There are many sources of free energy available in the form of heat that is often simply wasted for want of an effective way to convert it into useful energy such as electricity. The aim of this research project is to design and build a low temperature differential Stirling engine capable of generating electric power from heat sources such as waste hot water or geothermal springs. The engine that has been developed is a research prototype model of a new type of design featuring a rotating displacer which is actuated by a pair of stepper motors. The rotating displacer design enables the use of readily available and comparatively cheap and robust steam pipe as the housing for the engine, and it also avoids problems associated with sealing and heat exchange that would be present in a large engine of a more traditional configuration. Owing to the fact that this engine is a research prototype, it has the ability to have some of its critical operating parameters such as phase angle and stroke length adjusted to investigate the effects on performance. When the next phase of development takes place most of these parameters will be fixed at the optimum values which will make manufacture cheaper and easier. Unfortunately, construction of the prototype engine has not been completed at the time of writing so no power producing results have been achieved; however thorough results are presented on the operation of the control system for the stepper motors which actuate the displacer. Additionally, after a thorough history and background of Stirling engines was researched, the understanding gained of how these engines work has enabled a design process to take place which has hopefully led to a successful design. Analysis of various aspects of the engine have been carried out and results look promising for the engine to produce around 500 Watts of electrical power output whilst running on hot water up to around 90°C.

Η παρούσα διπλωματική εργασία έχει ως θέμα τον ευφυή έλεγχο μιας μηχανής Stirling χαμηλής θερμοκρασιακής διαφοράς, με στόχο την πρακτική εφαρμογή σε οικιακούς καταναλωτές για την παραγωγή ηλεκτρικής ενέργειας. Έγινε διασύνδεση μιας σειρά αισθητήρων (μέτρηση θερμοκρασίας) και επενεργητών (αντλίες) σε ένα πρωτότυπο σύστημα, έτσι ώστε να προσομοιωθεί κατά το καλύτερο δυνατό τρόπο η λειτουργία της αύξησης της θερμοκρασίας του υγρού σε ένα ηλιακό θερμοσίφωνα και της τυπικής οικιακής ημερήσιας κατανάλωσης. Με βάση αυτό το πρότυπο παραγωγής και κατανάλωσης ενέργειας διαμορφώθηκε ένας ευριστικός έλεγχος έτσι ώστε να παραχθεί η περισσότερη ηλεκτρική ενέργεια χωρίς να παραβιασθούν μία σειρά από περιορισμούς που αφορούν στην χρήση του ηλιακού θερμοσίφωνα. Πειραματικά αποτελέσματα επιβεβαιώνουν την αποτελεσματικότητα της μηχανής Stirling και την ανάγκη προσαρμοστικοτητας της λειτουργίας της έτσι ώστε να ανταποκρίνεται στις ιδιάζουσες ανάγκες της κάθε οικογένειας. / This thesis is on the intelligent control of a Stirling engine with a low temperature difference in order to practice residential consumers for electricity production. An interface of a series of sensors (temperature measurement) and actuators (pumps) became in a prototype system in order to simulate as best as possible the function of warming the liquid in a solar water heater and the standard daily household consumption. Under this model of production and consumption was a Heuristic control order to generate more electricity without having violated a number of restrictions on the use of solar water heater. Experimental results confirm the effectiveness of the Stirling engine and the need for adaptability of its operation to meet the specific needs of each family.

