Abstract
α-Stirling engines are receiving more and more attention for applications of concentrated solar power in small power installations (15–30 kW). The design of these engines has not experienced in recent years the breakthrough needed to deliver close to the Carnot Cycle energy conversion efficiencies. The delivered efficiencies are limited to mid-to-high 20% in the typical installations “Dish Stirling”. Here we review the latest studies made on α-Stirling engines, unfortunately mostly based on theoretical models of limited reliability, but also including very few examples of Computer-Aided Engineering (CAE) modeling followed by prototyping and testing. Finally, we present in detail one CAE model of an α-Stirling engine delivering energy conversion efficiencies of 42% with hydrogen as working fluid and adopting one hot cylinder, one cold cylinder, and one regenerator, with the hot fluid temperature of 800 °C. This efficiency is much higher than current air microturbines, which may deliver efficiencies of only about 20% working at much lower temperatures.
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