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StirlingEnginesMechanicalConfigurations
ThemechanicalconfigurationsofStirlingenginesaregenerallydividedintothreegroups
knownastheAlpha,Beta,andGammaarrangements.Alphaengineshavetwopistonsin
separatecylinderswhichareconnectedinseriesbyaheater,regeneratorandcooler.Both
BetaandGammaenginesusedisplacerpistonarrangements,theBetaenginehavingboththe
displacerandthepistoninaninlinecylindersystem,whilsttheGammaengineusesseparate
cylinders.

TheAlphaengineisconceptuallythesimplestStirlingengineconfiguration,howeversuffers
fromthedisadvantagethatboththehotandcoldpistonsneedtohavesealstocontainthe
workinggas.Thereareanumberofmechanicalmechanismswhichenablethistypeofengine
tooperatecorrectlywiththecorrectphasingofthetwopistons.Anexcellentanimationofthe
VtypeAlphaenginedevelopedbyRichardWheeler(Zephyris)ofWikipediaisshown
below:

OneexampleofanAlphaengineistheSolarHeartenginecurrentlyunderadvanced
developmentbyCoolEnergy,IncinBoulder,Colorado.Itisoneofthemajorcomponents
ofacompletesolarheatandpowercogenerationsystemforhomeusageincludingevacuated
tubesolarthermalcollectors,thermalstoragesystems,hotwaterandspaceheaters,andthe
SolarHeartStirlingengine/generator.
AndyRossofColumbus,Ohiohasbeendevelopingsmallairengineswithextremely
innovativeAlphadesigns.HeistheinventoroftheclassicalRossYokedriveengineand
morerecentlyabalanced"RockerV"mechanism,shownbelow.Andyrecentlysentmea
"youtube"videoofhisuniquebalanceddoubleVAlphaenginewhichavoidstheuseofa
heatexchangersectionstretchingacrosstheV.
http://www.ohio.edu/people/urieli/stirling/engines/engines.html

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MattKeveneyhasdoneananimationshowingclearlytheprinciplesofoperationoftheAlpha
StirlingengineusingtheRossyokelinkage.AndyRosshaspublishedanarticleonthe
modelClimaxlocomotivethathebuiltusingasmallRockerVengine,andallowedmeto
maintainacopyofthisarticle"AClassAClimaxLocomotive".
TheAlphaenginecanalsobecompoundedintoacompactmultiplecylinderconfiguration,
enablinganextremelyhighspecificpoweroutput.Aschematicdiagramofthisconfiguration
isshownbelow.Noticethatthefourcylindersareinterconnected,sothattheexpansionspace
ofonecylinderisconnectedtothecompressionspaceoftheadjacentcylinderviaaseries
connectedheater,regeneratorandcooler.Thepistonsaretypicallydrivenbyaswashplate,
http://www.ohio.edu/people/urieli/stirling/engines/engines.html

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resultinginapuresinusoidalreciprocatingmotionhavinga90degreephasedifference
betweentheadjacentpistons.

Oneexampleoftheswashplate4cylinderAlphaengineisshownbelow.Thisenginewas
originallydevelopedbyStirlingThermalMotorsandiscurrentlybeingcontinuedbyStirling
BiopowerofAnnArbor,Michigan.

WhisperTechLimitedinNewZealandhavedevelopedamodernfourpistonAlphaStirling
engineformultipurposepowergenerationapplications,asshownintheiranimateddisplay
http://www.ohio.edu/people/urieli/stirling/engines/engines.html

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oftheuniquewobbleyokedrivethattheyhavedevelopedforthisengine.
AfewyearsagoWilliamBealeofSunpower,Inccameupwithaningeniousconfiguration
combiningafourcylinderfreepistonalphaenginewithagasturbineoutputstage,asshown
inthefollowingschematicdiagram:

Thefourcylindersarephysicallyarrangedwitha90degreephasedifferencewitheachpiston
connectedtoagascompressor.Thegascompressorsarethenusedtodriveagasturbine
expanderasshown.Themainadvantageofthissystemisthepromiseofahighspecific
powerandmostimportant,highreliabilityandliferesultingfromtheabsenceofheavily
loadedmovingparts,sincetherearenosideloadsonanyslidingbearings.
Thesketchshowssingleactinggascompressorsforsimplicity,howevertheactualmachine
usesdoubleactingcompressorssothatthereareeightgaspulsesontheturbineforeachcycle
ofthefourcylindermachine.
http://www.ohio.edu/people/urieli/stirling/engines/engines.html

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OntoBetaEngines,GammaEngines
BacktotheStirlingCycleMachineAnalysishomepage

http://www.ohio.edu/people/urieli/stirling/engines/engines.html

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