ME 512: Experiments in Fluid Mechanics and Heat Transfer The Ohio State University

Winter 2011 Department of Mechanical and Aerospace Engineering

Shaurya Prakash Michelle Wilson
Laboratory Manual

Experiment 2: A Model Energy Conversion System: Operation

and Analysis of a Stirling Engine
Background:

Mechanical engineers for the most part deal with energy conversion in various forms.
Starting in the last century, the most common was transformation or conversion of
thermal energy to mechanical work. With the progress in science and technology direct
conversion of heat to electricity has become more common. Other systems involve
converting electrical energy to mechanical work, nuclear and chemical to electrical or
mechanical forms, etc. It is therefore essential to learn about energy conversion systems.
A Stirling engine offers one such avenue toward energy conversion systems.
A Stirling engine is a heat engine whose operation is dependent on the
temperature difference between its top and bottom plate. For our particular engines, the
displacer piston and the power piston are 90° out of phase with each other. When the
displacer piston is in a position such that the majority of the working fluid is closer to the
hot plate, the working fluid will heat up and begin to expand. As the gas expands, the
pressure will increase and the power piston will rise. As the power piston rises, the
flywheel will begin to rotate and the displacer piston will move as well (since the two
pistons are 90° out of phase). When the displacer piston moves such that the majority of
the working fluid is closer to the cold plate, the gas will cool and contract. This causes
the pressure to decrease, and the power piston to fall (moves such that the volume of the
working gas decreases). When the power piston drops, the displacer piston will move
again. The majority of the working fluid will move to the hot side of the plate, and the
cycle will be repeated. For our Stirling engines, a shaft is attached to a flywheel. This
shaft is also connected to a dynamometer. When the dynamometer is turned on, it applies
a magnetic torque to counter the rotation of the shaft. For our lab, this magnetic torque is
transmitted to the load cell by a lever arm.

Figure 1: Stirling Engine and Dynamometer

1
ME 512: Experiments in Fluid Mechanics and Heat Transfer The Ohio State University
Winter 2011 Department of Mechanical and Aerospace Engineering
Shaurya Prakash Michelle Wilson
Laboratory Manual

In order to demonstrate conversion of thermal energy contained within the

expanding/contracting gas, this laboratory experiment will lift a known quantity of mass
showing conversion to direct mechanical work. Consequently, another aspect of our setup
is a belt attached between the engine and a transmission. The output of this transmission
is connected to a pulley and a metallic block with known weight. When the belt is
engaged and put in tension, for the transmission causes the input shaft to rotate
transferring the energy from the gas. For every 746 revolutions of the input shaft, the
output shaft will complete one revolution.

Figure 2: Stirling Engine, Dynamometer, and Transmission Setup

In order to perform a thermodynamic analysis on the Stirling engine, some information

must be known about the engine. If we assume that the leak rate of the cylinders is
negligible, T =(Th+Tc)/2, and P = (Pmax + Pmin ) /2 , the mass of the working fluid and the
time-dependent temperature of the working fluid can be found using the equation of state
(Equation 1) for an ideal gas. In Equation 1, 𝑇� is the average temperate inside the
engine, 𝑃� is the average pressure inside the engine, 𝑉� is the average volume inside the
engine, m is the mass of the working fluid inside the engine, M is the molecular weight of
the gas inside the engine, and 𝑅∘ is the universal gas constant. P(t), V(t), and T(t) are the
time varying pressure, volume, and temperature inside the engine, respectively. :
m m
PV = R0 T , P(t)V (t) = R0T(t) (1)
M M

2
ME 512: Experiments in Fluid Mechanics and Heat Transfer The Ohio State University
Winter 2011 Department of Mechanical and Aerospace Engineering
Shaurya Prakash Michelle Wilson
Laboratory Manual

In order to determine the mass of the working fluid, the volume occupied by the working
fluid must also be known. The time-dependent volume occupied by the working fluid
inside the engine changes as the power piston rises and falls. This changing volume is
represented by the following equation:
∆V  2π (t − t * ) 
V (t) = V + cos  (2)
2  τ 
V =(Vmax+ Vmin)/2 and ∆V =(Vmax- Vmin) are the average volume and the displacement
volume, respectively, t* is the instant when the power piston is at the top dead center, and
τ is the period of the power piston motion, τ=1/ν, where ν is the frequency in Hz (the
number of revolutions per second). The volume occupied by the working fluid is equal to
the volume of the displacement cylinder minus the volume of the displacer piston (both
constant values), plus the volume of the power cylinder under the power piston (which is
varying with time).
By understanding how the volume occupied by the working fluid is varying with time,
the cycle work and power on the working fluid can be computed from the following
equations:
𝑡+𝜏
𝑡+𝜏 ∫ 𝑃(𝑡)𝑑𝑉(𝑡) 𝑡+𝜏
𝑊𝑡ℎ𝑒𝑟𝑚𝑎𝑙 = ∫𝑡 𝑃(𝑡)𝑑𝑉(𝑡) , 𝑊̇𝑡ℎ𝑒𝑟𝑚𝑎𝑙 = 𝑡 = 𝜈 �∫𝑡 𝑃(𝑡)𝑑𝑉(𝑡)�
𝜏

