25 kWe solar thermal stirling hydraulic engine system: Final conceptual design report
This report documents the conceptual design and analysis of a solar thermal free-piston Stirling hydraulic engine system designed to deliver 25 kWe when coupled to the 11-meter Test Bed Concentrator at Sandia National Laboratories. A manufacturing cost assessment for 10,000 units per year was made by Pioneer Engineering and Manufacturing. The design meets all program objectives including a 60,000-hr design life, dynamic balancing, fully automated control, >33.3% overall system efficiency, properly conditioned power, maximum utilization of annualized insolation, and projected production costs of $300/kW. The system incorporates a simple, rugged, reliable pool boiler reflux heat pipe to transfer heat from the solar receiver to the Stirling engine. The free-piston engine produces high-pressure hydraulic flow which powers a commercial hydraulic motor that, in turn, drives a commercial rotary induction generator. The Stirling hydraulic engine uses hermetic bellows seals to separate helium working gas from hydraulic fluid which provides hydrodynamic lubrication to all moving parts. Maximum utilization of highly refined, field proven commercial components for electric power generation minimizes development cost and risk. The engine design is based on a highly refined Stirling hydraulic engine developed over 20 years as a fully implantable artificial heart power source. 4 refs., 19 figs., 3 tabs.
- Research Organization:
- National Aeronautics and Space Administration, Cleveland, OH (USA). Lewis Research Center; Stirling Technology Co., Richland, WA (USA)
- DOE Contract Number:
- AT04-85AL33408
- OSTI ID:
- 6711931
- Report Number(s):
- DOE/NASA-0371-1; NASA-CR-180889; ON: DE89003777
- Resource Relation:
- Other Information: Paper copy only, copy does not permit microfiche production
- Country of Publication:
- United States
- Language:
- English
Similar Records
Conceptual design of an Advanced Stirling Conversion System for terrestrial power generation
Advanced Stirling conversion systems for terrestrial applications
Related Subjects
14 SOLAR ENERGY
STIRLING ENGINES
DESIGN
COMPUTERIZED SIMULATION
EFFICIENCY
HEAT TRANSFER
HELIUM
HYDRAULICS
NUMERICAL DATA
PERFORMANCE
SOLAR COLLECTORS
SOLAR HEAT ENGINES
DATA
ELEMENTS
ENERGY TRANSFER
ENGINES
EQUIPMENT
FLUID MECHANICS
FLUIDS
GASES
HEAT ENGINES
INFORMATION
MECHANICS
NONMETALS
RARE GASES
SIMULATION
SOLAR EQUIPMENT
425003* - Engineering- Power Cycles- Stirling- (1980-)
140909 - Solar Thermal Utilization- Miscellaneous Solar Applications- (1980-)