The goal of this group is to create a DESIGN PROCESS which will allow the creation of a Stirling Engine to fit a specific application using the SOFTWARE TOOLS to allow an engine to be built by persons with an advanced understanding of the Stirling Engine and manual machine tools from readily available materials at a moderate cost.

This group list offers an advanced discussion of Stirling engine theory and especially practice. For purposes of this list, a Stirling engine by definition will have (at the least) a hot side heat exchanger, a cold side heat exchanger and most importantly an identifiable regenerator. List-members comprehension of engineering thermodynamics, and its effects upon Stirling engine design is absolutely necessary.

If you are new to Stirling engine concepts, you are encouraged to visit http://www.sesusa.org and absorb that information instead of joining the list. There are sections at that site for almost every facet of the Stirling engine, including history, theory of operation, books, examples and much more. There are numerous heat engine cycles of a similar nature to the Stirling process. Typically these are called “Hot Air Engines” of which a subset of those are classified as LTD Stirling engines (LTD = Low Temperature Differential). If this is your area of interest, you are invited to join the HotAirEngineSociety (HAES) list at YahooGroups as a place to start ( http://yahoogroups.com/group/HotAirEngineSociety ).

*** It should be noted that this is NOT a list for folks having an idle curiosity about Stirling engines. This not a place to solicit help with a Science Fair Project or help with construction of a Model Stirling Engine. ***