Development Of Compact Stirling Engine Performance Testing System And Study On4R50GZ Stirling Engine Performance Testing

Nowadays, sustainable and healthy development of human society is largelylimited by energy shortage as we know it, therefore, energy conservation andutilization has come up on the agenda of people all around the world. Over the recentyears, MCHP is getting more concern for its high energy utilization andenvironmental-friendly characteristics. MCHP are small-scale combined heat andpower systems which provide electricity, heat and hot water for residential and smallcommercial customers. With high energy utilization and low pollution to environment,the generated power of MCHP is usually between1kW-10kW. Generally speaking,the equipment that drives the overall system typically identifies the MCHP, includingexternal combustion engine and internal combustion engine. Compared to internalcombustion engine, external combustion engine is more environmental-friendly, sincethe combustion is continuously processed outside the engine. Currently, externalcombustion engine (or Stirling engine) is commonly used in MCHP systems. In orderto be tailored in small sites, the compact Stirling engine is commonly used in MCHPsystem. It employs pressure crankshaft case in which the engine is located. Thecompact design of the Stirling engine makes it more difficult in performance testing inthe following aspects:1) The output mechanical power of the Stirling engine is difficult to measure directlysince the Stirling engine is connected with the load. So the result can be only gotfrom the output electricity power; whereas the efficiency of the generator isrelated to the input mechanical power, the result of mechanical output gets fromoutput electricity power of generator is uncertain.2) If we add a torque value flange between the Stirling engine and the generator todirectly measure the output mechanical power, we have to modify the design ofthe transmission mechanism of the engine.From the current searching range of this paper, study on compact Stirling engineperformance testing is yet to see.As an important part of the R&D of Stirling engine, performance testing is thebasic tool to measure the power performance of Stirling engine. It is the calculatingand analyzing basis of Stirling engine performance parameter, as well as themeasuring tool for Stirling engine performance optimization. In order to do furtherperformance optimization study on4R50GZ Stirling engine, this paper developed aset of testing system for pressure crankshaft case compact Stirling engineperformance testing. This testing system consists of torque sensor, rotate speed sensor,instant cylinder pressure sensor, electric heating system, data acquisition and analysissystem and testing and analyzing software. It can measure the instant pressure inside the cylinder, the output shaft power and the rotate speed of Stirling engine. Besides, itcan measure and control the input heat of Stirling engine.The major content of the paper is as follows:1. It conducted performance analysis and simulative calculation based on4R50GZStirling engine, and performance assessment of prototype.2. It developed a performance testing system for compact Stirling engine.3. The performance testing system can measure the rotate speed, output torque,instant cylinder pressure, output electricity power and input heat of the compactStirling engine.4. It designed a electric heating system which can control and measure the heatinginput of the heat head.5. It programed a performance testing system process for4R50GZ Stirling enginewith LabVIEW graphical language using virtual instrument technology. Thisprocess can acquire and analyze signal, and get the performance parameter ofStirling engine, such as indicate pressure, indicate power, indicator diagram,mechanical power, etc.6. It improved the design of4R50GZ Stirling engine and developed the testingprototype used for performance testing.7. The performance testing system is a testing and measuring tool for further analysisand optimization of Stirling engine performance. It also guarantees the furtherperformance testing of4R50GZ Stirling engine.