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Hi there!

It's my first post here and I think this forum is very interesting,
thanks for keeping it up!

My question is focused on investigating which would be the better
model to create an electric power output of 5kW or 10kW (DC).

So I would need to know which of those three models (or if there is
any other variation) has the best efficiency.

It might be also important to know if there is any special
consideration to be taken when choosing the generatir that would be
connected to the engine.

It not constructing the engine YET, I need to justify any design
before getting the aproval for that.

Basically I need info, link, books or anything you guys may think
would help me with this. THANKS!

CHEERS!

Hi Mario,

Alpha, beta, and gamma engines are equally efficient in theory. But for practical reasons there may be small differences in efficiency, related to limits imposed by manufacturing, material, and so on. But I think it's best to focus on the engine that is easiest for you to make. This decision usually becomes apparent as you're getting deep into the design details.

As far as I know there is no special consideration when selecting the generator, other than matching the generator speed (for rated output) with the rotational speed of the Stirling engine. But this isn't a big issue since you can use a belt and pulley system between engine and generator to ramp the speed up or down, to the desired level.

Here's some info on Stirling engines:
http://newenergydirection.com/blog/cate ... ng-engine/

There's also info available on this website if you browse through past forum questions/answers.

Another good forum is http://www.stirlingengineforum.com

There's the Nasa Technical Reports Server: http://ntrs.nasa.gov/search.jsp - type in "Stirling engine" to find related material

Stirling engine design manual, W.R. Martini first ed:

http://ntrs.nasa.gov/archive/nasa/casi. ... 016056.pdf

Stirling engine design manual, W.R. Martini second ed:

http://ntrs.nasa.gov/archive/nasa/casi. ... 022057.pdf

List of papers from Oak Ridge National Laboratory:

http://www.ornl.gov/sci/engineering_sci ... ation.html

Thanks a lot! Those documents helped a little bit!