Thesis (MSc)--Stellenbosch University, 2015. / ENGLISH ABSTRACT: The design optimisation of a linear oscillatory electric generator for application in freepiston Stirling engines is described in this thesis. A basic overview of free-piston Stirling engine technology is given by firstly providing a brief description of the operation of the heat engine. The applications of free-piston Stirling engines in industry are given and the proposed future applications are described. Different types of electrical machine designs from industry and academia are evaluated in a literature study. A classification structure is also proposed based on the magnetic flux variation within the designs. Based on the literature study, a transverse flux, single-phase, moving magnet, tubular topology was chosen for investigation. Athree dimensional finite element simulation was chosen as the most appropriatemethod to model the linear electrical machine. A commercial simulation package was called from a simulation script and the outputs from the finite element simulation were again used to calculate the electrical machine performance parameters using the instantaneous voltageand current values. A sequential quadratic programming algorithm was used to perform optimisation of the machine topologies, with the optimisation variables being dimensional parameters that describe the machine geometry and the goal of the optimisation to minimise the active mass of the machine, while maintaining preset minima for the output power and the efficiency. The machine was optimised for a number of different translator configurations and the different configurations were analysed and compared. It was found that a quasi-Halbach arrangement of the permanent magnets yielded the lowest overall active mass. A comparative study is also presented, where this quasi-Halbach variant is compared to a commercial machine. It was found that the linear machine design with a quasi-Halbach arrangement compares well with the commercial machine. A prototype and test bed was designed and constructed. Due to manufacuring difficulties however, the machine could not be completed in time for testing. / AFRIKAANSE OPSOMMING: Die ontwerpsoptimering van ’n lineêre ossillerende elektriese generator vir toepassing in vrysuier Stirling enjins word beskryf in hierdie tesis. ’n Basiese oorsig van vrysuier Stirling enjin tegnologie word gegee deur eerstens ’n kort beskrywing te gee van die werking van die hitte-enjin. Die aanwending van vrysuier Stirling enjins in industrie word gegee en voorgestelde toekomstige toepassings word beskryf. Verskillende tipes elektriese masjien ontwerpe vanuit die industrie en die akademie word geëvalueer in ’n literatuurstudie. ’n Klassifiseringstruktuur, gebaseer op die magnetiese vloedverandering in die ontwerpe, word ook voorgestel. ’n Transverse vloed, enkelfase, bewegende magneet, tubulêre topologie is gekies vir die ondersoek, gebaseer op die onder andere die literatuurstudie. ’n Drie-dimensionele eindige element simulasie is gekies as die mees geskikte metode om die lineêre elektriese masjien te modelleer. ’n Kommersiële simulasie pakket is deur middel van ’n simulasie skrip geroep en die uitsette vanaf die eindige element simulasie is weer gebruik om die werksverrigtingsparameters van die elektriese masjien te bereken deur gebruik te maak van die oomblikswaardes van die spanning en stroom. ’n Sekwensiële kwadratiese programmering algoritme is gebruik om optimering van die masjien topologieë te doen, met die dimensionele parameters wat die masjien geometrie beskryf as die optimeringsveranderlikes en doel van die optimering om die aktiewe massa van die masjien te minimeer, terwyl die uitsetdrywing en die benuttingsgraad by voorafgestelde minima gehou word. Die masjien is geoptimeer vir verskeie translator konfigurasies en die verskillende konfigurasies is geanaliseer en vergelyk. Dit is bevind dat ’n kwasi-Halbach skikking van die permanente magnete die laagste totale aktiewe massa gelewer het. ’n Vergelykende studie is ook aangebied, waar die kwasi-Halbach variant vergelyk is met ’n kommersiële masjien. Dit is bevind dat die lineêre masjien met die kwasi-Halbach skikking baie goed vergelyk met die kommersiële masjien. ’n Prototiepe masjien en toetsopstelling is ontwerp en aan mekaar gesit. Maar as gevolg van vervaardigbaarheids tekortkominge kon toetse op die prototiepe nie betyds gedoen word nie.

This dissertation discusses Stirling’s cycle and its contribution using different approaches. There are calculation of Schmidt’s theory and distinctiveness between ideal and real cycle described. Based on my previous research, this work provides a detailed summary of different methods which are used to stimulate Stirling’s cycles as well as the motor as a whole. Attention is particularly dedicated to current utilization of this machine which is not broadly known within general public.

This thesis describes the design chain to indicate the measuring cylinder Stirling engine. It describes the practical problems of measurement methodology and highlights the possible pitfalls of the measuring chain. For measuring the use of pre-existing model of gamma Stirling engine modification. It was carried out systematic measurement and evaluation of measured data. As a mathematical model for comparison with the measured data was used ideal cycle and Schmidt theory.

