Multi-fuel Burner for Stirling Engine Based on Innovative Component Development

Developing a multi-fuel capable burner with an electronic controls subsystem for a Stirling engine represents an opportunity to develop a power source capable of running on a variety of military fuels. TIAX has developed a Stirling engine power plant technology, an operational third-generation laboratory prototype. The existing engine prototype has a multi-fuel compatible vaporizing burner with a 1.5-5 kW variable burn. There are technical limitations in atomizing less than 5 kW of heavy fuels (atomizers suffer from orifice clogging) and in vaporizing heavy fuels (fuel vaporization temperatures and coke-formation temperatures overlap). However, the TIAX-developed vaporizing burner achieves a clean, uniform flame with negligible coke formation after hours of use with a variety of fuels. In this project we will further optimize the burner flow field for improved thermal efficiency and heat recuperation. We will also modify our electronic controls subsystem to allow for multi-fuel, switch “on-the-fly” use. This project will improve the TRL of the TIAX Stirling engine. If this project is successfully implemented for military direct power and hybrid power applications, then commercial manufacturers would adopt the same features for applications in recreational vehicles/cabins and emergency vehicles/rescue stations as a compact source for combined heat and power output.