Investigation of the performance of a solar powered Stirling engine

分布式发电有可能解决许多全球性问题，包括电力供应， 发展中国家和偏远地区，同时解决环境问题。创新太阳能公司（ISPI）是一个 总部位于蒙特利尔的公司（注册号为8725535 CANADA INC.）它正在开发技术来解决 这些挑战。他们的方法是使用他们的新设备将太阳能集中到一个热存储器中 然后利用这些热能来发电。这种方法的核心是使用斯特林 发动机通过机械运动将热量转化为电能。这种发动机的独特之处在于， 源在发动机及其工作流体的外部，并且可以来自各种过程，包括 燃烧、地热和太阳能。该项目的研究和开发工作将解决两个问题 斯特林发动机设计的基本问题。首先是设计了一种热端换热器 特别是集中太阳能/热存储系统。二是解决相关问题 工作流体氦的密封，氦具有高的热容量以获得良好的发动机效率， 由于其低分子量和高扩散性而难以密封。解决这些问题将使 优化斯特林发动机设计。其目的是建立一个完整的系统， 并且比包括太阳能电池板和光电池的当前技术更具有成本效益。

Distributed electricity generation has the potential to solve many global issues including electricity supply to developing and remote areas while addressing environmental issues. Innovative Solar Power Inc. (ISPI) is a Montréal based company (registered as 8725535 CANADA INC.) which is developing technology to tackle these challenges. Their approach is to use their novel device to concentrate solar energy into a thermal storage device and then use this thermal energy to generate electricity. Core to this approach is the use of a Stirling engine to convert heat into electricity via mechanical motion. This type of engine is unique in that the heat source is external to the engine and its working fluid and can come from a variety of processes including combustion, geothermal and solar. The research and development work in this project will address two fundamental issues of the Stirling engine design. The first is the design of a hot side heat exchanger to be used specifically with the concentrated solar energy / thermal storage system. The second is to address issues related to the sealing of the working fluid, helium, which has a high thermal capacitance for good engine efficiency but is difficult to seal because of its low molecular weight and high diffusivity. Resolving these issues will allow the Stirling engine design to be optimized. The aim is to generate a complete system that will be more efficient and more cost-effective than current technology which includes solar panels and photovoltaics.