US3296808A - Heat energized refrigerator - Google Patents

Heat energized refrigerator Download PDF

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Publication number
US3296808A
US3296808A US482531A US48253165A US3296808A US 3296808 A US3296808 A US 3296808A US 482531 A US482531 A US 482531A US 48253165 A US48253165 A US 48253165A US 3296808 A US3296808 A US 3296808A
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displacer
displacers
heat
stud
spring
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US482531A
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Marvin J Malik
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Motors Liquidation Co
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Motors Liquidation Co
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Priority to US482531A priority Critical patent/US3296808A/en
Priority to GB37030/66A priority patent/GB1108097A/en
Priority to NL6612001A priority patent/NL6612001A/xx
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    • F—MECHANICAL ENGINEERING; LIGHTING; HEATING; WEAPONS; BLASTING
    • F02—COMBUSTION ENGINES; HOT-GAS OR COMBUSTION-PRODUCT ENGINE PLANTS
    • F02G—HOT GAS OR COMBUSTION-PRODUCT POSITIVE-DISPLACEMENT ENGINE PLANTS; USE OF WASTE HEAT OF COMBUSTION ENGINES; NOT OTHERWISE PROVIDED FOR
    • F02G1/00—Hot gas positive-displacement engine plants
    • F02G1/04—Hot gas positive-displacement engine plants of closed-cycle type
    • F02G1/043—Hot gas positive-displacement engine plants of closed-cycle type the engine being operated by expansion and contraction of a mass of working gas which is heated and cooled in one of a plurality of constantly communicating expansible chambers, e.g. Stirling cycle type engines
    • F02G1/044—Hot gas positive-displacement engine plants of closed-cycle type the engine being operated by expansion and contraction of a mass of working gas which is heated and cooled in one of a plurality of constantly communicating expansible chambers, e.g. Stirling cycle type engines having at least two working members, e.g. pistons, delivering power output
    • F02G1/0445—Engine plants with combined cycles, e.g. Vuilleumier
    • F—MECHANICAL ENGINEERING; LIGHTING; HEATING; WEAPONS; BLASTING
    • F02—COMBUSTION ENGINES; HOT-GAS OR COMBUSTION-PRODUCT ENGINE PLANTS
    • F02G—HOT GAS OR COMBUSTION-PRODUCT POSITIVE-DISPLACEMENT ENGINE PLANTS; USE OF WASTE HEAT OF COMBUSTION ENGINES; NOT OTHERWISE PROVIDED FOR
    • F02G1/00—Hot gas positive-displacement engine plants
    • F02G1/04—Hot gas positive-displacement engine plants of closed-cycle type
    • F02G1/043—Hot gas positive-displacement engine plants of closed-cycle type the engine being operated by expansion and contraction of a mass of working gas which is heated and cooled in one of a plurality of constantly communicating expansible chambers, e.g. Stirling cycle type engines
    • F02G1/0435—Hot gas positive-displacement engine plants of closed-cycle type the engine being operated by expansion and contraction of a mass of working gas which is heated and cooled in one of a plurality of constantly communicating expansible chambers, e.g. Stirling cycle type engines the engine being of the free piston type
    • F—MECHANICAL ENGINEERING; LIGHTING; HEATING; WEAPONS; BLASTING
    • F25—REFRIGERATION OR COOLING; COMBINED HEATING AND REFRIGERATION SYSTEMS; HEAT PUMP SYSTEMS; MANUFACTURE OR STORAGE OF ICE; LIQUEFACTION SOLIDIFICATION OF GASES
    • F25B—REFRIGERATION MACHINES, PLANTS OR SYSTEMS; COMBINED HEATING AND REFRIGERATION SYSTEMS; HEAT PUMP SYSTEMS
    • F25B9/00—Compression machines, plants or systems, in which the refrigerant is air or other gas of low boiling point
    • F25B9/14—Compression machines, plants or systems, in which the refrigerant is air or other gas of low boiling point characterised by the cycle used, e.g. Stirling cycle

Definitions

  • My invention relates generally to a heat energized refrigerator and more specifically, to a heat energized refrigerator comprising three variable volume chambers swept by two displacers.
  • My invention is directed toward providing this source of mechanical work from the system itself so that no external power source is required and the system can thus be self-sustaining.
