Making a stirling engine 5 kw generator

[thanh-cuibap]

I have a funded project on making a stirling engine 5 kw generator
Have you anyone had done or experienced stirling engine that can generate 5 kw can give me some information about the size of the power piston? the diameter of the displacer? engine type: (alpha, beta, or gamma) ??
As much information about it as possible or comment so how is the best !!
Thank you!

[Alfista]

A 12 inch cylinder and 13.5 inch stroke running at 100 rpm should get you pretty close to that figure.

Ivo Kolin in his book on heat engines discusses in some detail an engine of Ericsson : bore: 10.25"+14"; stroke : 18", hp: 5 (1833), an alpha as I recall. It had interesting valve work and a very substantial regenerator.

[steedspeed]

Is it better to go single cyl or twin?

[Ian S C]

I would go for a multi cylinder ALPHA motor, maybe 6 or 8 cylinders, that would keep the weight of the moving parts down, another thing that would help reduce size is pressurization. It's still going to be quite large when you consider that the Philips Bungalow generator produced about 200 Watts.
Ian S C

[thanh-cuibap]

Thanks all .

[cbstirling2]

I have a funded project on making a stirling engine 5 kw generator
Have you anyone had done or experienced stirling engine that can generate 5 kw can give me some information about the size of the power piston? the diameter of the displacer? engine type: (alpha, beta, or gamma) ??
As much information about it as possible or comment so how is the best !!
Thank you!

What fuel source?

thanks

[Ian S C]

The fuel you use depends on what you have, gas is easiest, then comes liquid fuel that could be a number of things, alcohol, petrol, oil (mineral, or vegetable), kerosene/paraffin, hand wash gel. Then comes solid fuel, coal, or wood, dried animal manure/dung. One design for a 5hp Stirling Engine for threshing rice grain used rice husks and straw, at one time there was a book about this motor.
Ian S C

[Alfista]

In researching this question, not all researchers come up with exactly the same figures. Please forgive any "errors" in the collected information. It is only meant as a general guide.

BTU per pound of some common fuels

Hydrogen 52,290 BTU per pound
Acetylene 21,850
Propane 21,660
Gasoline 19,500
Kerosene 19,000
Ethanol and Methanol 10,000 to 12,550
Charcoal 12,000
Hardwood, an average of 7,500
Ponderosa Pine 2,520 (in the average range of Softwoods)

How wonderful that the Hot Air Engine can be made to run on any of them !

[cbstirling2]

In researching this question, not all researchers come up with exactly the same figures. Please forgive any "errors" in the collected information. It is only meant as a general guide.

BTU per pound of some common fuels

Hydrogen 52,290 BTU per pound
Acetylene 21,850
Propane 21,660
Gasoline 19,500
Kerosene 19,000
Ethanol and Methanol 10,000 to 12,550
Charcoal 12,000
Hardwood, an average of 7,500
Ponderosa Pine 2,520 (in the average range of Softwoods)

How wonderful that the Hot Air Engine can be made to run on any of them !

Well for the customer who wants the 12 kilowatt power, the goal should be to take the fuel and convert it in the most practical manner. For liquid fuels, that's probably the internal combustion engine. Even some solid fuels, gasification might be more practical than the stirling engine. He shouldn't rule out even a steam engine, however there's a huge safety concerns with the steam engine. For the engine that was 5 horsepower that ran on burning rice husks, that was the most practical engine for the fuel, in my honest opinion.

thanks