Testing of the STM4-120 Kinematic Stirling Engine for Solar Thermal Electric Systems.

摘要

The Department of Energy's (DOE) Solar Thermal Program has identified the Stirling cycle heat engine as the conversion device for dish-electric system with the most potential for meeting the program's goals for efficiency, reliability, and installed cost. In an effort to advance the technology toward commercialization, Sandia National Laboratories has recently acquired a Stirling Thermal Motors, Inc. (STM) kinematic Stirling engine, STM4-120, for evaluation. The engine is being bench tested at Sandia's Engine Test Facility (ETF) and will be combined later with a solar receiver for on-sun evaluation. This paper presents the bench-test approach including: test system layout, instrumentation controls, testing parameters, and preliminary performance results for the STM4-120. 3 refs., 6 figs.