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CONFERENCE
This Conference can provide the opportunity for not only academic
scientific discussion of Stirling engines but also room for technology,
product information exchanges and commercial ventures synergistics.
Those invited to attend will include prominent technical experts,
developers, manufacturers, utility managers, venture capitalists,
investment bankers, research organizations, academic institutions and
government policy makers. Through this Conference we hope all
Stirling engines believers will come together, so worthwhile technology
can obtain funding, investment organization can find their technology
and developers can find their customers.
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that will enhance harmony between man and nature and unity in
diversity among world citizens.
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2 ND INTERNATIONAL
CONFERENCE ON
STIRLING ENGINES
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THE PROMISING FUTURE OF
STIRLING ENGINES IN CHINA
by
Francis C.W. Fung,* Ph.D.
ABSTRACT
Modern Stirling engines have high thermal efficiencies even using hot air as a
working medium. The efficiency of a properly optimized Stirling engine is independent
of the working gas. Although the introduction of lighter gasses can increase the power
density. With their multifuel capability, they can utilize other abundant energy sources
such as coal, biomass, and solar to substitute for precious liquid petroleum. With its
many possible forms and its flexible demand on working pressure, technology, and
material, the Stirling engine is an ideal appropriate technology most adaptable to the
widely varying conditions in China.
In their most simple form, they are low cost alternatives to the diesel engines to
mechanize the Chinese countryside. In the free piston configuration, they are the only
high efficiency, portable, self contained methane gas liquefiers suitable for the small user
with methane as a fuel. They can do all the above utilizing any locally available energy
sources at high thermal efficiencies of 30% or more.
Finally, in the large, low speed coal burning version, the Stirling engine in the 0.5
to 5 MW power range can be substantially more efficient than turbines and non
condensing multiple expansion reciprocating steam engines and be reasonably simple and
compact. They are foreseen as applications for marine propulsion, stationary power,
railway locomotives and heavy, off-highway vehicles used in mining, agriculture,
construction, and forestry.
Modern high density, high efficiency Solar Stirling engines in
large number Clusters are green energy alternatives to nuclear and
fossil power plants.
One day Solar powered high speed surface effect ships will replace
commercial airliners as cost effective ocean transports crossing the
Pacific and Atlantic ocean.
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INTRODUCTION
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efficiency across the nation and to use coal as petroleum substitute is very compelling.
These needs, to conserve energy by science and technology, and to consider alternate
fuels, have been eloquently discussed by many influential Chinese including Wu [Ref. 3].
Although the broad based interest in Stirling engines is yet to materialize, the future of
Stirling engines in China is bright because of its many inherent virtues and the above
compelling needs.
Presently, many leading Stirling advocates in the West, including Beale [Ref. 4],
believe that the Stirling engine is particularly suited for wide spread use as an
“appropriate technology” in the third world. The term, “appropriate technology”, is an
apt description for the Stirling engine here because it is able to use locally available
forms of energy, can be manufactured and maintained by indigenous technology, comes
in small and medium sizes to suit rural needs, and still maintains high thermal efficiency.
[Ref. 5] If necessity is indeed the mother of invention, China will no doubt play an
important role in the world development of the Stirling engine applications in the near
future. Additionally, considering China’s relatively advanced machine building
capability, the availability of vast manpower and materials, and the need for science and
technology to serve the economy, [Ref. 6] it can be predicted with reasonable certainty
that China will become one of the major world Stirling engine manufacturing centers.
Considering the large third world market, China needs to stay ahead in all phases of
Stirling engine technology so as to not loose this important export market to another
advanced or third world country.
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with overall 20% or better thermal efficiency utilizing biomass fuel, can be simple to
construct and easy to maintain. [Ref10] Duplex Stirling engines can liquefy two parts
of methane gas by consuming only one part methane gas as heat energy. [Ref. 11, 12, 13]
Large bored hot air engines with a thermal efficiency in the range of 25 to 30% can use
coal directly for transportation in coal-rich developing countries.
One of the outstanding examples of disproportionate marketing emphasis is the
considerable (and many independent) in the U.S. to transfer European technology to the
U.S. for automobile applications resulting in oil-fired, highly efficient and sophisticated
Stirling engines using helium, instead of air as a working medium. [Ref. 14] Because of
this classical case of disregard of vested interest, economics, human psychology, and
unnecessary technological overkill, this expensive project is not likely to lead to any
success soon. Although the technology transferred to the U.S. is not totally in vain, the
advent of the useful Stirling age, with broad benefits to mankind, is delayed by at least
ten years. On the other hand, if the same efforts were directed towards Stirling engine
Applications in easily implemented, appropriate technologies, the world would be now
benefiting from the efforts, and many advantages of the Stirling engine would be clearly
demonstrated to the world and to China especially.
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SIMPLE, MODERN, HOT AIR STIRLING ENGINES
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world. Now is a good time to catch up in all phases of Stirling engine technology while
the West is still willing to share. It may become too late soon, as the west is now
beginning to cooperate with other third world countries with low labor costs as partners
in producing various Stirling engines for export at an affordable price.