  • the object of my invention then is to provide a heat energized refrigerator comprising three variable volume chambers swept by two displacers in which the motion of the displacers is self-sustaining, that is, no external power source is required to drive the displacers.
  • Another object of my invention is to provide a heat energized refrigerator comprising three variable volume chambers swept by two displacers in which the motion of the displacers is self-sustained through utilization of the pressure fluctuation of the system.
  • Another object of my invention is to provide a heat energized refrigerator comprising three variable volume chambers swept by two displacers in which the motion of the displacers is self-sustained by incorporating the displacers in a spring-mass system vibrating at resonance frequency
  • Another object of my invention is to provide a heat energized refrigerator comprising three variable volume chambers swept by two displacers in which the motion of the displacers is self-sustained by incorporating the displacers in a spring-mass system in which the displacers each vibrate at resonance frequency in a properly phased relationship to produce the necessary mechanical work for displacer motion.
  • Another object of my invention is to provide a heat energized refrigerator comprising three variable volume chambers swept by two displacers in which the motion of the displacers is self-sustained by incorporating the displacers in a spring-mass system in which the displacers each vibrate at resonance frequency in a properly phased relationship; the exciting force of the spring-mass system being provided through utilization of the pressure fluctuations of the system to produce the necessary mechanical work for displacer motion.
  • FIGURE 1 is a schematic of a constant volume, variable pressure heat energized refrigerator with which my invention is utilized showing the various positions of the displacers at different stages during its thermodynamic process.
  • FIGURE 2 is a graph showing the ratio of the instantaneous pressure to the mean system pressure for the above thermodynamic process with the points A, B, C, and D corresponding to the positions of displacers shown in FIGURES 1A, 1B, 1C, and 1D, respectively.
  • FIGURE 3 is a sectional view of an apparatus for producing refrigeration by having three variable volume chambers swept by two displacers in which the displacers are incorporated into a spring-mass suspension system in accordance with my invention.
  • FIGURE 4 is a schematic of the spring-mass system of FIGURE 3.
  • FIGURE 5 is a schematic of an excitation system which utilizes the pressure fluctuation of the thermodynamic process acting on the lower displacer of FIGURE 3 to produce a driving force for the spring-mass system of FIGURES 3 and 4.
  • FIGURE 6 is a sectional view of an alternate embodiment of a spring-mass suspension system for the displacers in accordance with my invention.
  • FIGURES 1A, 1B, 1C, and 1D show a cylinder 12 having a pair of reciprocable displacers 14 and 16 which define three variable volume chambers 13, 20, and 22.
  • variable volume chambers 18, 2t and 22. are interconnected through upper and lower regenerative heat exchangers 24 and 2-6, respectively.
  • variable volume chambers are shown in a heat exchange relationship with the coils 1'7, 19, and 21, respectively.
  • the coils have been omitted in FIGURES 1B, 1C, and 1D.
  • heat will flow through a boundary into a space if a part of the gas in the space is allowed to escape.
  • the simplest example of this process is a leaking bottle of pressurized gas.
  • the pressure of the gas in the bottle is naturally decreasing and the temperature would also decrease if the container was insulated.
  • the gas will maintain the same temperature by transferring heat from the wall to the gas.
  • the gas will absorb heat at constant temperature as the pressure decreases,
  • the cylinder 12 shown in FIGURES 1A through 1D is of fixed volume and is sealed to contain a fixed mass of gas.
  • the displacers 14 and 16 are used to displace gas from one variable volume chamber or temperature region of the cylinder 12 to a region at another temperature. For example, suppose the chamber 18 is taken as a hot region having a temperature of 1240 F., the chamber 2th as an intermediate region having a temperature of F., and the chamber 22 as a cold region having a temperature of 40 F. Assuming the displacers 14 and 16 to be in the position shown in FIGURE 1A, the'volume of chamber 20 is then zero with 23% of the fixed mass of gas being in the hot region 18 at a temperature of 1240 F.
  • the volume of the gas in the regenerators is assumed to be negligible for simplication. While the additional volume of gas in the regenerator will have some effect on the system in that specific values will be altered, the basic principle of operation will remain the same.
  • the displacers 14 and 16 in the actual cycle reciprocate with a periodic motion approximating simple harmonic motion.
