Experimental Study of a 3-kW Stirling Engine

A 3-kW Stirling engine, NS03T, which is a two-piston type with a unique V-shape cylinder arrangement, was developed for a household heat-pump system for air conditioning. By adopting this cylinder arrangement and a well-designed heat exchanger system, an approximate 50% indicated efficiency was obtained. In this paper the specifications and modifications of the 1984-year model NS03T engine are presented, which was the first engine and had the highest efficiency and performance among the NS03T engines. The indicated efficiency of the NS03T engine is presented by using experimental data and analyzed data by a mathematical model, Stirling Engine Thermodynamic and Mechanical Analysis. Also, the regenerator losses are analyzed by a method that is able to derive accurate regenerator loss from engine operating data. The results show that the design of the heat exchanger is important for high-efficiency engines.