Stirlingengineforum.com

Hello, I am new here. I have to make a project of a Stirling engine for my BSc thesis. However i have never studied that kind of motor and my professor did give as any information on that topic (I am not mechanical engineer, I study energetics). So i read a lot of information on the internet but it seems that i have no starting point. So far i have this algorithm:

1) Define the output power (let's say 100W)
2) Define the heater temperature (let's say 800K)
3) Chose a Beale number (~0.0016)
4) Chose a frequency of 50Hz ( 50 because I need it for electrical energy supply)
5) Define the pressure
6) Vine the swept volume (V=P/(p*Be*f); where V=volume, P=power,p=pressure,Be=Beale number and f=frequency)
7) Calculate the diameter of the cylinder

My first problem is that I'm not sure what pressure i should use, is it the mean pressure of the ideal cycle and if so, how do i calculate it. It is a function of the swept volume (which i want to calculate through the pressure)?If not, what do I do?

Note that I am not even sure in the steps. I mean, that my first ever and i don't have any knowledge on the subject but we have to design an engine for 2 moths.

Any help will be appreciated!

Thank you

DPM, do you have to design, and build the engine in 2 months? Have you got a well equipped machine shop, and a reasonable large budget? There are about as many ways of building a Stirling Engine as there are Stirling Engines. I build my atmospheric motors from scrap with a limited amount of bought in material, 5W at the generator is the most I have obtained, near enough to 10W at the crankshaft, That motor is in my gallery, the large vertical one with 4 legs, it has a bore of 2 1/4" and a stroke of 1 1/4" and is a BETA type motor. Ian S C

I don't have to biuld the fisical model, just have to bring the the paper work and the CAD model. But i'm still in crysis.

Sorry can't help much, my design work is done in my head, and on scraps of paper. Best wishes with your project, it sounds quite ambitious, the main thing I see is taking the appropriate proportions, and combine them in a practical mechanical design. Most of the work I would see as researching other designs of machines, and choosing the best of maybe a number of them.