  • the displacers 14 and 16 are 90 to 120 out of phase for a reason which will be given later.
  • the motion is described here as a three-step process. Linear motion of pistons is assumed and the resulting configurations at the beginning and end of each step are shown in FIG- URES 1A, 1B, 1C, and 1D. A summary of the variation in system pressure is shown in FIGURE 2.
  • the pressure is plotted as the ratio of the instantaneous system pressure to the mean system pressure for the entire cycle, with the points A, B, C, and D on the pressure ratio curve corresponding to the pressure ratio of the system when displacers are positioned as shown in FIGURES 1A, 1B, 1C, and 1D.
  • the first of the three steps is the refrigeration step. This is accomplished by motion of the displacer 14 from the center to the top position, that is, from the position shown in FIGURE 1A to the position shown in FIG- URE 1B. This motion displaces the gas from the hot region 18 to the intermediate region 20 through the upper regenerator 24. The gas in moving through the regenerator 24 stores heat in the regenerator 24 and is, therefore, cooled. This cooling of a portion of the total mass of the gas reduces the pressure in the system. Since the cold region 22 is maintained at constant volume during this step, the decrease in system pressure will cause 22% of the gas to leavethe chamber 22 and enter the intermediate chamber 20 absorbing heat from the lower regenerator 26 as it passes through it.
  • the cold chamber 22 absorbs heat from its environment (coil 21) to maintain the temperature of the gas remaining in the chamber constant at 40 F.
  • This heating of the portion of gas passing through the lower regenerator 26 increases the system pressure slightly.
  • the net effect is the reduction in system pressure. That is, as the displacer 14 moves from the position of FIGURE 1 to the position of FIGURE 2, the pressure of the system changes from point A to point B in FIGURE 2 causing the flow from chambers 18 and 22 to chamber 20; the reduction of gas in chamber 22 causing heat to be absorbed from coil 21.
  • the coil 21 thus is a refrigeration source.
  • both the displacers 14 and 16 move down together, that is, from the positions shown in FIGURE IE to the positions shown in FIGURE 1C.
  • the resultant effect on the working fluid is the displacement of gas from the cold region 22.
  • 26% of the gas enters the hot region 18 with the remaining 29% entering the intermediate chamber 20 to increase the amount of gas therein from 45% to 74%.
  • available heat previously stored in the regenerators 24 and 26 is used to heat the gas passing through them.
  • the result is an increase in system pressure from point B to point C attendant with the heat addition to the displaced gas.
  • the additional gas, 29%, that has entered the intermediate region 20 is the converse of gas escaping from a bottle.
  • the gas entering the intermediate region 20 must reject heat if its temperature is to be maintained constant.
  • the result is heat rejection from the intermediate region 20.
  • the reject heat is absorbed by coil 19 which in turn dumps the heat to atmospheric (not shown).
  • FIGURE 1D shows the final step and completion of the cycle where the bottom displacer 16 moves up to the central location as shown in FIGURE 1D.
  • gas is displaced from the intermediate chamber 20 to the cold chamber 22 storing heat in the lower regenerator 26 in the process.
  • This reduction in the temperature of the gas results in a reduction of system pressure and a consequent flow of 3% of the hot gas from the hot region or chamber 18 to the cold chamber 22.
  • the hot gas flowing to the cold chamber 22 passes through both regenerators 24 and 26 storing heat therein.
  • the escaping gas from the hot region 18 again is like the bottle of escaping gas and requires heat input to maintain the region 18 temperature constant. This heat input which provides the energizing portion of the cycle is supplied through the upper coil 17.
  • step 1C to 1D is analogous to the first step 1A to 1B.
  • gas escapes from a region of constant volume and heat input is required to maintain a constant temperature.
  • the heat pumping system is a Stirling refrigerator being driven by a Stirling engine.
  • An ideal Stirling refrigerator operating between 40 F. and F. has a ratio of heat absorption to work input of 5 while an ideal Stirling engine operating between 1240 F. and 140 F has a ratio of work output to heat input of 0.65.
  • using the work output of the engine as input to the refrigerator results in a ratio of 3.2.
