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A Stirling radioisotope generator (SRG) is a type of radioisotope generator based on a Stirling engine powered by a large radioisotope heater unit. The hot end of the Stirling converter reaches high temperature and heated helium drives the piston, with heat being rejected at the cold end of the engine. A generator or alternator converts the ...
While the invention of the basic free piston Stirling engine is generally attributed to Beale, independent inventions of similar types of engines were made by E.H. Cooke-Yarborough and C. West at the Harwell Laboratories of the UK AERE. [60] G.M. Benson also made important early contributions and patented many novel free-piston configurations ...
The advanced Stirling radioisotope generator (ASRG) is a radioisotope power system first developed at NASA's Glenn Research Center. It uses a Stirling power conversion technology to convert radioactive-decay heat into electricity for use on spacecraft .
A free-piston variant of the Stirling engine can be built, which can be completely hermetically sealed, reducing friction losses and completely eliminating refrigerant leakage. For example, a free-piston Stirling cooler (FPSC) can convert an electrical energy input into a practical heat pump effect, used for high-efficiency portable ...
Free-piston engine used as a gas generator to drive a turbine. A free-piston engine is a linear, 'crankless' internal combustion engine, in which the piston motion is not controlled by a crankshaft but determined by the interaction of forces from the combustion chamber gases, a rebound device (e.g., a piston in a closed cylinder) and a load device (e.g. a gas compressor or a linear alternator).
Passive heat pipes filled with liquid sodium transfer the reactor core heat to one or more free-piston Stirling engines, which produce reciprocating motion to drive a linear electric generator. [12] The melting point of sodium is 98 °C (208 °F), which means that liquid sodium can flow freely at high temperatures between about 400 and 700 °C ...
NASA patented a type of solar-powered Stirling engine on August 3, 1976. It used solar energy to pump water from a river, lake, or stream. [1] The purpose of this apparatus is to “provide a low-cost, low-technology pump having particular utility in irrigation systems employed in underdeveloped arid regions of the earth…[using] the basic principles of the Stirling heat engine“.
1986: As part of the interagency program between NASA Lewis and the Oak Ridge National Laboratory, (ORNL), Foster Millers was involved in the design of the R1000 free-piston Stirling engine hydraulic output system of the unit with assistance from Sunpower Inc., of Athens, Ohio. [6]