Because the engine works on a difference of two external temperature sources, any heat source can power the engine. This includes combustion, geothermal, solar and nuclear sources. The heat supply is continuous making the emissions easier to deal with. However, engines working on a small temperature differenetial are extremely large for the power they produce. The radiators can also be very large in order to keep a maximum on the temperature difference. All this leads to a very bulky engine.
The bearings and lubricants are located on the cold side of the engine. This means infrequent matience and long lasting machines. Also, the machine itself contains very few working pieces-- there are no valves or fine moving parts. However, the start up time for Stirling Engines is relatively long. This problem is removed by leaving it as a continuous constant speed system.
They use a single phase working fluid which does not have to be at high pressures. This removes many risks of explosion and less machine wear.Disadvantages of Stirling engines. The best working fluid is hydrogen which is rather dangerous and will leak through convential metals. A close second is helium with similar properties but in an inert fashion. Air can be uses as the working fluid but it is not too effective.
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