  • appropriate motion of two displacers 14 and 16 and the resultant displacement of gas from three regions 18, 20, and 22 results in refrigeration at the cold region 22, heat rejection at the intermediate region 20 and heat input at the hot region 18, with the ratio of refrigeration to heat input being 3.2.
  • FIGURE 1 The entire three step process is summarized in FIGURE 1 with the variation in system pressure being shown in FIGURE 2.
  • the variation in system pressure is employed to power the displacer motion. This latter function of the system pressure variation is described below.
  • the cylinder 12 is shown with the reciprocable displacers 14 and 16 interconnected with a spring system.
  • the interconnecting passages and regenerators 24 and 26 between the variable volume chambers 18, 20, and 22 have been omitted for simplicity.
  • the cylinder 12 is shown as having a central stud 28 extending from its bottom end wall 30.
  • the stud 28 comprises a lower rod portion 34 and an enlarged hollow upper portion 32.
  • the lower displacer 16 is hollow with its upper and lower faces 36 and 38 slidably mounted on the enlarged hollow upper portion 32 and lower rod portion 34, respectively, of the central stud 28.
  • the fit between faces and the stud 28 is sufficiently close so that a substantially fluid tight compartment 37 is formed by the inner walls of displacer 16 and the stud 28 while allowing relative motion between the parts.
  • the enlarged hollow upper portion 32 has an outwardly projecting central flange 40.
  • a coil spring 42 encircles the enlarged hollow upper portion 32 between the flange 40 and the upper displacer face 36.
  • the spring 42 is secured to both the flange 40 and the upper face 36 so as to be bidirectional, that is, the spring 42 acts in both tension and compression.
  • the upper displacer 14 has a central stem 44 with a disc 46 at its lower end.
  • the disc 46 is reciprocable within the hollow cylindrical upper portion 32 of the central stud 28.
  • a second coil spring 48 is secured at one end to the disc 46 and at the opposite end to an internal shoulder 50 in the enlarged hollow upper portion 32.
  • a number of stems 52 extend upward from the bottom face 38 of the lower displacer 16 into the hollow upper portion 32 of stud 28.
  • the stems 52 mount a second disc 54 which is also reciprocable with the hollow cylindrical upper portion 32.
  • a third bidirectional spring 56 is secured to the discs 46 and 54 and resiliently connects the displacers 14 and 16.
  • the disc 46 has a number of air holes 47 and the second disc 54 is shown with an air hole 55. This provides for the flow of air through the discs as they reciprocate with the hollow upper portion 32 of the stud 28 so that no portion of the hollow stud will act as a damping chamber.
  • Displacer motion As mentioned above, the displacers 14 and 16 reciprocate with periodic motion with a phase difference of from 90 to 120. Each displacer is connected to the cylinder by a spring and a third spring is employed to directly couple the two displacers.
  • the periodic motion of the two displacers is provided by the above spring-mass vibration system which utilizes the system pressure variation as a driving force.
  • thermodynamic requirements dictate certain displacer motions. This in turn produces a certain system pressure variation.
  • a forced vibratory spring mass system is created. If at resonance, the periodic vibratory motion of the displacers coincides with the thermodynamic motion required, the system becomes self-sustained, that is, no external mechanical work is required to drive the displacers.
  • the only source of energy for the system is the heat input to the hot region 118.
  • the following discussion is directed to collaborating the required thermodynamic and vibratory displacer motions.
  • FIGURE 4 A simple schematic of the system is shown in FIGURE 4 in which the displacers 14 and 116 are represented by masses M and M respectively, with the springs 42, 48, and 56 shown as having spring constants K K and K respectively.
  • This schematic represents a damped twodegree of freedom forced vibratory spring-mass systems which will operate at resonance after initially having been set in motion. There are, however, two requirements for stable operation of this system: damping must be added to the cycle in an amount equal to that dissipated by the damping.
  • the damping is represented by the dashpots 58 and 60 for the displacers l4 and 16, respectively.
  • the actual damping of the system is comprised of two parts.
  • the first component is Coulomb, or friction damping. It is of essentially constant magnitude and its direction of application is always opposed to the direction of velocity.
  • the second type of damping results from the aerodynamic flow losses of the working fluid flowing through the system. This second type of damping is the greatest part of the damping force and can be used to represent the total damping in a preliminary analysis. It is proportional to the second power of velocity and can be represented by an equation of the form where P is the damping force, C is the damping constant, X is the displacer velocity, and the subscripts 1 and 2 represent the displacers 14 and 16, respectively.
