STIRLING ENGINE
20230147340 · 2023-05-11
Assignee
Inventors
Cpc classification
F01P3/02
MECHANICAL ENGINEERING; LIGHTING; HEATING; WEAPONS; BLASTING
F02G1/0535
MECHANICAL ENGINEERING; LIGHTING; HEATING; WEAPONS; BLASTING
F01P2007/146
MECHANICAL ENGINEERING; LIGHTING; HEATING; WEAPONS; BLASTING
F01P2003/021
MECHANICAL ENGINEERING; LIGHTING; HEATING; WEAPONS; BLASTING
F01M9/06
MECHANICAL ENGINEERING; LIGHTING; HEATING; WEAPONS; BLASTING
International classification
F02G1/053
MECHANICAL ENGINEERING; LIGHTING; HEATING; WEAPONS; BLASTING
F01M9/06
MECHANICAL ENGINEERING; LIGHTING; HEATING; WEAPONS; BLASTING
F01P7/16
MECHANICAL ENGINEERING; LIGHTING; HEATING; WEAPONS; BLASTING
Abstract
A Stirling engine including a crosshead mechanism includes a low-pressure space and a high-pressure space. In the high-pressure space, a piston is driven by a heating/cooling cycle of a working fluid. The low-pressure space accommodates a crosshead portion connected to the piston via a piston rod, and a crank mechanism that rotates a crankshaft along with movement of the crosshead portion. A high-pressure gas seal in which a lip angle of a seal lip on the high-pressure side is smaller than that on the low-pressure side is provided around the piston rod at a partition between the low-pressure space and the high-pressure space.
Claims
1. A Stirling engine having a crosshead mechanism, the Stirling engine comprises: a high-pressure space in which a piston is configured to be driven by a heating/cooling cycle of a working fluid; and a low-pressure space in which a crosshead portion connected to the piston via a piston rod and a crank mechanism configured to rotate a crankshaft along with movement of the crosshead portion are stored, and a gas seal is provided around the piston rod at a partition between the low-pressure space and the high-pressure space such that a lip angle of a seal lip is made smaller on a high-pressure side than on a low-pressure side.
2. The Stirling engine according to claim 1, wherein the crosshead portion is provided with a through hole penetrating along a sliding direction of the crosshead portion.
3. The Stirling engine according to claim 1, wherein the crosshead portion does not include a seal ring between the crosshead portion and a cylinder liner that is configured to hold sliding of the crosshead portion.
4. The Stirling engine according to claim 1, further comprising a splash-type oil circulation system configured to splash lubricating oil, accumulated in a lower portion of a crankcase, to an upper portion using rotation of the crankshaft, and wherein: a dust seal is arranged at a lower stage of the gas seal, and a first communication path that connects an upper side of the dust seal and the low-pressure space is provided between the dust seal and the gas seal.
5. The Stirling engine according to claim 1, further comprising: a splash-type oil circulation system configured to splash lubricating oil, accumulated in a lower portion of a crankcase, to an upper portion using rotation of the crankshaft, and wherein: gas seals are arranged in multiple stages, and a dust seal is arranged in a lower stage of the gas seal, and a second communication path that connects a portion between the gas seals provided in the multiple stages and the high-pressure space, and a check valve arranged on the second communication path are provided.
6. The Stirling engine according to claim 1, further comprising: an oil collection unit configured to collect lubricating oil used for lubricating the gas seal; and an oil feed tank that is connected to the oil collection unit via an oil pump and a check valve and into which the lubricating oil is configured to be fed from the oil collection unit by the oil pump, and wherein the oil feed tank is configured to feed the lubricating oil to the gas seal from above.
7. The Stirling engine according to claim 1, wherein: a water cooling jacket is provided around the gas seal, and a cooling water circulation system capable of supplying cooling water to the water cooling jacket is provided.
8. The Stirling engine according to claim 7, wherein: the cooling water circulation system includes a bypass path and a bypass valve arranged on the bypass path, and a temperature of the cooling water supplied to the water cooling jacket is adjustable by adjusting an opening degree of the bypass valve.
