Patent Grant
9109533
The present invention relates to a Stirling machine comprising a displacer piston and a moving member of a generator or of an electric motor, the displacer piston being mounted in a cylinder, in which it periodically displaces a working gas between an expansion chamber and a compression chamber which constitute the working volume of said Stirling machine, respectively associated with two working faces of said displacer piston by causing said gas to pass through a hot side heat exchanger, linked to a heat source, a regenerator and a cooling exchanger linked to a heat sink and elastic return means exerting a force on this displacer piston, the cross-sectional area ratio aC/aE between the two working faces of said piston being ≧0.35 so that its displacement along an axis oriented toward the expansion volume generates an in-phase pressure component of said working gas opposing said displacement of said piston, so as to transmit all of said mechanical energy produced between this displacer piston and said moving member.
One type of Stirling engines consists of a displacer piston which periodically displaces the working gas between a hot volume and a cold volume and a power piston which seals the working volume and ensures the transfer of the mechanical energy produced to the moving part of an electrical generator. In the kinematic engines, the two pistons are linked by a mechanical system with a crankshaft, which imposes upon them a repetitive periodic movement, with a fixed offset.
In the engines with free pistons, the two pistons are provided with elastic suspensions, dimensioned so as to confer on the two pistons a periodic movement at the desired frequency, with a prescribed phase shift. The absence of linkages simplifies the construction of these engines: by eliminating the articulations, the problems of lubrication thereof are eliminated. On the other hand, these engines often require complex control systems to ensure their startup and to stabilize the oscillating movement of the two pistons with determined amplitudes and phase angles.
A Stirling engine, developed by the American company Sunpower Inc. Athens, Ohio is described in an article entitled “Development of a 3 kW free-piston Stirling Engine” by G. Chen and J. McEntee, Proceedings of the 26th Intersociety Energy Conversion Engineering Conference, vol. 5, p. 233-238, in which a part of the motive energy is induced by the forces of the gas on the displacer piston, then transmitted by a pneumatic spring to the power piston. In this engine, the displacer piston therefore serves not only to transfer the gas between the hot and cold volumes situated at the two ends of the cylinder in which the piston is displaced, but also to generate a portion of the motive energy.
EP 1,165,955 describes an engine in which all of the motive energy is produced using the displacer piston, with which is associated the moving part of the electrical generator. A resonance tube is coupled to this device, in which a pressure wave is created which is phase-shifted in relation to the excitation wave produced by the displacer piston. The drawback of this solution lies essentially in the energy losses brought about by the friction of the gas in the tube which limit the performance levels of these engines. Moreover, the bulk of the resonance tube presents, in many applications, a not inconsiderable drawback.
JP 2127758 U illustrates, in
The aim of the present invention is to remedy, at least partly, these drawbacks, to simplify the control of the cycle of the Stirling machine and to increase its operating stability, and to enhance its performance levels.
To this end, the subject of this invention is a Stirling machine as defined by claim 1.
The main advantage of the invention compared to the Stirling machines with two pistons according to the prior art lies in the fact that the resonant piston no longer needs to be servocontrolled, making it possible to eliminate any active servocontrol requiring complex electronics.
Advantageously, the resonant piston of the machine that is the subject of the invention is a free piston, suspended by a mechanical spring and which delimits the working volume. This resonant piston therefore fulfils a function similar to that of the resonance tube described in the patent EP 1,165,955. The mechanical and thermal losses brought about by the frictions and the leakages through the seals of the pistons are significantly more reduced than those of a resonance tube. By its movement, the pressure of the working gas varies. This resonant piston can be incorporated compactly in the volume of the Stirling machine.
With appropriate dimensioning, the two pistons oscillate in a stable manner. The operation of the system can easily be controlled, both in the starting phase and in steady-state operation, as will be explained in detail hereinbelow.
Other features and advantages of the machine that is the subject of the invention will become apparent on reading the following description, and the appended drawings, which illustrate, schematically and by way of example, two embodiments and a variety of variants of this machine.
The Stirling machine illustrated by
The tubular part 6a of the displacer piston 6, 6a adjacent to the compression chamber VC is engaged in the cylindrical opening of a second resonant piston 10 which is annular and axisymmetric in relation to the piston 6, 6a. This second piston 10, attached to a support 11 is free to be displaced along the longitudinal axis of the cylindrical recess 5.
