Modified refrigerant compressor as a reciprocating engine for solar thermal power generation

Abstract

The prime mover of a small solar thermal power generation system can be either a turbine or a reciprocating engine. In this paper a case is made for the use of a reciprocating engine instead of a turbine. A new design of valves is described which results in an extremely simple reciprocating engine. It is argued that the efficiency of such an engine would be at least as good as that of a comparable turbine. A one-ton refrigerant compressor was modified to incorporate the valves proposed in order to run it as an engine. The engine was run on compressed air and the pressure-time diagram of this engine has been analysed to evaluate the performance of the new valves. The present engine is compared with a similar engine developed by the Thermo Electron Corporation, U.S.A.