The last ten years saw a great upsurge of Stirling engine research and
development effort as evidenced by the number of papers published yearly in the
proceedings of the Intersociety Energy Conversion Engineering Conference (IECEC). Of
these publications, an increasingly larger percentage is being directed toward the free
piston Stirling engine. This is due to its absence of critical seals and mechanical
simplicity, making it a favored form for many applications including rural electric
generation. Small free piston Stirling engines with linear generators in the 1 – 5 kw
ranges have been built in the U.S. with thermal efficiencies ranging 30 – 35%. [Ref. 9]
When optimized for production, thermal efficiencies are expected to reach 40%. Some of
these small generators, suitable for space or remote area applications, are designed to be
powered by solar collection.
In this free piston form, the Stirling engine generator has additional advantages to
the rural user unmatched by conventional internal combustion engines. These special
advantages are:
- can have a long life with only three moving parts
- absence of lateral mechanical forces so gas bearing can be used throughout
- portable because of the high power density and integral design
- free of any accessories because there is no need for lubrication, carburetion,
and ignition systems
- the whole apparatus, including the generator can be hermetically sealed to be
independent of environment and avoid unskilled tampering.
Because of the above advantages, the free piston Stirling engine generator is ideal
for the countryside where it can get into unskilled hands, be subjected to hostile
environmental conditions such as heavy dust and moisture, be expected to work long and
hard, and yet the only maintenance routine is more likely than not to be the famous kick
so often employed to revive a neglected machine. So, in this form, the Stirling engine
can come close to a permanently sealed, maintenance free, life long package. In
operation, the farmer need only attend to his biomass furnace which is by habit more in
his domain. In the opposite spectrum, paradoxically, all the above niceties plus the dead
silent operation feature, the free piston engine generation also as a most sophisticated
military portable generator. [Ref. 18]
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PORTABLE DUPLEX STIRLING METHANE GAS LIQUEFIER
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LARGE BORED, LOW SPEED, COAL BURNING STIRLING ENGINES
CONCLUSIONS
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REFERENCES
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SOLAR ENERGY
The Sun produces more energy than all of the other known
energy sources combined. More energy from the sun strikes
the Earth in just one hour than all the energy consumed on the
planet in an entire year.
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every day for the next 20 years it would not come close to
meeting the future demand for clean and inexpensive carbon-
free power. In fact, even if we could somehow immediately
produce the maximum amount of the other potential renewable
energy alternatives such as wind (3TW), biomass (6TW),
geothermal (1TW), ocean currents (2TW) and hydroelectric
(1TW) combined – for a total of 12 Terawatts, we would still
have a demand gap of 33 TW by 2100. All of these other
alternative energy sources, combined, can account for only a
small percentage of the future demand for energy.
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it is the equivalent of throwing out the window – one pound or
a12 ounce can packed with carbon ash and pollutants. Oil has
reached $144.00 a barrel and is expected to climb to $200 a
barrel within the next 2 years. Average US regular grade gas
price is $3.96 a gallon and is expected to top $7.00 a gallon in
2 years. Gasoline has already reached $10.00 in Europe.
It is now clear that the burning of fossil fuels (coal, oil and
natural gas) is raising havoc with the environment by creating
an intense or hot greenhouse effect within the earth’s
atmosphere.
Become part of the revolution by transitioning to inexpensive
renewable solar energy and electric or hydrogen vehicles.
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SOLAR
Descriptio SOL
PV STIRLI
n Thermal Through Tower AR 1
Panels NG 2
All-in
$0.12 $0.08
Operating $0.20 Cents Cents
$0.15 Cents (Est.) Cents
Cost per (Est.)
(Est.) (Est.)
kWH
$1-2
$3-4 Hard
Cost Per Hard
Costs TBD TBD Costs
Watt $5-7 With
$2-3 With
Install
Install
Efficiency
(Sun to 10%-15% 15% -20% 29% 33% +
Electricity)
1.5 – 2 Million Gallons per MW or 1 Billion
Water None Gallons per 500 MW plant None None
The SOLAR STIRLING Dish will only become incrementally more and
more profitable as the rates and revenues from electricity sales
continue to escalate, but the costs remain relatively constant. Both
the availability and cost of water will become a critical issue for most
other power plants.
The majority of large scale power plants today (coal, natural gas and
even new solar thermal troughs) consume massive quantities of water
at a significant cost. Most plants use a heat source to boil water to
produce steam that powers a large turbine to generate electricity. A
typical 500 Megawatt plant is estimated to consume up to 3,000 acre
feet or 1 Billion Gallons of water per year. Effluent or treated
wastewater, where available, also carries a cost and is difficult to
obtain in the required massive quantities in dry desert areas where
most thermal trough or tower solar plants would be located.
Natural gas is the predominate fuel of choice for new traditional power
plants. The cost of natural gas has also risen 3-fold over the past
decade and now accounts for approximately ½ or more of the
electricity production cost.
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thus much easier and relatively simple to construct and deploy
compared to the massive and complex centralized boiler/turbine
systems typically used by fossil fuel and thermal trough/tower plants.
The simplicity of the modular field also greatly enhances the systems
expansion ability along with its maintenance requirements and
reliability.
COMPETITION
Photovoltaic Cells or Panels (PV): The most common type of solar
energy is Photovoltaic Cells (or PV Solar Panels). PV solar cells have
been around for years and are primarily used on the roofs of residential
homes and some commercial building applications. Although PV Panels
are now being deployed in large-scale utility-grid solar plants, they are
generally twice as expensive (approximately 18-23 cents per kWH
compared to the Solar Dish and traditional gas fired plants of 8-10
cents per kWH.)
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