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Development of an experimental test rig for cogeneration based on a Stirling engine and a biofuel burner
Author(s) -
Acampora Luigi,
Continillo Gaetano,
Marra Francesco,
Miccio Francesco,
Urciuolo Massimo
Publication year - 2020
Publication title -
international journal of energy research
Language(s) - English
Resource type - Journals
SCImago Journal Rank - 0.808
H-Index - 95
eISSN - 1099-114X
pISSN - 0363-907X
DOI - 10.1002/er.5663
Subject(s) - stirling engine , combustor , cogeneration , internal combustion engine , automotive engineering , combustion , thermal efficiency , electricity generation , combustion chamber , engineering , diesel fuel , waste management , heat engine , diesel engine , nuclear engineering , mechanical engineering , power (physics) , chemistry , thermodynamics , physics , organic chemistry
Summary A system consisting of a last‐generation Stirling engine (SE) and a fuel burner for distributed power generation has been developed and experimentally investigated. The heat generated by the combustion of two liquid fuels, a standard Diesel fuel and a rapeseed oil, is used as a heat source for the SE, that converts part of the thermal energy into mechanical and then electric energy. The hot head of the SE is kept in direct contact with the flame generated by the burner. The burner operating parameters, designed for Diesel fuel, were changed to make it possible to burn vegetable oils, not suitable for internal combustion engines. The possibility of adopting different configurations of the combustion chamber was taken into account to increase the system efficiency. The preliminary configurations adopted allowed to operate this integrated system, obtaining an electric power up to 4.4 kW el with a net efficiency of 11.6%.