• Transactions of the Korean hydrogen and new energy society
• /
• v.14 no.4
• /
• pp.283-290
• /
• 2003

To clarify the cause of backfire occurrence and realize a hydrogen fueled engine linear alternator system, dynamic characteristics of a free-piston hydrogen engine were analyzed and compared with those of conventional reciprocating engines. It was found that the mean velocity and acceleration of a free-piston engine were higher than those of reciprocating engines. Piston displacement and compression ratio were varied with the change of the fuel mass flow rate. Therefore, the operational stability and controllability were the most important thinks of the development of a free-piston hydrogen engine.

• Transactions of the Korean hydrogen and new energy society
• /
• v.25 no.6
• /
• pp.648-655
• /
• 2014

This paper describes the continuing effort to develope a single acting free-piston Stirling engine/alternator combination for use of the household cogeneration. Free piston Stirling engines(FPSE) use variations of working gas pressure to drive mechanically unconstrained reciprocating elements. Stirling cycle free-piston engines are driven by the Stirling thermodynamic cycle which is characterized by an externally heated device containing working gas that is continuously re-used in a regenerative, reversible cycle. The ideal cycle is described by two isothermal process connected by two constant volume processes. Heat removed during the constant volume cooling process is internally transferred to the constant volume heating process by mutual use of a thermal storage medium called the regenerator. Since the ideal cycle is reversible, the ideal efficiency is that of Carnot. Free-piston Stirling engine is have no crank and rotating parts to generate lateral forces and require lubrication. The FPSE is typically comprised of two oscillating pistons contained in a common cylinder. The temperature difference across the displacer maintains the oscillations, and the FPSE operate at natural frequency of the mass-spring system. The power is generated from a linear alternator. The purpose of this paper is to describe the design process of the single acting free-piston Stirling engine/alternator. Electrical output of the single acting free-piston Stirling engine/alternator is about 0.95 kW.

• Transactions of the Korean hydrogen and new energy society
• /
• v.27 no.1
• /
• pp.114-120
• /
• 2016

This paper describes generating efficiency characteristics of the double acting Stirling engine/generator for domestic small-scale CHP (Combined Heat and Power) system. In small distributed generation applications, Stirling engine has competition from fuel cell, microturbine and etc. In order to be economical in the applications, a long life with minimum maintenance is generally required. Free piston Stirling engine (FPSE) has no crank and rotating parts to generate lateral forces and require lubrication. Double acting Stirling engine/generator has one displacer and two power piston which are supported by flexure springs. Two power pistons oscillate with symmetric displacement and are connected with moving magnet type linear generators for power generation from PV work. In experiments, 1 kW class double acting free piston Stirling engine/generator is fabricated and tested. Heat is supplied to hot end of engine by the combustion of natural gas and converted to electric power by linear generators which are assembled with power pistons. The electric parameters such as voltage, current and phase are measured with for variable flow rate of fuel gas. Especially, generating efficiency of FPSE is measured with three different measurement methods. Generating efficiency of the double acting Stirling engine/alternator is about 24%.

• Transactions of the Korean hydrogen and new energy society
• /
• v.23 no.2
• /
• pp.162-172
• /
• 2012

This paper presents a research about free piston linear engine (FPLE) fueled with hydrogen, in which, the numerical models are built to simulate the operation during the full stroke of the engine. Dynamic model, linear alternator model and thermodynamic model are used as the numerical models to predict piston velocity, in-cylinder pressure and electric power of FPLE. The spark timing and air gap length are changed to provide information for the prediction. Beside, the heat transfer problem is also investigated in the paper. The results of research are divided by two parts, including motoring mode and firing mode. The result of motoring mode showed that there is validation between simulation and experiment for volume and pressure in cylinder. For firing mode, by increasing spark timing, the velocity of piston, peak pressure and electric power also increase respectively. Beside, when increasing air gap length, the electric power increases accordingly while the motion of piston is not symmetric. The effect of heat transfer also observed clearly by reducing of the peak pressure, velocity of piston and electric power.

• Transactions of the Korean hydrogen and new energy society
• /
• v.24 no.6
• /
• pp.472-479
• /
• 2013

A free piston linear engine could be operated under HCCI combustion due to its variable compression ratios. To obtain HCCI combustion, the free piston linear engine needs a high compression ratio to achieve auto-ignition of the fuel/air mixture. In this study, an idea for obtaining a high compression ratio using the transition from SI combustion to HCCI combustion was proposed. The fuel used in this study is hydrogen, which is considered to be an environmentally friendly fuel. Besides, the effects of key parameters such as equivalence ratio (${\phi}$), load resistance ($R_L$) and intake temperature ($T_{in}$) on the SI-HCCI transition were numerically investigated. The simulation results show that the SI-HCCI transition is successful without any significant reduction of in-cylinder pressure as the intake temperature is increased from $T_{in}$=300K (SI mode) to $T_{in}$=450K (HCCI mode), while the load resistance and equivalence ratio are retained respectively at $R_L=120{\Omega}$ and ${\phi}$=0.6 in both SI mode and HCCI mode.

• Transactions of the Korean hydrogen and new energy society
• /
• v.24 no.3
• /
• pp.206-215
• /
• 2013

A linear engine has advantages in terms of volume and weight, because there are no rotating parts. Thus, it is considered that linear engines might be suitable in hybrid vehicles. However, the linear engine has challenges in terms of the engine ignition timing and efficiency, so the engine has not been commercialized yet. In this study, the dynamic and combustion characteristics of the linear engine might be specified by various loads which are changed by conductance. The engine used in this experiment consists of two combustion chambers, four compressors, two linear alternators and a mover with a piston head and magnets. The way fuel is supplied in the experiment is by propane fuel being mixed with air in the carburetor, then being delivered into combustion cylinders via compressors. In the experiment, conductance is altered from 0.04 to 0.16mho, and the ignition timing is ahead by just 5.0mm from the maximum stroke. As a result of the experiment, frequency, stroke, input calories and maximum pressure are decreased when the conductance is increased. Meanwhile, IMEP, generation efficiency and electric power are increased when the conductance is increased. Therefore, it might confirm that high conductance generates more efficient electric power, but that thermal efficiency is the highest in the state of 0.08mho.

• Transactions of the Korean hydrogen and new energy society
• /
• v.26 no.6
• /
• pp.638-644
• /
• 2015

This paper describes the continuing effort to analysis and design on dynamic and electrical behavior of gamma-type free piston Stirling engine/generator with dual-opposed linear generator for domestic micro-CHP (Combined Heat and Power) system. The double acting Stirling engine/generator has one displacer and two power piston which are supported by flexure springs. Two power pistons oscillate with symmetric sinusoidal displacement and are connected with moving magnet type linear generators for power generation. To operate Stirling engine/generator, combustion heat of natural gas is supplied to hot-end and heat is rejected from cold-end by cooling water. The temperature difference across the displacer induces the oscillating motion, and it can be explained with mass-spring vibration system. The purpose of this paper is to describe the design process of linear generator for the double acting free-piston Stirling engine.