  • the equations of motion for each displacer then may be expressed as v where X and X are the displacer displacements and accelerations, respectively. The subscripts and other symbols have been explained above.
  • This driving force F may be produced by the energy addition system shown in FIGURE 5.
  • This simple energy addition system is comprised of the stationary stud 28 having an enlarged upper portion 32 about which the top surface of the cold displacer 16 reciprocates. The enlarged upper portion 32 thus creates a larger surface area on the lower face 38 of the cold displacer 16 than that on the top face 36 of the cold or lower displacer 16. Because the pressure drop through the heat exchangers and regenerators is small compared to pressure in the system at any time, the instantaneous pressure on the bottom face is essentially equal to the pressure on the top face.
  • the compartment 37 inside of the hollow cold displacer 16 is maintained at the system mean pressure because of the sealing engagement of the displacer faces with the stud.
  • the effect of the volume change of chamber 37 because of the various length of penetration of hollow upper portion 32 of the central stud 28 is assumed negligible.
  • A is the cross sectional area of the cylinder
  • A is the area of the displacer top 36
  • p is the instantaneous pressure
  • P is the mean system pressure.
  • the area of the rod piston 34 has been assumed negligible and the area of lower face 38 has been equated to the cylinder cross sectional area A.
  • the cross sectional area of the cylinder equal 1.0 and substitute the stud surface area, A for the differential area of the lower displacer. Equation 4 then becomes:
  • Equation 5 a positive or upward force is produced whenever the instantaneous pressure p is greater than the mean pressure P
  • the instantaneous pressure in turn is a function of the volume of the chambers 18, 20, and 22, the temperature of the gas therein and the total mass of the gas.
  • Mg is the total mass of the gas and the subscripts represent the mass of gas in the respective chambers 18, 20, and 22. From the gas law, we know that The volumes of the chambers 18, 20, and 22 are related to the displacement X and X of the displacers 14 and 16 as can .be seen from FIGURES 3 and 4. Considering the area of the stems 34 and 44 negligible and recalling that the cylinder cross sectional area was chosen as 1.0 for convenience the relationship may be derived.
  • Equation 14 relates the instantantaneous pressure to the positions X and X of the displacers 14 and 16, respectively. The relationship having been shown, solution to the problem is a mere matter of computation.
  • the driving force F is a function of the instantaneous pressure, it is also a function of the displacer positions X and X In any harmonic or periodic system where energy is transferred between an exciting force and a damped member, the exciting force must lead the motion. This adds an additional requirement of properly phasing the motion of the displacers 14 and 16. As previously stated, the displacers are from 90 to 120 out of phase so that a driving force can be created which will lead the required motion for the bottom displacer 16. Return to FIGURES 1 and 2 and recall from Equation 5 that a positive or upward driving force F is produced whenever the instantaneous pressure p is greater than the mean system pressure or expressed another way whenever the ratio of the instantaneous to mean pressure ratio is greater than 1.0.
  • the bottom displacer 16 moves upwardly from FIGURE to FIGURE 1D.
  • the instantaneous pressure becomes greater than mean pressure between points B and C prior to the upward movement of the displacer 16.
  • the system pressure will produce an upward increasing driving force preceding the requirement for the upward movement of displacer 16.
  • any means may be utilized.
  • An example would be a solenoid starter where a coil 60 is energized to attract an armature 62 which in turn causes a non-magnetic plunger 64 to push the upper displacer 14 downwardly.
  • Such a starter would require only one energization of the coil 60 and a single stroke to initiate system motion. From this initial movement, the system would rapidly build up to a resonant condition.
  • FIGURE 6 arrangement While preferably, the spring 42, 48, and 56 should be in identical environments as in the FIGURE 4 apparatus, this is not absolutely essential.
  • the cylinder 112 has upper and lower displacers 114 and 116, respectively.
  • the lower displacer 116 is mounted on a central stud 128 and has differential area faces.
  • a coil spring 142 embraces the upper portion 132 of stud 128 and is secured to a flange 140 thereon and to the lower displacer 116.
