%0 Journal Article
%T Simulation of a Martini Displacer Free Piston Stirling Engine for Electric Power Generation
%A Nasser Seraj Mehdizadeh
%A Pascal Stouffs
%J International Journal of Thermodynamics
%D 2000
%I International Centre for Applied Thermodynamics
%R 10.5541/ijot.30
%X We consider a gamma type free piston engine with the MARTINI configuration for electric power generation. A dynamic simulation of this engine has been developed using a decoupled analysis. The equation of motion of the free piston induces a strong coupling between the electrical load and the thermodynamics inside the free piston Stirling engine. From the thermodynamics point of view, the piston-displacer phase lag is an important parameter. We point out that, if the electrical circuit elements (R-L-C) are constants, the phase lag between the free pistons and displacer motions is far from the optimum for the engine considered. For both cases of stand-alone engine with an independent electrical load, or grid-connected engine, it is shown how, by varying the instantaneous value of the electrical resistance, one can in a very simple way multiply the net electrical power by a factor 4 to 6, and the efficiency by a factor 1.25 to 2, without any engine geometry modification.
%K Stirling engine
%K Martini displacer
%K free piston engine
%K simulation
%K electrical load
%K piston motion control
%K piston displacer phase shift
%U http://www.ijoticat.com/index.php/IJoT/article/view/30