Heat transfer analysis in Stirling engine heat input system

One of the major factor in commercialization of Stirling engine is mass productivity, and the heat input system including tubular heater is one of the obstacles to mass production because of its complexity in shape and difficulty in manufacturing, which resulted from using oxidation-resistant, low-creep alloys which are not easy to machine and weld. Therefore a heater heat exchanger which is very simple in shape and easy to make has been devised, and a burner system appropriate to this heater also has been developed. In this paper specially devised heat input system which includes a heater shell shaped like U-cup and a flame tube located in the heater shell is analyzed in point of heat transfer processes to find optimum heat transfer. To enhance the heat transfer from the flame tube to the heater shell wall, it is required that the flame tube diameter be enlarged as close to the heater shell diameter as possible, and the flame tube temperature be raised as high as possible. But the enlargement of the flame tube diameter should be restricted by the state of combustion affected by hydraulic resistance of combustion gas, and the boost of the flame tube temperature should be consideredmore » carefully in the aspects of the flame tube`s service life.« less