An elastic suspension member 12 is fixed by its central part to the support 11 and by its periphery to a support 13 which is attached to the frame 4. This elastic suspension member 12 is a flat member with arms in spiral form. In the variant illustrated by
Leak-tight seals 25 placed between the pistons 6a and 10, on the one hand, and between these pistons and the cylindrical recess 5, on the other hand, serve to contain gas leakages to tolerable levels.
The internal volume of the cylindrical part 3 encloses a moving member 14 of an electrical generator, here consisting of a cylindrical element bearing permanent magnets. This moving element 14 is attached to the periphery of an annular support 15, the internal edge of which is attached to an annular elastic suspension member 16, similar to the member 12. The periphery of this member 12 is fixed to the frame 4 and its center is attached to a rod 17, one end of which is fixed to the displacer piston 6, 6a. The rotor of the generator is formed by an assembly of plates 18, arranged radially and in which are housed one or more windings 19 of annular form. The moving element 14 of the electrical generator is surrounded by an armature 20, here formed by an assembly of plates arranged in radial planes.
The elastic suspension of the displacer piston 6, 6a can be reinforced by one or more helical springs 21, arranged between fixed supports 22, attached to the frame 4 and moving supports 23, attached to the rod 17.
A duct including an adjustment valve 24 placed between the cold compression volume and the volume of the generator makes it possible to adjust the working gas pressure amplitude, and therefore the power of the engine. This valve also makes it possible to adjust the amplitude of the movement described by the resonant piston.
To this end, the interior of the piston 10 is hollow, forming a recess 26 serving as a gas tank for feeding nozzles 27 opening into the annular slots between the two pistons 6a and 10, respectively between the pistons and the adjacent surfaces of the elongate housing 1, respectively of the wall of the piston 6a. The compartment 26 is fed through a non-return valve 28 from the working volume and maintained permanently at the maximum pressure prevailing in this volume. The compartment 26 can also be placed in the displacer piston 6, 6a or in the frame 4, to feed the nozzles 27 of the static gas bearings.
Different embodiments of the linkages can be envisaged. In
The moving part of the electrical generator can be provided with an inertia flywheel 34, making it possible to balance the rotary movement and thus to smooth the waves superimposed on the electrical voltage generated. Moreover, a mass 35 makes it possible to attenuate the vibrations due to the reciprocating movement of the pistons.
The Stirling machine described operates as follows: the movement of the second resonant piston 10 is dictated by the forces communicated by the elastic elements and the pressure of the gas which is exerted on its axial surfaces. By its movement, the pressure of the working gas varies.
The displacer piston 6, 6a then has a dual function of transferring the working gas between the expansion chamber VE and the compression chamber VC and of producing all the driving energy transmitted to the moving member 14 of the linear generator, provided that certain conditions, which will now be described, are fulfilled.
To achieve this objective, it is necessary to determine the ratio between the surface aC of the displacer piston 6, 6a, delimiting the compression volume VC and the surface aE of this same displacer piston 6, 6a, delimiting the expansion volume VE.
The analysis of the isotherm cycle shows that the pressure of the working gas in the working volume becomes independent of the position of the displacer piston 6, 6a if:
Temperature TH of the hot volume VE, TH=923° K.=650° C.
Temperature TC of the cold volume VC, TC=323° K.=50° C. aC/aE≧0.35
The operation of the engine is possible only if the surface ratio aC/aE is greater than this limit, that is to say that the displacement of the displacer piston 6, 6a (
This displacer-power piston can be designed as a free piston. Its elastic suspension must then be tuned so that the piston oscillates at the same frequency as the resonant piston. Its amplitude is controlled by the electrical forces exerted by the generator; it remains fixed if a constant electrical load is applied to the terminals of the electrical generator.
In a hybrid machine, the piston 6, 6a is linked mechanically to the axis of the moving part of a rotary electrical generator by a linkage. The travel of the piston 6, 6a is then fixed by the geometry of this linkage. Its speed of rotation is controlled electrically by the electrical generator and its frequency must correspond to that of the second resonant piston 10.
On each cycle, the resonant piston 10 receives a certain quantity of energy, proportional to the pressure component PX which keeps this piston moving. Since PX depends on the heating temperature TH, the amplitude Y of the resonant piston 10 varies as a function of this temperature TH. Since the pressure amplitude PY is proportional to Y, the latter and the mechanical power generated by the Stirling engine increase strongly with the heating temperature TH.
