Stirling Renewal

This article presents an analysis that shows refrigerators and generators that use an alternative thermodynamic cycle are a green engineering hotbed. Developers say that designs based on the Stirling cycle offer significant efficiencies, and Stirling-based refrigeration systems need no fluorocarbons. Stirling engines are being investigated for distributed electric power generation. That's because many see more efficient generation right where the user wants it, as an alternative to building more fossil fuel-burning plants and then constructing miles and miles of grid lines for transmission. According to experts, free-piston Stirling refrigeration has advantages over conventional Rankine refrigeration systems. Free-piston Stirling coolers operate efficiently at all levels of demand because they can modulate their capacity to match any requirement. Compared to actual average home refrigerators, the Global Cooling Stirling system can be expected to improve energy efficiency by more than 70 percent. One of the significant benefits that Stirling cycle engines hold over an internal combustion counterpart is their quieter operation.