Sundsvall Energi har ansvaret för den gamla deponin på Blåbergets avfallsanläggning strax västerut från Sundsvall. Mellan slutet av 1960-talet fram till och med 2008 har ca 2 miljoner ton avfall deponerats. Från denna deponi har det under en längre tid producerats stora mängder deponigas. Deponigasen har tidigare använts i en hetvattenpanna vid Nacksta och tillfört värme till fjärrvärmesystemet. På grund av ineffektiv drift och minskande metaninnehåll i deponigasen stoppades transporten av deponigas till Nacksta 2013. Därefter har deponigasen enbart använts för fackling vilket innebär att deponigasen förbränns i en gasfackla. Enligt bestämmelser måste deponigas behandlas och användas för exempelvis energiutvinning eftersom innehållet i deponigasen har en kraftig växthuseffekt då gasen består av ca 40–60 % metan och 30–50 % koldioxid. Metan har en 28 gånger högre potential för global uppvärmning jämfört med koldioxid över en 100-årsperiod. I detta examensarbete har syftet varit att undersöka vilka möjligheter som finns för att ta vara på deponigasens energiinnehåll och därmed föreslå ett tekniskt alternativ gentemot enbart fackling av deponigasen. Dessutom har arbetet som syfte att beskriva den miljömässiga- och ekonomiska nyttan. Arbetet har utförts genom att energiinnehållet har tagits fram genom formler och antaganden samt att värmebehovet och uppskattningen av investeringskostnaden tagits fram. Nuvärdesmetoden och PayOffmetoden använts i samband ekonomiberäkningen i arbetet. Värmebehovet på anläggningen fick styra över hur mycket effekt som värmekällan bör ha för att klara högsta årsbehovet. Examensarbetet resulterade i att det mest lämpliga teknikalternativet, nämligen Stirlingmotorn, användes i detta arbete. På grund av ogynnsamma förutsättningar för att täcka värmebehovet på anläggningen har antagandet gjorts att den producerade värmen i stället gör miljönytta genom att tillföra värme till en av lakvattendammarna. Den producerade elen beräknades ha en täckningsgrad på ca 19 % av totala energiförbrukningen på anläggningen. Lönsamhetskalkylerna visar att lönsamheten för en eventuell investering blir ogynnsam vid låga elpriser samt vid låga metanhalter. Dock blir lönsamheten lämpligare vid höga elpriser och lägre investeringskostnader. Dessutom kunde det konstateras att lönsamheten blir betydligt gynnsammare om värmeproduktionen skulle ha nyttiggjorts samtidigt som elproduktionen. / Sundsvall Energi is responsible for taking care of the old landfill at  Blåberget waste facility west of Sundsvall. Between the end of the 1960s to year 2008, about 2 million tons of waste were deposit at the landfill. Large amounts of landfill gas have been produced at this landfill over the years. The landfill gas has previously been burned in a boiler at Nacksta and therefore added some heat to the district heating system. Due to inefficiency and declining methane content in the landfill gas, the distribution of landfill gas to Nacksta ended in 2013. Since then, the landfill gas has only been torched at the landfill site. Since the landfill gas has a strong greenhouse effect and due to regulations, the landfill gas must be treated and used for, as an example, energy utilization. Methane has a 28 times higher contribution risk to global warming compared to carbon dioxide over a 100-year period. In this project, the purpose has been to investigate what opportunities there are to utilize the energy content in the landfill gas and by that suggest an alternative instead of just torching the landfill gas. Additionally, the further purpose with the project is to describe the  environmental and economic benefits of the solution. The work has been done by determine the energy content by using formulas and assumptions. In addition, the heat demand for the landfill site as well as the estimation of investment cost was determined. The NPV and the Pay-Off was used in the economic calculations. The heat demand of the landfill site was the deciding factor of how much power the technical alternative should have to meet the highest annual heat demand. The project resulted in the fact that the most suitable technical alternative, namely the Stirling engine, became the technical choice in this work. Due to unfavorable conditions for the heat production from the Stirling engines at the plant, the assumption was made that the produced heat instead got  to supply heat to one of the leachate ponds. The electricity produced was calculated to meet around 19% of the total energy consumption at the landfill site. The economical estimates showed that the profitability of an eventual investment becomes unfavorable at low electricity prices and at low methane contents. However, the investment becomes far more profitable at high electricity prices and at lower investment costs. In addition, the results showed that profitability would be far more favorable if the produced heat had been utilized for property heating simultaneously as the electricity got produced.

No description available.

No description available.

