Cooling performance measurement of the reverse application of a coaxial free-piston Stirling engine

作者:Huang, Yonghua*; Wang, Bin; Cheng, Lu; Wu, Jingyi; Wang, Ruzhu
来源:Science and Technology for the Built Environment, 2016, 22(5): 556-564.
DOI:10.1080/23744731.2016.1186461

摘要

The free-piston Stirling machine has been used as either thermal engine, cryocooler, or heat pump, due to its compact structure, high efficiency, and reliability. A compact engine-refrigerator dual-functional coaxial free-piston Stirling engine was designed and fabricated. It could output 1000W electricity power with a conversation rate of 20%, when the hot end was heated up to 530 degrees C and the cold end cooled by water which was heated from room temperature to 65 degrees C. The engine was reversely operated as a refrigerator without any modification, and its cooling performance was measured at different input power. The results indicate that, a none-load cooling temperature 142.4K was obtained at a maximum power supply voltage of 300 VAC (50Hz), and 193.1K was reached at a minimum input power of 60 VAC (50Hz). For a nominal power supply 220 VAC@50Hz (i.e., 716.8W), the cooling power increases from 2.4 to 276W when the temperature at the cold head changes from 156.6 to 203K. The relative Carnot coefficient of performance of the Stirling unit as a cooler is 18.6% at 203K.