Design of a new type of rotary Stirling engine

The Stirling machine has had wide diffusion only in cold or cryogenic applications (Philips) while the engine, despite the efforts of large Companies (Philips, Westinghouse, General Motors, etc.), never definitively reached the market; today new interest is raised correlated with environmental and energy related considerations. Thus, researchers´ efforts are addressed towards the design of innovative and more competitive Stirling engine configurations, like the one proposed by the authors. This paper describes the configuration of a new, rotary Stirling engine. In the cold part of the engine, the working fluid is compressed by a rotating element, then it passes through the regenerator from the cold to the hot end, where it absorbs the heat and expands in the high pressure and temperature area. The high pressure working fluid pushes on the rotating element (the so called “rotator”) and the engine outputs power. In their design, compression and expansion volumes change with the rotation. Two rotators are connected with a set of gears, therefore, the engine transmission system is simplified and dimensions are reduced