Fluidyne Pumping Engine with Minimal Tuning Line

摘要

Previous designs for large liquid piston Stirling engines (fluidynes) for pumping have required a bulky and expensive tuning line, which contributed significantly to the power losses in the machine and thereby significantly reduced the efficiency. In this paper, a liquid feedback fluidyne is described in which the pump is gas-coupled to the working space, and the tuning line serves only to maintain oscillations in the displacer column. The pumped liquid itself acts as the power piston by providing the major volume changing element of the system. The basic dimensions for the specific example used to illustrate the system are similar to two large fluidynes whose construction and operation are reported in the open literature; it is, therefore, easy to compare the new design with previous ones. (ERA citation 11:020240)