The Stirling engines with a displacer piston and a power piston already start at significantly lower heating temperatures (approximately 300 to 400° C. depending on their design). The power then increases gradually with the temperature TH, to reach, in comparable nominal conditions, a power similar to that of the machine that is the subject of the invention.
In the machine that is the subject of the invention, a small increase in the temperature of the hot side heat exchanger results in a strong increase in the power developed by this engine. Through the expansion of the gas in this hot part, the thermal power drawn-off also increases strongly with this temperature. The stability of the speed of the engine therefore depends specifically on the supply of heat to the hot side heat exchanger and it can be adjusted by simple means. Since the temperature TH is accurately controlled by the power released by the engine, the risk of overheating of the hot part is minimal.
In the machine according to the invention, the resonant piston 10 receives, on each cycle, a small quantity of energy which is used to compensate its losses by friction and to maintain its oscillating movement. The amplitude of its movement Y determines the pressure variation of the working gas and therefore the speed of the engine. A fine adjustment is possible inasmuch as the friction of the piston remains relatively constant over time since it can be obtained by using the above-mentioned static gas bearings. Moreover, the adjustment valve 24 makes it possible to adjust the working gas pressure amplitude, and therefore the amplitude of the resonant piston.
The use of a resonant piston makes it possible to have the system operate with a light working gas, such as, for example, pure helium, whereas a resonance tube operates better with a mixture of heavier gas. The losses in the heat exchange members of the Stirling machine (heating, regenerator, cooler) depend on the density of the gas and are lower in the case of the present invention.
The fact that the temperatures TH of the hot side heat exchanger vary only very little with the load of the engine proves particularly advantageous in the units heated with fuels. As a general rule, the operation of a burner is greatly dependent on the temperature conditions which are set up therein; a complete combustion with a minimum of pollutants can be obtained only if the temperature conditions remain sufficiently stable.
An in-depth study has made it possible to highlight these advantages for burners that use an internal recirculation of the combustion gases, a technique applied in various forms for Stirling engines (see DE 102,17913 A1). By diluting the oxidant, a flameless combustion is set up in the combustion chamber, occupying a large proportion of this volume. A complete combustion can be obtained with a very small excess of air if a number of conditions are satisfied, in particular:
the temperature of the mixture formed by the supply of fresh air and the recycled gases must be situated above the ignition temperature of the fuel; for natural gas in a diluted atmosphere, this threshold is situated above 720° C.;
to avoid the massive formation of NOx, the temperature of the gases must nowhere exceed the limit of 1300 to 1400° C.;
the temperature TH of the surfaces of the hot side heat exchanger is established with a balance between the energy released upon combustion and that drawn from the hot side heat exchanger by the expansion of the working gas of the Stirling. The operating conditions in the conditions of DE 102,17913 remain satisfactory within a wide power range, provided that TH varies only a little with the power of the engine, as is the case with the Stirling engine that is the subject of the invention.
The conventional free-piston Stirling machines require sophisticated adjustment means (for example U.S. Pat. No. 6,871,495, or U.S. 2008/0122408) to keep the speed of the engine under control, both during the machine starting phase, and to stabilize the operation around nominal conditions. In these machines, a deviation from the optimum operating conditions can greatly reduce the performance levels of these engines.
The control of the Stirling machine that is the subject of the invention proves significantly more simple, mainly for the following reasons: the two pistons are primarily coupled with the chamber of the system and only secondarily together. The beating between the two pistons of the machine that is the subject of the invention can thus easily be damped, even totally eliminated. Moreover, the burner of this Stirling machine responds more rapidly to a power variation since its temperature changes only a little with the thermal power transferred. Any variation of TH of the hot source modifies PX and therefore the power transferred to the resonant piston, resulting in a rapid change of its amplitude Y. The pressure amplitude is thus modified, which adjusts the power of the engine.
In the free-piston Stirling engines designed according to the prior art, the movement of the displacer piston depends on the pressure variations of the working gas. A small variation of its amplitude results in a variation of the quantity of energy exchanged between the regenerator and the gas which passes through it; this influences the instantaneous pressure of the working gas, which in turn influences the movement of the displacer piston. An instability can thus occur, which can be controlled only indirectly by the action of the electrical generator on the power piston.
In the present invention, the amplitude of the movement of the displacer piston is directly controlled by the electrical generator which is associated with it. The variations of its amplitude are thus directly controlled by the load applied to the electrical generator, thus preventing any notable disturbance relative to the nominal cycle of the engine. By virtue of this quality of control, these engines can operate with significant pressure amplitudes and thus reach power densities greater than those which can be controlled in the known configurations.
