Abstract
KUBOTA has been developing a gas engine-driven Stirling heat pump using both engine shaft power and engine exhaust heat. This machine is a heat-assisted Stirling heat pump and is constructed as two sets of three-cylinder machines, each a combination of two Stirling subsystems; one a power producer and one a heat pump. This paper describes the performances of the heat pump composed of 6 cylinders. The cylinder arrangement is symmetric with respect to the shaft and the pistons are connecting by Scotch-yoke mechanism with linear bearings for improving mechanical efficiency. The phase of hot-side piston to absorb heat can be set to suit the engine heat balance. It was shown by the performance tests that the heat pump had high COP and could construct a high performance heat supply system.
