System safety in Stirling engine development
The Department of Energy has established a number of broad programs aimed at reducing highway fuel consumption. One of the programs addresses the Stirling engine propulsion system as a possible alternative to the conventional spark-ignition engine. The objective of this program is the development, by 1984, of a Stirling engine system having at least 30% improvement in fuel economy (mpg) over production vehicles powered by conventional spark-ignition engines of the same weight and performance, based on equal BTU content of fuel used. The DOE/NASA Stirling Engine Project Office has required that contractors make safety considerations an integral part of all phases of the Stirling engine development program. As an integral part of each engine design subtask, analyses are being evolved to determine possible modes of failure. The accepted system safety analysis techniques (Fault Tree, FMEA, Hazards Analysis, etc.) are being applied in various degrees of extent at the system, subsystem and component levels. The primary objectives are to identify critical failure areas, to enable removal of susceptibility to such failures or their effects from the system and to minimize risk.
- Research Organization:
- National Aeronautics and Space Administration, Cleveland, OH (USA). Lewis Research Center
- DOE Contract Number:
- AI01-77CS51040
- OSTI ID:
- 6524825
- Report Number(s):
- DOE/NASA/51040-25; NASA-TM-82615; CONF-810721-1
- Resource Relation:
- Conference: 5. international system safety conference, Denver, CO, USA, 26 Jul 1981
- Country of Publication:
- United States
- Language:
- English
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