Large amounts of energy from heat sources such as waste-eat and geothermal energy are available worldwide but their potential for useful power-generation is largely untapped. This is because they are relatively low temperature difference (LTD) sources, in the range from 100 to 200 °C, and it is thermodynamically diffcult, for theoretical and practical reasons, to extract useful work at these temperatures. This work explores the suitability of a Stirling engine (SE) to exploit these heat sources. Elsewhere much work has been done to optimise Stirling engines for high temperature heat sources, but little is known about suitable engine layouts, and their optimal design and operational aspects at lower temperature differences. With the reduced temperature difference, changes from conventional engine designs become necessary and robust solutions for this novel application have to be identified. This has been achieved in four major steps: identification of a suitable engine type; thermodynamic optimisation of operating and engine parameters; optimisation of mechanical efficiency; and the development of conceptual designs for the engine and its components informed by the preceding analysis. For the optimisation of engine and operating parameters a model was set up in the commercial Stirling software package, Sage, which also has been validated in this thesis; suitable parameter combinations have been identified. This work makes key contributions in several areas. This first is the identification of methods for better simulating the thermodynamic behaviour of these engines. At low temperature differences the performance of Stirling engines is very sensitive to losses by fluid friction (and thus frequency), adiabatic temperature rise during compression, and the heat transfer from and to the surroundings. Consequently the usual isothermal analytical approaches produce results that can be misleading. It is necessary to use a non-isothermal approach, and the work shows how this may be achieved. A second contribution is the identification of the important design variables and their causal effects on system performance. The primary design variable is engine layout. For an engine having inherently low efficiency due to the low temperature difference it is important to choose the engine layout that provides the highest power density possible in order to minimise engine size and to save costs. From this analysis the double-acting alpha-type configuration has been identified as being the most suitable, as opposed to the beta or gamma configurations. An-other key design variable is working fluid, and the results identify helium and hydrogen as suitable, and air and nitrogen as unsuitable. Frequency and phase angle are other design variables, and the work identifies favourable values. A sensitivity analysis identifies the phase angle, regenerator porosity, and temperature levels as the most sensitive parameters for power and efficiency. It has also been shown that the compression work in low-temperature difference Stirling engines is of similar magnitude as the expansion work. By compounding suitable working spaces on one piston the net forces on the piston rod can be reduced significantly. In double-acting alpha-engines this can be achieved by choosing the Siemens as opposed to the Franchot arrangement. As a result friction and piston seal leakage which are two important loss mechanisms are reduced significantly and longevity and mechanical efficiency is enhanced. Design implications are identified for various components, including pistons, seals, heat exchangers, regenerator, power extraction, and crankcase. The peculiarities of the heat source are also taken into account in these design recommendations. A third key contribution is the extraction of novel insights from the modelling process. For the heat exchangers it has been shown that the hot and cold heat exchangers can be identical in their design without any negative impact on performance for the low-temperature difference situation. In comparison the high temperature applications invariably require different materials and designs for the two heat exchangers. Also, frequency and phase angle are found to be quite different (lower frequency and higher phase angle) from the optimum parameters found in high temperature engines. Contrary to common belief the role of dead volume has been found to play a crucial and not necessary detrimental role at low temperature differentials. Taken together, the work is positioned at the intersection of thermodynamic analysis and engineering design, for the challenging area of Stirling engines at low temperature differences. The work extracts thermodynamic insights and extends these into design implications. Together these help create a robust theoretical and design foundation for further research and development in the important area of energy recovery.

Voir résumé étendu en français en fin de thèse. / In the actual energetic and economic context, energy polygeneration represents the answer regarding the efficient use of a fuel. This solution would diminish the losses associated to the classical methods of energy production and, as a result, would increase the installations' efficiency. The polygeneration systems (cogeneration/trigeneration of energy), consist of various technologies that offer alternatives to the global problems linked to energy, such as energy scarcity, energy supply security, emissions control from the production of energy, economy and energy conservation, etc.. This doctoral thesis examines two types of polygeneration of energy. The first part focuses on the analysis of a high power trigeneration system based on a gas turbine installation for production of electrical energy, the second part of the thesis is dealing with a system of micro-cogeneration of energy powered by a solar Stirling engine. Given the actuality and interest for the polygeneration field of energy production, there is a constant concern to simulate and optimize the operation of this kind of systems in order to achieve significant performance designed to satisfy the consumers' needs