Phase I-B development of kinematic Stirling/Rankine commercial gas-fired heat-pump system. Final report, September 1983-December 1985

Technical Report · Tue Jul 01 04:00:00 EDT 1986

OSTI ID:7007932

Monahan, R E

The Kinematic Stirling/Rankine gas heat pump concept is based on the application of a Stirling engine that has been under development for over a decade. The engine has been converted to natural gas and is characterized with many thousand hours of operating experience. The goal of the project is to develop a commercial-size Stirling engine-driven gas heat pump with a cooling capacity of 10-ton, and a COP (heating) of 1.8 and COP (cooling) of 1.1. The project is a multi-phase development with commercialization planned for 1989. In this phase, an HVAC systems manufacturer (Borg-Warner) is working with SPS to develop a prototype gas-heat-pump system. To date, a piston-type open-shaft refrigeration compressor was selected as the best match for the engine. Both the engine and compressor have been tested and characterized by performance maps, and the experimental heat-pump systems designed, built, and preliminary testing performed. Close agreement with computer model output has been achieved. SPS has continued to focus on improving the Stirling-engine performance and reliability for the gas-heat-pump application.

• Research Organization: Stirling Power Systems Corp., Ann Arbor, MI (USA)
• OSTI ID: 7007932
• Report Number(s): PB-87-114104/XAB
• Country of Publication: United States
• Language: English

Related Subjects

32 ENERGY CONSERVATION, CONSUMPTION, AND UTILIZATION
320106* -- Energy Conservation
Consumption
& Utilization-- Building Equipment-- (1987-)
COMMERCIAL SECTOR
ENERGY SOURCES
FLUIDS
FOSSIL FUELS
FUEL GAS
FUELS
GAS FUELS
GAS HEAT PUMPS
GASES
HEAT PUMPS
NATURAL GAS
RANKINE CYCLE
STIRLING CYCLE
THERMODYNAMIC CYCLES