Experimental characterization of an innovative low-temperature small-scale Rotary Displacer Stirling Engine

•A novel, low-temperature Rotary Displacer Stirling Engine prototype is investigated.•Effects of working fluid, phase angle, heat input and charge pressure are addressed.•125° phase angle provides more power than the theoretically optimum 90° phase angle.•Dimensionless Beale and West numbers are used for performance comparison.•Initial results suggest a promising potential for Rotary Displacer Stirling Engine.