Cost and price estimate of Brayton and Stirling engines in selected production volumes

Technical Report · Sat May 31 04:00:00 EDT 1980

OSTI ID:5354878

Fortgang, H R; Mayers, H F

This report details the methods used to determine the production costs and required selling price of Brayton and Stirling engines modified for use in solar power conversion units. The Brayton engine, designed by Garrett AiResearch Manufacturing Company, was upgraded to a 20 kW design. The Stirling 30 kW engine was designed by United Stirling of Sweden for non-solar applications. Each engine part, component and assembly was examined and evaluated to determine the costs of its material and the method of manufacture based on specific annual production volumes. Cost estimates are presented for both the Stirling and Brayton engines in annual production volumes of 1000, 25,000, 100,000, and 400,000. At annual production volumes above 50,000 units, the costs of both engines are similar, although the Stirling engine costs are somewhat lower. It was concluded that modifications to both the Brayton and Stirling engine designs could reduce the estimated costs.

• Research Organization: Jet Propulsion Lab., Pasadena, CA (USA)
• OSTI ID: 5354878
• Report Number(s): DOE/JPL-1060-35
• Country of Publication: United States
• Language: English

Related Subjects

14 SOLAR ENERGY
140700* -- Solar Thermal Power Systems
29 ENERGY PLANNING, POLICY, AND ECONOMY
299001 -- Energy Planning & Policy-- Solar-- (1989-)
BRAYTON CYCLE
BRAYTON CYCLE POWER SYSTEMS
COST
ENGINES
HEAT ENGINES
MANUFACTURING
POWER PLANTS
POWER RANGE 10-100 KW
PRICES
PRODUCTION
SOLAR HEAT ENGINES
SOLAR POWER PLANTS
SOLAR THERMAL POWER PLANTS
STIRLING CYCLE
STIRLING ENGINES
THERMODYNAMIC CYCLES