Description
BRIEF DESCRIPTION OF DRAWINGS
[0026]
[0027]
[0028]
[0029]
[0030]
[0031]
[0032]
DESCRIPTION OF EMBODIMENTS
First Embodiment
[0033] Hereinafter, embodiments of the present invention will be described in detail with reference to the drawings.
[0034] As illustrated in
[0035] In the Stirling engine 10, the heater heat exchanger 12 is inserted into a high-temperature heat source (for example, a high-temperature pipe through which a high-temperature fluid flows), and a working fluid (for example, helium gas) is heated in the heater heat exchanger 12. Furthermore, in the cooler heat exchanger 14, the working fluid is cooled by cooling water (cooling water supply means is not illustrated). The Stirling engine 10 is designed to drive the engine unit 11 by the movement of the working fluid thus heated/cooled. Although the engine unit 11 may be a single-cylinder type engine or a multi-cylinder type engine, a four-cylinder double-acting engine is exemplified in the first embodiment.
[0036] As illustrated in
[0037] The operation of the Stirling engine 10 is established by repeating a cycle in which the pistons 112 in the cylinders 111 sequentially take a first position (top dead center position: cylinder 111-1 in
[0038]
[0039] Above the low-pressure space 114, a high-pressure space 115 (the high-temperature chamber 111a and the low-temperature chamber 111b in
[0040] At a partition between the low-pressure space 114 and the high-pressure space 115, a high-pressure gas seal (gas seal) 119 is installed around the piston rod 118 so that the working fluid does not leak from the high-pressure space 115 to the low-pressure space 114. Oil (lubricating oil) is supplied to the high-pressure gas seal 119 for lubrication between the piston rod 118 and the high-pressure gas seal 119. Therefore, the oil supplied from the crankcase to the bearing or the like is also fed to the piston rod 118. An oil circulation system provided in the cylinder block of the general-purpose internal combustion engine can also be used as the oil supply mechanism for the high-pressure gas seal 119. The provided oil circulation system may be an oil pump type or a splash type (splashing oil, accumulated on the oil pan in the lower portion of the crankcase, to the upper portion using the rotation of the crankshaft).
[0041] The high-pressure gas seal 119 preferably also serves as an oil seal for preventing intrusion of oil into the high-pressure space 115 from the low-pressure space 114. The high-pressure gas seal 119 may be a rod seal used for general hydraulic equipment and the like. Since the high-pressure side of the general hydraulic equipment is an oil-tight side, when an existing rod seal in the hydraulic equipment is used as the high-pressure gas seal 119 as it is, the lip angle (angle formed by the lip surface and the rod surface in the cross section passing through the central axis of the piston rod 118) of a seal lip on the high-pressure side is larger than that on the low-pressure side (α>β in
[0042] On the other hand, in the Stirling engine 10, since the low-pressure side is the oil-tight side contrary to the general hydraulic equipment, the high-pressure gas seal 119 needs to prevent the intrusion of oil from the low-pressure side into the high-pressure side. Therefore, when the existing rod seal is used as the high-pressure gas seal 119, oil intrudes from the low-pressure side into the high-pressure side. As a result, the oil is intermittently fed from the low-pressure space 114 to the high-pressure space 115, so that the heat exchanger (the heater heat exchanger 12 and the cooler heat exchanger 14) becomes clogged to cause a decrease in output. In addition, there is a risk that the oil in the crankcase may be exhausted, which causes burning of the drive components.
[0043] In order to solve the above issues and allow the high-pressure gas seal 119 to serve also as an oil seal, in the Stirling engine 10 according to the first embodiment, as shown in
[0044] The component with reference sign “120” illustrated in
[0045] In the configuration of
Second Embodiment
[0046] As described above, in an engine unit 11 of a Stirling engine 10, a cylinder block of a general-purpose internal combustion engine is used, and a piston component of the general-purpose internal combustion engine is used as the crosshead portion 116. At this time, if the piston component of the general-purpose internal combustion engine is used as it is as the crosshead portion 116, when the crosshead portion 116 rises in the low-pressure space 114, the air is compressed in the space above the crosshead portion 116. This generates movement resistance in the crosshead portion 116 to decrease the output of the Stirling engine 10.
