Analysis of the Principle of Stirling Engine and State-of-art Applications

Abstract. As a matter of fact, the Stirling engine, with its origins dating back to 1816, has undergone significant development over the centuries, which has become an inevitable of heat engines. Contemporarily, it has already been widely used from agriculture irrigation to space exploration. With this in mind, this study will offer a detail analysis of the principle as well as applications for such engines. In reality, Stirling engine shows its potential and advantages in those areas, possessing advantages in high efficiency and environmentally friendly. Nevertheless, it also has some drawbacks on high costs, slow dynamic response, and complex structure according to the analysis. This study systematically goes through the historical development, working principles, advanced technologies as well as the state-of-art applications. Based on the evaluations, the current limitations as well as future prospects of Stirling engines will be demonstrated at the same time. Overall, these results shed light on guiding further exploration of Stirling engines.