Experiments with a pressure-driven Stirling refrigerator with flexible chambers

Abstract

We report on the design and experimental testing of a Stirling refrigerator that uses air as the working fluid, and where the conventional piston-cylinder assemblies are replaced by pressure-driven flexible chambers. The two chambers are periodically compressed by pneumatic actuators resulting in airflow through the regenerator and in a net temperature difference between the chambers. An experimental setup is used to investigate the performance of the refrigerator under different operating conditions with particular attention to actuation frequencies, driving pressure differences, and phase angles between the two inputs. The time constant of the temperature difference between the two chambers is determined, and the temperature difference is measured as a function of the system parameters. The results of several tests conducted under different operating conditions show that the refrigerating effect is very robust and allows good performance even for modulated inputs. The frequency response is radically different from that of a traditional motion-driven device. This work suggests that mechanical to thermal energy conversion devices based on this principle can be successfully powered by human motion.

A novel Gamma‐type duplex Stirling system to convert heat energy to cooling power: Theoretical and experimental study

“…McFarlane et al 22 have designed and tested a Stirling refrigerator experimentally. The refrigerator consists of pressure-driven flexible chambers, which replace the conventional piston-cylinder assemblies.…”

Компьютерне Моделювання Холодильної Машини Стірлінга

“…The simulation uses the physical parameters of the refrigerator given in Table 1 and describes in [12].…”