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A Stirling engine cannot start instantly; it literally needs to "warm up". This is true of all external combustion engines, but the warm up time may be longer for Stirlings than for others of this type such as steam engines. Stirling engines are best used as constant speed engines.
The Stirling cycle is a thermodynamic cycle that describes the general class of Stirling devices. This includes the original Stirling engine that was invented, developed and patented in 1816 by Robert Stirling with help from his brother, an engineer .
A Stirling engine eliminates the need for water anywhere in the cycle. This would have advantages for nuclear installations in dry regions. United States government labs have developed a modern Stirling engine design known as the Stirling radioisotope generator for use in space exploration. It is designed to generate electricity for deep space ...
An external combustion engine (EC engine) is a reciprocating heat engine where a working fluid, contained internally, is heated by combustion in an external source, through the engine wall or a heat exchanger. The fluid then, by expanding and acting on the mechanism of the engine, produces motion and usable work. [1]
A Fluidyne engine is an alpha or gamma type Stirling engine with one or more liquid pistons. It contains a working gas (often air), and either two liquid pistons or one liquid piston and a displacer. [1] The engine was invented in 1969. [2] The engine was patented in 1973 by the United Kingdom Atomic Energy Authority. [3] [2]
It was originally developed around 1900 for the twin-cylinder Lanchester car engine where it allowed perfect balancing of the inertial forces on both pistons. A current example of its use is on beta type-Stirling engines; the drive's complexity and tight tolerances, causing a high cost of manufacture, is a hurdle for the widespread usage of this drive.
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Ray-traced image of a piston engine. There may be one or more pistons. Each piston is inside a cylinder, into which a gas is introduced, either already under pressure (e.g. steam engine), or heated inside the cylinder either by ignition of a fuel air mixture (internal combustion engine) or by contact with a hot heat exchanger in the cylinder (Stirling engine).