Stirling Forum Home Page

I am a student in Spokane, WA and Currently I am building a model
engine from some plans I found a different site. I am very
interested in the possibility of making a Diesel engine function on
the Stirling cycle. I have been looking around and found that people
have tried with V-8 gas engines but have been unsuccessful in making
them practical can someone help a dumb College kid

Sincerely,
Zach Woodrow

Zach,
First, a Stirling engine requires at least two pistons with phase angle between pairs set at around 90 degrees.

Next problem, a Stirling is an external combustion machine. There are no valves and no exchange of working gas (air) from the inside to the outside. The heat exchanger for input of heat needs to take much higher temperatures than a Diesel. This usually requires they be made of stainless steel or other heat resistant metal. Also, a Diesel engine removes most of the heat of combustion in the exhaust gas. Since Stirling is external combustion, the heat must be removed with a cold side heat exchanger. The water jacket or cooling fins from a Diesel are not going to do the job.

In short, the heat exchangers are the heart of a Stirling. The rest of the engine is normally built to suit them, not the other way around.

Rick