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How Stirling Engine Is A Type Of Heat Engine Essay

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Abstract: Stirling engine is a type of heat engine that operates by cyclic compression and expansion of working fluid of different temperature to convert heat energy into mechanical work. The concept of Stirling engine was introduced to overcome the problem of explosion and wastage of heat energy in steam engine. The key working principle of Stirling is “a fixed amount of gas is sealed inside the closed space”.
Stirling engine can work on any solid or liquid fuel with very low exhaust emission. It operates without noise, have low cycle torque variation and a flat part-load characteristics. With this type of advantageous attributes, Stirling engine come into sight for use in automotive application. Nevertheless, Stirling engine has very less realistic practical application in automotive. The reason behind that is easily availability of liquid fuel and internal combustion engine. Stirling engines are more expensive and most complicated than IC engine. In addition to that, it has low power density and sealing problems while working on high pressure and high speed. Moreover, It requires twice efficient cooling system compared to other engine of equivalent power.
In past, there were plenty of experiments conducted to use Stirling engine in automotive section. Efforts to develop Stirling powered cars, vans and buses have been made in Europe and the USA. NV Philips, United Stirling of Sweden, have worked together with DAF and US companies such as General Motors,

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