  • the difference in this embodiment lines in the location of the remaining springs 148 and 156. Both lie in chamber with the spring 148 connected between stud 128 and displacer 114 while spring 156 is connected between both displacers. This configuration will operate in the same manner; however, the springs are not in identical environments.
  • this invention provides a heat energized refrigerator comprising three variable volume chambers swept by two displacers in which the motion of the displacers is self-sustaining, that is, the heat energized refrigerator requires no external power source to drive the diplacers.
  • a heat energized refrigerator or the like having a pair of displacers reciprocable within a cylinder to provide three variable volume chambers which are interconnected through regenerative heat exchangers to become progressively cooler regions when heat is added to one of the chambers and a constant volume of fluid flows between the variable volume chambers through the regenerators at varying pressures, the improvement comprising:
  • a first hollow displacer having a pair of spaced faces slidably mounted on said stud, one of said faces movably engaging said upper portion, said one face being of smaller area than said other face,
  • a second displacer having a second stem slidably mounted in the hollow upper portion of said stud
  • a third spring disposed in said hollow portion and secured to said first and second stems, whereby the displacers and springs become a spring-mass system reciprocating at a resonance frequency with the force created by fluid pressure acting on the differential area faces on said first displacer sustaining the system motion.
  • a heat energized refrigerator or the like having a pair of displacers reciprocable within a cylinder to provide three variable volume chambers which are interconnected through regenerative heat exchangers to become progressively cooler regions when heat is added to one of the chambers and a constant volume of fluid flows between the variable volume chambers through the regenerators at varying pressures, the improvement comprising:
  • a first hollow displacer having a pair of spaced faces slidably mounted on said stud, one of said faces sealingly, movably engaging said upper portion, said one face being of smaller area than said other face,
  • a second displacer having a second stem slidably mounted in the hollow upper portion of said stud
  • a third spring disposed in said hollow portion and secured to said first and second stems, whereby the displacers and springs become a spring-mass system reciprocating at a resonance frequency with the force created by fluid pressure acting on the differential faces on said first displacer sustaining the system motion.
  • a heat energized refrigerator or the like having a pair of displacers reciprocable within a cylinder to provide three variable volume chambers which are interconnected through regenerative heat exchangers to become progressively cooler regions when heat is added to one of the chambers and a constant volume of fluid flows between the variable volume chambers through the regenerators at varying pressures, the improvement comprising:
  • a first hollow displacer having a pair of spaced faces slidably mounted on said stud, one of said faces movably engaging said upper portion, said one face being of smaller area than said other face,
  • a heat energized refrigerator or the like having a pair of displacers reciprocable within a cylinder to provide three variable volume chambers which are inter connected through regenerative heat exchangers to become progressively cooler regions when heat is added to one of the chambers and a constant volume of fluid flows between the variable volume chambers through the regenerators at varying pressures,the improvement comprising:
  • a first hollow displacer having a pair of spaced faces slidably mounted on said stud, one of said faces sealingly movably engaging said upper portion, said one face being of smaller area than said other face,
  • a heat energized refrigerator or the like having a pair of displacers reciprocable within a cylinder to provide three variable volume chambers which are interconnected through regenerative heat exchangers to become progressively cooler regions when heat is added to one of the chambers and a constant volume of fluid flows between the variable volume chambers through the regenerators at varying pressures, the improvement comprismg:
  • a first displacer having a pair of spaced faces of different area slidably mounted on said stud
  • a first hollow displacer having a pair of spaced faces of different area slidably mounted in said cylinder
  • a first spring disposed within said cylinder and secured to said displacer and said cylinder
  • a heat energized refrigerator or the like having a pair of displacers reciprocable within a cylinder to provide three variable volume chambers which are interconnected through regenerative heat exchangers to become progressively cooler regions when heat is added to one of the chambers and a constant volume of fluid flows between the variable volume chambers through the regenerators at varying pressures, the improvement comprising:
  • first hollow displacer having a pair of spaced faces of different area slidably mounted in said cylinder, a second displacer slidably mounted in said cylinder, a first spring disposed in said cylinder and secured to said second displacer and said cylinder, and a second spring disposed in said hollow portion and secured to said first and second displacers, whereby the displacers and springs become a spring-mass system reciprocating at a resonance frequency with the force created by fluid pressure acting on the differential area faces on said first displacer sustaining the system motion.
