Text: The secret to the stirling cycle is the 90 deg phasing of the pistons which creates the 4 phases of stirling cycle. Phase1 Pistons move apart (expansion of the heated internal gas) Phase2 Pistons move together moving internal gas to the cold side. (cooling cycle) Phase3 Pistons move toward each other (contraction of the cooling internal gas) Phase4 Pistons move together moving the internal gas to the hot side.(heating cycle) Phase1 (again) 4 piston phases X 90 deg = 360 deg or one revolution. Phase2 and Phase4 are neutral phases (but suffer from friction and gas resistance) and do no work. Phase1 and Phase3 are the power producing parts of the complete cycle but are only producing power through half of the complete cycle which accounts for the low power output as half of each cycle is neutral. James E. Andreasen nettech@medclinic.net

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