressure losses. This research culminated into a promising revised working space configuration for engine start-up, as it considerably reduced total pressure losses, more than 80% at Re = 700, from the original design.
ISSN:1742-6588
1742-6596
DOI:10.1088/1742-6596/660/1/012138