  • a heat energized refrigerator on the like having a pair of displacers reciprocable within a cylinder to provide three variable volume chambers which are interconnected through regenerative heat exchangers to become progressively cooler regions when heat is added to one of the chambers and a constant volume of fluid flows between the variable volume chambers through the regenerators at varying pressures, the improvement comprising:
  • first resilient means secured to one of said displacers and said cylinder second resilient means secured to the other of said displacers and said cylinder, third resilient means coupling said displacers and cyclic excitation force means acting on one of said displacers whereby the displacers and springs become a force spring-mass vibrational system with said displacers reciprocating at a resonance frequency to sustain the required thermodynamic system motion.

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  • Engineering & Computer Science (AREA)
  • Mechanical Engineering (AREA)
  • General Engineering & Computer Science (AREA)
  • Chemical & Material Sciences (AREA)
  • Combustion & Propulsion (AREA)
  • Physics & Mathematics (AREA)
  • Thermal Sciences (AREA)
  • Compressors, Vaccum Pumps And Other Relevant Systems (AREA)
  • Vibration Prevention Devices (AREA)
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Cited By (23)

* Cited by examiner, † Cited by third party
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US3812682A (en) * 1969-08-15 1974-05-28 K Johnson Thermal refrigeration process and apparatus
US3913339A (en) * 1974-03-04 1975-10-21 Hughes Aircraft Co Reduction in cooldown time for cryogenic refrigerator
US4077216A (en) * 1975-08-27 1978-03-07 United Kingdom Atomic Energy Authority Stirling cycle thermal devices
US4199945A (en) * 1977-07-27 1980-04-29 Theodor Finkelstein Method and device for balanced compounding of Stirling cycle machines
US4345437A (en) * 1980-07-14 1982-08-24 Mechanical Technology Incorporated Stirling engine control system
US4350012A (en) * 1980-07-14 1982-09-21 Mechanical Technology Incorporated Diaphragm coupling between the displacer and power piston
US4387567A (en) * 1980-07-14 1983-06-14 Mechanical Technology Incorporated Heat engine device
US4387568A (en) * 1980-07-14 1983-06-14 Mechanical Technology Incorporated Stirling engine displacer gas bearing
EP0083297A2 (en) * 1981-12-30 1983-07-06 Stellan dr. Knöös Heat driven heat pump system and method of operation
US4408456A (en) * 1980-07-14 1983-10-11 Mechanical Technolgy Incorporated Free-piston Stirling engine power control
US4418533A (en) * 1980-07-14 1983-12-06 Mechanical Technology Incorporated Free-piston stirling engine inertial cancellation system
US4711650A (en) * 1986-09-04 1987-12-08 Raytheon Company Seal-less cryogenic expander
US4858442A (en) * 1988-04-29 1989-08-22 Inframetrics, Incorporated Miniature integral stirling cryocooler
US4979368A (en) * 1988-04-29 1990-12-25 Inframetrics, Inc. Miniature integral stirling cryocooler
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US10598125B1 (en) * 2019-05-21 2020-03-24 General Electric Company Engine apparatus and method for operation
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US11248559B2 (en) 2019-05-21 2022-02-15 General Electric Company Closed cycle engine with bottoming-cycle system
US11268476B2 (en) 2019-05-21 2022-03-08 General Electric Company Energy conversion apparatus
US11346302B2 (en) 2019-05-21 2022-05-31 General Electric Company Monolithic heat-exchanger bodies
US11566582B2 (en) 2019-05-21 2023-01-31 General Electric Company Engine apparatus and method for operation
US11629663B2 (en) 2019-05-21 2023-04-18 General Electric Company Energy conversion apparatus
US11739711B2 (en) 2019-05-21 2023-08-29 Hyliion Holdings Corp. Energy conversion apparatus
US11885279B2 (en) 2019-05-21 2024-01-30 Hyliion Holdings Corp. Monolithic heat-exchanger bodies
US12000356B2 (en) 2019-05-21 2024-06-04 Hyliion Holdings Corp. Engine apparatus and method for operation
US12078066B1 (en) 2023-06-26 2024-09-03 Hyliion Holdings Corp Pressure control system for a closed-cycle engine

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