![]() The regenerator retains heat that would otherwise be lost to the environment, increasing the thermal efficiency. One key component and the basis of the 1816 patent is the regenerator, basically a heat exchanger that is placed between the hot and cold zones. In the alpha engine, there are two power pistons that join at the same point in the crankshaft, and the gas is shuttled between the two cylinders. There are two basic configurations for a Stirling engine, one is the beta type that we discussed above the other is the alpha type, shown at the left. The gas is cooled and contracts, and the power piston moves to the left. When the power piston is about to reach the end of its stroke, the displacer moves to the left, moving the gas from the hot zone to the cold one. Heat is added to the hot zone and the gas expands, pushing the power piston to produce work. The hot zone is in red and contains another piston called the displacer. In the animation at the right, the cold zone is in blue and contains the power piston. In a Stirling engine, as with any other heat engine, there are two zones at different temperature, and the working fluid is moved between them to extract work. ![]() It is also a relatively simple machine. Unlike other types of engines, there are no valves, and that makes the mechanical design much simpler. The Stirling engine has the highest theoretical efficiency of any thermal engine. That makes this year the bicentenary of this engine. ![]() Based on previous work by George Cayley (known for his pioneering work on aeronautics), Stirling filed his patent for a safer engine in 1816. Robert Stirling, a Scottish clergyman, was concerned about the death toll from exploding boilers. One particular problem were the boilers, that had a tendency to explode, causing injuries and fatalities. However, they were still imperfect in many ways. In the early years of the nineteenth century, steam engines were at work in a variety of practical uses.
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