[0047] In order to prevent this, the crosshead portion 116 is provided with (preferably a plurality of) through holes 116a penetrating along the sliding direction (see
[0048] In the engine unit 11, an oil circulation system provided in the cylinder block of the general-purpose internal combustion engine is used in order to supply oil to the high-pressure gas seal 119. However, the oil circulation system provided in the general-purpose internal combustion engine (in particular, a splash-type oil circulation system) is originally intended to supply oil to the piston component of the general-purpose internal combustion engine (that is, the crosshead portion 116) and a bearing of a crank mechanism, and is not intended to supply oil to the high-pressure gas seal 119 above the crosshead portion 116.
[0049] On the other hand, providing the through holes 116a in the crosshead portion 116 makes it possible to send the oil scattered in the low-pressure space 114 (in the crankcase) to the portion above the crosshead portion 116 through the through holes 116a, so that the oil can be attached to the piston rod 118 to lubricate the high-pressure gas seal 119. Accordingly, it is possible to prevent abnormal wear of the high-pressure gas seal 119. The through holes 116a are preferably provided at equal angular intervals along the circumferential direction of the crosshead portion 116.
[0050] The piston component of the general-purpose internal combustion engine usually has seal rings serving as a gas seal or an oil seal attached to a side surface of the piston. However, the crosshead portion 116 incorporating this piston component is preferably used with these seal rings removed. Accordingly, it is possible to increase the gap area between the crosshead portion 116 and the cylinder liner that holds the sliding of the crosshead portion 116, and increase the amount of oil transferred from the crankcase to the portion above the crosshead portion 116 through this gap. In addition, since the air can move through the gap between the crosshead portion 116 and the cylinder liner, the movement resistance of the crosshead portion 116 due to the air compression can also be reduced.
Third Embodiment
[0051] In a third embodiment, a preferred example of an oil supply mechanism to a high-pressure gas seal 119 will be described.
[0052] The oil supply mechanism of
[0053] In the oil supply mechanism of
[0054] The oil supply mechanism of
Fourth Embodiment
[0055] Foreign matter (contaminants) may be included in the lubricating oil. In particular, in the case of adopting the splash-type oil supply mechanism, foreign matter may reach a high-pressure gas seal 119, so that the high-pressure gas seal 119 may wear out by sandwiching the foreign matter, or the foreign matter may intrude into a high-pressure space 115. Therefore, as illustrated in
[0056] However, simply providing the dust seal 140 makes the oil accumulated above the dust seal 140 unlikely to flow to the lower portion (the dust seal 140 reduces the speed at which the oil adhering to the surface of the piston rod 118 flows downward). Therefore, the use of the dust seal 140 may cause a phenomenon in which oil is accumulated between the dust seal 140 and the high-pressure gas seal 119 to increase the oil pressure (oil accumulation pressure). In addition, the high-pressure gas seals 119 may be provided in multiple stages (two stages in
[0057] Therefore, the oil supply mechanism in
[0058] If the high-pressure gas seals 119 are provided in multiple stages, in order to prevent the oil accumulation pressure between the high-pressure gas seals 119, a communication path (second communication path) 142 may be provided to connect a portion between the high-pressure gas seals 119 and the high-pressure space 115, and a check valve 143 may be provided on the communication path 142 as shown in
Fifth Embodiment
[0059] In a Stirling engine 10, a part of the amount of heat absorbed from a high-temperature heat source is released to an external environment via a cooler heat exchanger 14. In an exhaust heat recovery Stirling engine intended for exhaust heat recovery in a factory or the like, as a method for using cooler cooling water, external cooling water from installed equipment (customer-side equipment) and a circulation system thereof are generally used. However, such a method causes a burden on the customer, such as cost of cooling water and modification of customer-side equipment (modification of facility for supplying cooling water to the cooler heat exchanger 14).
