The Advanced Gas-Fired Stirling Engine as a Heat Pump Drive

The special attributes of the modern gas-fired V160 Stirling engine, from Stirling Power Systems Corporation, are discussed, and its advantages as a heat pump drive presented. The program, aimed at the light commercial market in the 10 ton range, is sponsored by the Gas Research Institute. The main subsystems of the V160 external combustion Stirling engine are discussed and performance data are included. Contractor activities are listed and preliminary results are given of a computer based heat pump performance model, comparing a gas furnace, an electric motor driven heat pump and a V160 engine driven heat pump.