Internally Heated Stirling Engine Piston Heating
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Solution Overview
Problem
The Stirling engine suffers from significant heat loss, low power output, low thermal efficiency, and slow starting due to its external heating method and inability to heat the piston effectively.
Innovation Solution
An internally heated engine design is implemented, where a fixed heating facility and a movable piston heating facility are used within the hot cylinder, allowing for simultaneous two-way heating of the piston, reducing heat loss, and increasing power generation.
Engineering Contradictions & Design Principles
Engineering Contradiction Analysis
1Loss of energy
If external heating method is used in Stirling engine, then structure is simple, but heat loss is large and thermal efficiency is low
Solution Approach 1:
The heating system is segmented into two independent heating facilities: a fixed heating facility and a movable piston heating facility. This segmentation allows each component to be optimized independently, with the fixed facility providing base heating and the movable facility providing supplemental heating where needed, thereby reducing overall heat loss while maintaining manageable system complexity
Solution Approach 2:
The movable piston heating facility is nested within the hot cylinder, with the heating facility arranged on the movable piston inside the fixed heating facility. This nested configuration maximizes the heating area within the limited space of the hot cylinder, improving thermal efficiency without proportionally increasing external system complexity
2Power
If piston is insulated with hollow interlayers, then piston is protected from heat, but heating area is reduced and power output is low
Solution Approach 1:
Instead of insulating the piston to protect it from heat (conventional approach), the invention inverts the approach by actively heating the piston through the movable piston heating facility. This allows the piston to become part of the heating system, increasing the effective heating area and improving power output while managing heat through controlled transfer rather than isolation
Solution Approach 2:
The heating facilities are strategically positioned at specific locations within the hot cylinder - the fixed heating facility at the base and the movable piston heating facility on the piston. This local quality approach concentrates heating where it is most effective, maximizing thermal efficiency and power output in the critical regions of the engine
3Loss of time
If external heating is used, then heating speed is slow, but starting time is long
Solution Approach 1:
The fixed heating facility is activated before the movable piston heating facility, creating a preliminary heating phase that establishes a thermal baseline in the hot cylinder. This preliminary action reduces the time required for subsequent heating operations and accelerates the overall starting process by having the heating system already partially engaged when full power is required
Applied Scientific Principles
This section explains which scientific principles are used to turn an abstract innovation direction into a practical engineering solution.
Function Achieved in This Case
This design enhances thermal efficiency, increases power output, reduces heat loss, and shortens the starting time by effectively utilizing industrial waste heat and engine exhaust waste heat for power generation.
Implementation Method 1
a fixed heating facility and a movable piston heating facility are used within the hot cylinder, allowing for simultaneous two-way heating of the piston
Implementation Method 2
A thermal insulation device is arranged in the hot cylinder, so the heat loss can be reduced
Implementation Method 3
In burning devices arranged in the fixed heating facility and the movable piston heating facility in the hot cylinder, multiple fuels are burned and heated
Data Source
AI summary
An internally heated engine, which comprises a Stirling engine and heating facilities (6, 7); the present engine, by means of altering a means of external heating of the Stirling engine, is provided with said heating facilities (6, 7) in a hot cylinder to push a piston to output power.