[0060] On the other hand, the Stirling engine 10 uses a cylinder block of a general-purpose internal combustion engine as a part of the configuration, and usually a diesel engine or the like includes a cooling water circulation system as an existing system. In relation to a fifth embodiment, a Stirling engine 10 including a cooling water circulation system using existing components of a general-purpose internal combustion engine will be described.
[0061]
[0062] As illustrated in
[0063] The cooling water circulation system according to the fifth embodiment can also be used for cooling the components other than the cooler heat exchanger 14. For example, the cooling water circulation system can also be used for cooling a high-pressure gas seal 119 and cooling cylinders 111 in a high-pressure space 115.
[0064] Since the resin-made high-pressure gas seal 119 has a high linear expansion coefficient, there is a concern that the resin-made high-pressure gas seal 119 is thermally expanded by frictional heat to increase the tightening force of a piston rod 118. In this case, the oil film thickness of the oil decreases, and premature wear of the seal occurs. Therefore, the temperature of the high-pressure gas seal 119 is preferably controlled within an appropriate temperature range according to the operating conditions.
[0065] In the cooling water circulation system of
[0066] In this example, the bypass path 161 is capable of bypass-supplying of cooling water at a temperature lower than that of the cooling water path joining the bypass path 161, on the upstream of the water cooling jacket 160. In this configuration, the high-pressure gas seal 119 can be adjusted to an appropriate temperature by regulating the opening degree of the bypass valve 162. Specifically, the cooling effect of the high-pressure gas seal 119 can be enhanced by increasing the opening degree of the bypass valve 162 and increasing the amount of cooling water supplied to the water cooling jacket 160 via the bypass path 161.
[0067] In the cylinder 111 in the high-pressure space 115 of the Stirling engine 10, oil lubrication cannot be performed on the piston 112, so that a metal ring used for an internal combustion engine cannot be used. Therefore, a resin ring having high individual lubricity is adopted for lubrication between the piston 112 and the inner wall of the cylinder 111. However, there is a risk that the resin ring may be lowered in strength or damaged by heat received from the high-pressure space 115.
[0068] Therefore, in the cooling water circulation system of
[0069] In the example of
[0070] The embodiments disclosed herein are illustrative in all respects and do not provide a basis for a limited interpretation. Therefore, the technical scope of the present invention is not to be construed only by the above-described embodiments, but is defined based on the description of the claims. In addition, the present invention includes all modifications equivalent in meaning and scope to the claims.
LIST OF REFERENCE SIGNS
[0071] 10 Stirling engine [0072] 11 Engine unit [0073] 111 Cylinder [0074] 111a High-temperature chamber [0075] 111b Low-temperature chamber [0076] 112 Piston [0077] 113 Crank shaft [0078] 114 Low-pressure space [0079] 115 High-pressure space [0080] 116 Crosshead portion [0081] 116a Through hole [0082] 117 Connecting rod [0083] 118 Piston rod [0084] 119 High-pressure gas seal (gas seal) [0085] 120 O-ring [0086] 130 Gas seal oil feed tank (oil feed tank) [0087] 131 Oil pan (oil collection unit) [0088] 132 High-pressure oil pump (oil pump) [0089] 133 Check valve [0090] 134 Throttle [0091] 135 Oil communication path [0092] 136 Communication port [0093] 140 Dust seal [0094] 141 Communication path (first communication path) [0095] 142 Communication path (second communication path) [0096] 150 Circulation pump [0097] 151 Radiator [0098] 152 Cooling fan [0099] 160 Water cooling jacket [0100] 161 Bypass path [0101] 162 Bypass valve [0102] 163 Water cooling jacket [0103] 12 Heater heat exchanger [0104] 13 Regenerator [0105] 14 Cooler heat exchanger