In the variant of
One recurrent problem with free-piston Stirling machines is caused by the significant vibratory forces transmitted to the frame by the oscillating pistons. To reduce the sound nuisances transmitted outward, these machines have to be placed in acoustic chambers and insulated from the ground. Moreover, the vibrations of the frame can be reflected on the speed of these machines and thus risk disrupting their operation.
These vibrations can be compensated with 2 identical machines, arranged around a common combustion chamber and oriented in mutually opposite directions. These tandem assembly arrangements have been proposed, for example, in the ICSC paper 95-26 by the company Sunmachine (Proceedings of the 7th International Conference on Stirling Cycle Machines, November 1995, Tokyo). These solutions are particularly suited to machines developing relatively high powers.
In order to at least partly remedy this drawback, the present invention proposes another system that makes it possible to attenuate the vibrations transmitted to the chamber of the machine, illustrated by
The elastic means 42a, b and c can consist of spiral or flat mechanical springs, electromagnets, pneumatic means or combinations of these different elastic supports. This vibration-suppression system makes it possible to effectively compensate the action of a single oscillator. It is therefore particularly suited to the Stirling machines that comprise opposing resonant masses, given that only the vibrations generated by the displacer piston have to be compensated.
This additional mass 41 is centered and suspended elastically by a mechanical spring, preferably by a flat spring with spiral arms 42c. An auxiliary mass 41a, associated with the additional mass 41 is used to adjust the oscillations of this additional mass, so that the displacer piston 6, 6a and the additional mass 41 oscillate in phase opposition; the vibratory forces transmitted to the frame can thus be reduced to the minimum.
As is indicated in this figure, the rotor and the windings can surround the moving part of the generator and the armature can be placed inside the latter.
The two variable volumes 46a and 46b are tightly sealed by means of moving or fixed pistons, provided with leak-tight seals 25 or smooth surfaces with a very small radial gap relative to their respective cylinders. The latter can be provided with inert gas bearings to reduce the friction losses.
In the embodiment according to
Many variant embodiments of the system with two oscillating masses can be envisaged. For example, the variant according to
The absence of a complex and costly servocontrol system, the reduction of the vibrations generated by these machines and the favorable operating conditions under partial loads offer considerable advantages in many applications, such as, for example:
for domestic heating, it can operate in spring and autumn at partial load, with a minimum of installation stoppages/startups. The energy losses linked to each startup are thus avoided and the fatigue of the metals subjected to frequent thermal cycles is reduced. Moreover, the flexibility of the system makes it possible to better adapt the operation to domestic electrical energy needs and to better manage the storage of domestic hot water.
In biomass combustion, the heat released can fluctuate according to the quality of the fuel. With the machine that is the subject of the invention, the temperature of the heating tubes varies little, so that a stable combustion is maintained in optimum conditions.
The flexibility of the system and the good efficiencies at partial load make it possible to better convert solar energy, for example in the morning, in the evening or when it is overcast. On an annual average basis, the Stirling machine that is the subject of the invention therefore allows for operation for a longer time period than the conventional systems.
The use of rotary generators makes it possible to generate three-phase current which can easily be injected into an electricity network.
The hybrid engines described above are also distinguished by good efficiencies at partial load. They can advantageously be used in all the applications that require great operating flexibility.
On startup, the movement of the resonant mass and the pressure amplitude thus generated are small. The machine can then be switched on without balancing the pressures between the different volumes: the use of a short-circuit valve which is generally used in the conventional kinematic machines is therefore no longer necessary.
| Number | Date | Country | Kind |
|---|---|---|---|
| 0496/10 | Apr 2010 | CH | national |
| Filing Document | Filing Date | Country | Kind | 371c Date |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| PCT/CH2011/000065 | 3/29/2011 | WO | 00 | 10/16/2012 |
| Publishing Document | Publishing Date | Country | Kind |
|---|---|---|---|
| WO2011/123961 | 10/13/2011 | WO | A |
| Number | Date | Country |
|---|---|---|
| 0218554 | Apr 1987 | EP |
| 2033489 | May 1980 | GB |
| WO 0061936 | Oct 2000 | WO |
| Number | Date | Country | |
|---|---|---|---|
| 20130031899 A1 | Feb 2013 | US |
