Testing of the STM4-120 kinematic Stirling engine for solar thermal electric systems

Conference · Sat Dec 31 23:00:00 EST 1988

DOI:https://doi.org/10.1109/IECEC.1989.74784· OSTI ID:5986510

Linker, K. L.; Adkins, D. R.; Rawlinson, K. S.

The Department of Energy's (DOE) Solar Thermal Program has identified the Stirling cycle heat engine as the conversion device for dish-electric system with the most potential for meeting the program's goals for efficiency, reliability, and installed cost. In an effort to advance the technology toward commercialization, Sandia National Laboratories has recently acquired a Stirling Thermal Motors, Inc. (STM) kinematic Stirling engine, STM4-120, for evaluation. The engine is being bench tested at Sandia's Engine Test Facility (ETF) and will be combined later with a solar receiver for on-sun evaluation. This paper presents the bench-test approach including: test system layout, instrumentation controls, testing parameters, and preliminary performance results for the STM4-120. 3 refs., 6 figs.

• Research Organization: Sandia National Labs., Albuquerque, NM (USA)
• DOE Contract Number: AC04-76DP00789
• OSTI ID: 5986510
• Report Number(s): SAND-88-3286C; CONF-890815-14; ON: DE89013933
• Country of Publication: United States
• Language: English

Related Subjects

14 SOLAR ENERGY
140700* -- Solar Thermal Power Systems
42 ENGINEERING
425003 -- Engineering-- Power Cycles-- Stirling-- (1980-)
CONTROL SYSTEMS
DIAGRAMS
EFFICIENCY
ENGINES
HEAT ENGINES
PERFORMANCE TESTING
SOLAR HEAT ENGINES
STIRLING ENGINES
TESTING