expansion chamber/piston size

Discussion on Stirling or "hot air" engines (all types)
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RalphLear
Posts: 1
Joined: Sun Jul 08, 2012 11:07 am

expansion chamber/piston size

Post by RalphLear »

Hi, I am attempting my first low temperatur Stirling and have a few questions about expansion chamber size and expansion piston size.

1. Does the radius and height of the expansion chamber play any role on the temperature required to run the engine.
I imagine a wider surface is beneficial for collecting and displacing heat but does the height matter?
Is a thin piston and a low chamber better for low temeratures?
2. What about the expansion piston, Is a thin piston, which is lighter, in a high(tall) chamber better than one that is heavier and takes up more
room in the chamber?
vamoose
Posts: 267
Joined: Tue Jul 03, 2012 12:16 am
Location: Australia

Re: expansion chamber/piston size

Post by vamoose »

Hey RalphLear,

What type of configuration are you considering for your LTD stirling, Alpha Beta Gamma?
I'm on a steep learning curve, so i will try and help if i can. There are allot of posts on this forum, bye experienced stirling engine people, and it may just be a case of spending significant time trolling through the topics to glean the information you need (sometimes the topics get of course, so using the keyword search feature can help).
If you put as much information as you can about your engine design parameters or ideas down, it will help others give you some good feedback.
I'm still refining my own possible design, and it changes bit by bit the more i read...

vamoose
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