In 1816, Robert Stirling patented the "Heat Economiser, which could take concentrated heat from anywhere and turn it into dynamic energy through the use of two pistons. But steam, as the working gas, was an inefficient and dangerous power source when Stirling started. The Stirling patent was sold to NV Philips for development of a back-up generator and NV Philips re-licensed the patent to FFV, a Swedish state-owned manufacturer of torpedo's and other weapon systems.
The FFV subsidiaries of Stirling Power Systems (Sweden) AB and Stirling Power Systems Corporation (SPS) in Ann Arbor, MI, USA continued to develop the engine technology for use as primarily co-generation power sources.
As the SPS Vice President of Marketing and Administration, I was personally involved in the development and marketing of the V160-powered Stirling co-generation sets for mobile recreational vehicles (RVs), for military operational field usage, and as a residential gas-fired co- generation heat-pump package (sponsored by the Gas Research Institute, Chicago, IL).
Other applications included biomass-fueled V160 power packs, as well as a solar tracking dish which concentrates the sun's rays to the Solar Power Pack.
Working with a Wall Street Investment Banker, SPS was sold in 1986 to the McDonnell Douglas Corporation. See Crain's Detroit Business, March 24, 1986, for more information.
The Stirling cycle engine continues to be developed primarily through energy industry corporations and associations to provide alternative fuel co-generation power for residential and mobile applications. For more information, read:
SAE (Society of Automotive Engineers, Inc) Technical Paper Series 860881, "The Advanced Gas-Fired Stirling Engine as a Heat-Pump Drive" by Lennart Johansson, John Agno and Worth H. Percival, Stirling Power Systems
ASAE (American Society of Agricultural Engineers) Paper No. 81-1090, "Multifueled Stirling Engine for a CoGeneration System" by Lennart Johansson and John Agno, Stirling Power Systems
"V160 STIRLING ENGINE...for a Total Energy System" presented to The 5th International Symposium on Automotive Propulsion Systems by Stirling Power Systems, Ann Arbor, MI, USA and FFV, Linkoping, Sweden