STERLING CYCLE

BASIC ENGINEERING
THERMODYNAMICS
ASSIGNMENT PRESENTATION

SUBMITTED TO ,

Dr. T.P. Ashok Babu

A Stirling engine is a heat engine

operating by cyclic compression and
expansion of air at different
temperaturelevels such that there is a
net conversion of heat energy to
mechanical work

Animation of Stirling cycle

(press on it to play)

NEED FOR THE CYCLE

Carnot

cycle has low mean effective

pressure due to low work output
Hence it is necessary to modify in order
to achieve high mean effective pressure
with complete efficiency
Thus carnot cycle is modified to sterling
cycle

Basic features
It

consists of two isothermal and two

constant volume processes.
Heat addition and rejection takes place
at constant temperature
The cycle is reversible, meaning that if
supplied with mechanical power, it can
function as heat pumpfor heating
orrefrigeration cooling, and even for
cryogeniccooling

apparatus
The

system includes 2 pistons in a

cylinder with a regenerator in the
middle
The working fluid is initially present in
the left chamber
The working fluid is at high pressure and
high temperature
It also consists of heat exchangers

Stirling engine components

Some

of the important components in a

stirling engine are described below;-

HEAT

EXCHANGER;

A heat
exchanger is a balance between high
heat transfer with low viscous pumping
losses and low dead spaces

Regenerator; A regenerator is an internal

heat exchanger and temporary heat store placed
between hot and cold places such that working fluid
passes through it first in one direction then the
other.

HEAT

SINK;A heat sink is typically the

environment at ambient temperature. Sometimes a

radiator is required to transfer heat from engine to
air.

DISPLACER; A displacer is a
special type piston used in beta and
gamma engines to move working gas
back and forth between hot and cold
exchangers.

Configurations of stirling
engine
There are 2 configurations in stirling
engines;
They are explained below
ALPHA TYPE : consists of two pistons in
independent cylinders and gas driven
between hot and cold places.
The alpha stirling engine is shown below

Alpha stirling engine

BETA and GAMMA TYPE:

They

are also known as displacement

type engines
They use insulated mechanical displacer
to push the working gas between hot
and cold sides of the cylinder

BETA STIRLING ENGINE

BETA stirling engines

Pink Hot cylinder
wall
Dark grey Cold
cylinder wall
Yellow Coolant
inlet and outlet
pipes
Dark green
Thermal insulation
separating the two
cylinder ends
Light
greenDisplacer
piston
Dark blue Power
piston
Light blue Linkage
crank and flywheels

A typical late
nineteenth/earl
y twentieth
century stirling
engine

processes
1. phase Isothermal compression, the heat is
transferred to neighbourhood at temperature T
2. phase Transfer or Isochoric compression,
the heat is received from regenerator to working
medium
3. phase Isothermal expansion, the heat is
received from neighbourhood at temperature T2
4. phase Transfer or Isochoric expansion, the
heat is transferred from the working gas to the
regenerator

Expansion
Most of the gas in the system has just
been driven into the hot cylinder. The gas
heats and expands driving both pistons
inward.

Transfer
The gas has expanded. Most of the gas
(about 2/3) is still located in the hot
cylinder. Flywheel momentum carries the
crankshaft the next 90 degrees,
transferring the bulk of the gas to the cool
cylinder.

Contraction
The majority of the expanded gas has
shifted to the cool cylinder. It cools and
contracts, drawing both pistons outward.

Transfer
The contracted gas is still located in the
cool cylinder. Flywheel momentum carries
the crank another 90 degrees,
transferring the gas to back to the hot
cylinder to complete the cycle.

p-v diagram for a sterling

T-S diagram for stirling cycle

Characteristics of the
cycle
Unlike internal combustion engines, a
Stirling cycle does not exchange the
working gas in each cycle, the gas is
permanent
The heat is supplied outside the engine,
so any heat source can be used, e.g.: coal,
gas, solar energy, nuclear power, etc
The pressure changes are very smooth
and its torque is uniform

To achieve competitive efficiency, it needs to

work on high pressures which cause
tremendous problems of sealing
The working fluid has to be an ideal gas
Helium or hydrogen are typically used due to
their high conductivity and low molecular
masses which lead to fast heat transfer

CALCULATION OF WORK DONE:

Net work done= heat supplied heat rejected
Heat supplied=
Heat rejected=

=[]
where - max temperature
- min temperature

Efficiency of the engine :

=
=

1-

Coefficient of performance;
The COP of heat pump is given as follows
=
Similarly for refrigeration cycle COP is
=

PROBLEM PROVIDED
A system executes a cyclic process consisting of a 4 processes . Assume
air as a system. At state point 1 the pressure is 97 KN/mand 50C. A
compression process is taking place following the law to reach the state
2. The volume of the system at state 2 is reduced by 5 times the initial
volume . Then the system is heated at constant volume by adding heat
of 930KJ/Kg. Find the temperature and pressure at state point 3.
From state point 3 the system expands according to the law to reach
state point 4 . Then heat is removed from the system at constant
volume at the rate of 488KJ/Kg till it comes back to its initial volume at
state point 3 and 4 . Find the net work and heat interaction. Find the
mean effective pressure. Is it done by the system or done on the system?
Take for air =1.4 and =1 KJ/Kg K. If the cycle is reversed find COP of the
system . Draw the p-v and T-s diagrams .

GIVEN:

C program output:

SUBMITTED BY
AKHIL AHMED S R
BONDA NIRANJAN KUMAR
VIVEK AVINASH CHANDE

11M111
11M138
11M139