Development of Test Rigs to Investigate Fluid Flow and Heat Transfer in a Stirling Engine Heater Head

To study the fluid flow and heat transfer in a Stirling Engine Heater Head (HH), two benchtop test rigs were designed and manufactured. One is to evaluate flow loss in oscillating flow conditions and another is to evaluate heat transfer in unidirectional flow conditions. The main test section-heater head, is additively manufactured; the test section also consists of an additively manufactured regenerator and a heat rejecter. For fluid flow test rig, a linear actuator from Parker generates and maintains the oscillating flow by driving a piston in sinusoidal motion. The piston is sealed against the charged fluid using Trelleborg seals. At room temperature, by varying the charge pressure, frequency, and stroke length, multiple test conditions can be achieved. For heat transfer test rig, a Gast’s high-flow, low-pressure compressed air blower is used to deliver the flow. The data acquisition (DAQ) is comprised of National Instruments’ cDAQ and modules to measure the piston’s motion in real time, pressure with Kistler’s pressure transducers, and the temperatures with OMEGA’s thermocouples, located at both the inlet and outlet of the heater head. Presented also are the testing procedures, some expected results, and the Sage outputs that will be used to check against the measured data from the test rigs, including some preliminary results. Based on the preliminary results, pressure and position curves were sinusoidal, which is expected of oscillating motions, meaning the test rig is operating well.