The Thermodynamics Analysis of Thermal Efficiency of the Minto Engine

As a liquid piston heat engine, Minto engine converts low-grade heat energy into mechanical energy. In this paper, the basic equation of thermal efficiency of Minto engine is modified. And a new design is proposed to improve the original Minto engine. With the modified equation, 9 different materials are chosen to estimate the two kinds of Minto engine. Simulation results show that the thermal efficiency of original Minto engine strongly depends on the material properties. While for the improved Minto engine, the thermal efficiency of different materials does not differ greatly about 6%~7%, (the Carnot efficiency is 17%) operating between 293.15 K and 353.15 K. Use liquid of high density under this condition, and the size of the engine will be reduced to 1/10 compared with pure liquid.