Objectives

1. To understand the thermal cycle of Stirling Engine.

2. To describe the mechanism of Stirling Engine.
3. To determine the efficiency of Stirling Engine.
Abstract
The Stirling engine is submitted to a load by means of an adjustable torque meter, or by a
coupled generator. Rotation frequency and temperature changes of the Stirling engine are
observed. Effective mechanical energy and power, as well as effective electrical power, are
assessed as a function of rotation frequency. A Stirling engine is a heat engine that operates
by cyclic compression and expansion of air or other gas (the working fluid) at different
temperatures, such that there is a net conversion of heat energy to mechanical work. The
amount of energy converted to work per cycle can be determined with the assistance of the
pV diagram. The efficiency of the Stirling engine can be estimated. In this experiment, we
have to determine the efficiency of Stirling Engine and to understand the thermal cycle of the
engine. We separate procedure into five parts which to determine thermal output power,
calibration of pressure sensor, total energy calculation, effective mechanical energy and
effective electrical energy. Each part has their own procedures. From this experiment, we get
the thermal output power which is 283.175 W and total effective energy, Wpv 633.6 mJ
obtained from area under the graph. The value of effective mechanical energy at 1x10^-3 Nm
is 6.283185 mJ. The total efficiency of Stirling engine is 0.43%. The effective mechanical
energy increased as the rotational frequency is decreased while for electrical power increased
as rotational frequency increased.

Result and Calculation

Part A Thermal Output Power

Duration t = 38.47 min

Amount of alcohol burned V = 44 ml 12.5 ml = 31.5 ml
Alcohol density p = 0.83 g/ml
Specific thermal power h = 25 kJ/g

i. Mass of alcohol burnt per second

(31.5 ) .(0.83 )
=
= 11.327 . 103
(38.47)(60)

ii. Thermal power of the burner

PH = (11.327 x 10^-3 g/s) . (25 kJ/g) = 283.175 W
Part C Total Energy Calculation

The oscilloscopes X measuring range is of 0.5 V/div. The pVnT measuring device displays
the following voltages for the Stirling engine volumes (Vmin, Vmax are equipment
constants):

Vmin = 32 cm3 Umin = 0 V

Vmax = 44 cm3 Umax = 5 V
V = 12 cm3 U = 5 V

Thus, the scale factor for the X axis is 2.4 cm3/V or respectively 1.2 cm3/div. With the used
pressure sensor, the oscilloscopes Y measuring range was 0.2 V/div (with other pressure
sensors it may be 0.5 V/div). Based upon the pressure calibration of Fig. 4, one finds a scale
factor of 329 hPa/V or respectively 66 hPa/div for the Y axis.

Reading the voltages for maximum and minimum pressures with the oscilloscope being
operated in the DC mode, the pressure values for the pV diagram can also be expressed in
Pascal. In general, the ground line will be situated near p0.

Part D Effective Mechanical Energy

i. Calculation of following information

Wm = 2 . . M
= 2 (1x10^-3) = 6.283185 mJ

Pm = Wm . f
= 6.283185 mJ (19.4 Hz) = 121.8938 mW

Wpv = pV curve area

The calculation in the graph paper

Wfr = Wpv - Wm
= 633.6 mJ 6.283185 Mj = 627.3168 mJ

ii. Calculation of thermal energy

W H = PH / f
= 283.175 W/ 16.3333 Hz = 17.34 J

iii. Calculation of total efficiency

n = (Wm / WH ) x 100%
= (75.39822 mJ / 17.34 J ) x 100% = 0.43%
Part E Effective Electrical Energy

Pe = U x I
= 3.26 V x 0.09 mA = 0.2934 mW

Discussion

Based on this experiment, for the part A, we find the thermal output power by using
the amount of alcohol burned and time taken. Amount of alcohol burned that we get is 31.5
ml and it took 38.47 mins to finish the experiment. Thermal power that had been used for the
whole experiment is 283.175 W. There may be some error because we do the experiment
many times. For part B, we calibrate the pressure sensor to measure the relative pressure as
compared to the atmospheric pressure. We assumed that change of state is isothermal with
pV=constant. For the compression part, at 20ml, the pressure is at atmospheric pressure
which is 795 hPa and its voltage 0 V. As we decreased the volume of air 1 ml the pressure
increased to 836.8421 hPa and voltage increase from 0 to 0.2 V. We decreased the volume
until 15ml, the pressure kept increasing until 1060 hPa and voltage increased to 1.4 V. For
the expansion part, we increased the volume by 1 ml from 15 ml to 20 ml, at 15 ml, the
pressure is 195 hPa and voltage is 0 V but at 20ml the pressure dropped to 596.25 hPa and
voltage decreased to -1.2 V. From the graph, we can say that the voltage is directly
proportional to the pressure as the temperature kept constant. The slope of the graph is
y=0.0055 4.3756. For part C, we observe the pattern that form on the oscilloscope and
redraw in the graph paper. From the graph, we get the shape, then calculate the total effective
energy, Wpv which is area curve under the graph. The value of Wpv that we get from the
graph is 633.6 mJ. For part D, we carry out the effective mechanical energy by using the
torque meter, we took several random torque measurements and record the temperature,
rotational frequency. In Figure 2, show the graph that we plotted based on the data that we
collected. Graph of effective mechanical energy, Wm vs rotational frequency, n, the Wm
increasing as the rotational frequency decreasing. While for friction energy per cycle Wfr vs
rotational frequency, Wfr decreasing as the rotational frequency decreasing. Next, for total
effective energy, Wpv vs rotational frequency, the graph show Wpv increasing as the
rotational frequency decreasing. In addition, for part E, we carry out the effective electrical
energy by using large and small strap wheel. For large strap wheel, the graph shows power
decreasing as the rotational frequency increase. While for small strap wheel the power
increase gradually as the rotational frequency increase.
Conclusion

In conclusion, we able to understand the thermal cycle of Stirling Engine from this
experiment. We also get to know that the thermal energy can be change to mechanical and
electrical energy. We can relate the mechanical energy is increasing as the rotational
frequency decreasing. While the electrical power decreasing as rotational frequency increase
for large strap wheel but the small strap wheel the electrical power increase as the rotational
frequency increase. The thermal efficiency of this Stirling Engine is 0.43%

References

1. Lab Manual MECH 2118 (Syed noh syed abu bakar, 1st edition sep 2017).
We separate procedure into five parts which to determine thermal output power,
calibration of pressure sensor, total energy calculation, effective mechanical energy
and effective electrical energy. Each part has their own procedures.

2. "Stirling Engines", G. Walker (1980), Clarenden Press, Oxford, page 1: "A Stirling
engine is a mechanical device which operates on a *closed* regenerative
thermodynamic cycle, with cyclic compression and expansion of the working fluid at
different temperature levels."