A Free-Piston Stirling Engine Heat Pump (FPSE/HP) for residential applications has been under development for the past five years. The system consists of a natural gas combustor, free-piston Stirling engine, and a variable-stroke resonant piston refrigerant compressor. The compressor is linked to the engine via a unique hydraulic transmission that provides for both efficient power transfer and hermetic sealing between the engine working fluid (helium) and the compressor refrigerant.

This development effort has led to a breadboard heat pump power module, engine/transmission/compressor, that has undergone a comprehensive test program to evaluate the performance of an FPSE/HP and to judge its potential for further development. The results obtained from this testing are presented in this paper.

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