Numerical Simulation and Performance Evaluation of Stirling Engine Cycle

A thermodynamic based model was developed. The influences of thermo-physical parameters on the Stirling engine performance were investigated. The analysis is mainly performed inside the compression and expansion cylinders. The instantaneous temperatures of the working fluid inside the engine cylinders, and the interconnected heat exchangers were investigated. The system of governing equations (mass and energy) was developed and employed to investigate the variations of all the process parameters. The step-by-step crank angle intervals were applied to investigate the pressure, temperature, volume, mass flow, and convective heat transfer during the compression and expansion processes. Losses of mass due to the leakage, and energy losses were investigated under the adopted working conditions and phase difference. Variation of work generation due to the leakage of gas through the clearance between the piston and cylinder was evaluated. The numerical solution was adequately performed with a large number of iterations and for each angular interval. A noticeable stable evolutional behavior of the simulated parameters was observed. The stable evolutional behavior of the simulated parameters confirms the model suitability, the capability of pointing out the engine performance, and the capability of converting the thermal energy into useful mechanical work. Additionally, the use of other related correlations ensures the model accuracy, while the resulted small differences are within the expected ranges. In comparison with similar studies, the calculation procedure can be used to investigate the engine performance under different operating conditions.