(3)
where P(t) and V(t) are time-dependent pressure and volume inside the cylinder. The
mechanical power out can be calculated from the weight reading on the load scale, the
torque arm length, and the frequency, using equation (4). In equation (4), w is product of
the mass on the load cell (less the mass when no load is applied on the torque meter) and
gravity. The product of w and the length of torque arm, L, is the torque or ℑ.
2𝜋
𝑊̇𝑚𝑒𝑐ℎ𝑎𝑛𝑖𝑐𝑎𝑙 = ℑ𝜔 = 𝑤𝐿 ∙ 2𝜋𝜈 = 𝑤𝐿 ∙
𝜏
(4)
Material properties (all at T=300 K):
Air: k=0.0263 W/m∙K, cp=1007 J/kg∙K, ρ=1.16 kg/m3, μ=1.85∙10-5 N∙s/m2, ν=1.59∙10-
5
m2/s, α=2.25∙10-5 m2/s, Pr=0.71
Helium: k=0.152 W/m∙K, cp=5193 J/kg∙K, ρ=0.1625 kg/m3,μ=1.99∙10-5 N∙s/m2,
-5 2 -5 2
ν=12.2∙10 m /s, α=18∙10 m /s, Pr=0.68
Conversion factors:
1 psi = 6894.6 Pa
1 in = 2.54∙10-2 m
1 in3 = 1.6387∙10-5 m3
R0=8314.34 J/kmole∙K

3
ME 512: Experiments in Fluid Mechanics and Heat Transfer The Ohio State University
Winter 2011 Department of Mechanical and Aerospace Engineering
Shaurya Prakash Michelle Wilson
Laboratory Manual

Molecular weight of air: M=28.97

Molecular weight of Helium (He): M=4 g/mol
T(ºC) = T(K) – 273.15
Other Information:
Vmax=15.34 in3
Vmin=15.15 in3

Week 1. Engine using Air and He as a working fluid

1. Several steps must be done prior to performing the experiment. First, make sure that
the belt connecting the engine shaft and the transmission is disengaged, such that the
flywheel turns freely. Plug the heat sink in, and leave it on for the remainder of the
experiment. Check to see that there is a slight amount of slack in the pulley connected
to the mass.
2. Open LabVIEW. Make sure the signals from the thermocouples measuring the engine
temperatures (hot plate and cold plate), from the engine pressure gage, from the
photodiode monitoring the RPM, and from the load scale are monitored. The load
scale reading should be between 5 and 10 grams. This will be your pre-load. If it is
not between 5 and 10 grams, adjust it. See your TA for specific instructions for
adjusting the pre-load.

3. Prior to performing step 3, it is important for the user to know that they should be
timing how long the hot plate is on, each and every time they turn it on. Turn on the
control knob on the hot plate all the way up and wait until the thermocouple in the
bottom plate of the engine shows a temperature of 100ºC. You should be recording
the amount of time the hot plate is on using your stopwatch. The hot plates used in
this experiment supply 740 Watts. Immediately after the bottom plate shows a
temperature of 100ºC, turn the knob all the way down to turn the heater off. Note:
Remember to stop timing on your stopwatch when you turn the hot plate off, and
record the length of time it was on. If you leave the heater on, this would damage the
engine. Wait until the hot plate temperature reaches a quasi-steady state value,
approximately T=150ºC. After this, the hot and cold plate temperature would continue
to rise gradually, by a few degrees per minute. Safety warning: Make sure heater is
turned off to prevent damage to the Stirling Engine. Also, remember the hotplate is
very hot to the touch and will cause severe burns.
4. While waiting for the bottom plate to heat up, it is important to note that the
remainder of the experiment should be completed in a timely manner. Ideally, all of
your measurements should be taken at the same temperature differential between TH
and TC. However, this is very difficult to control with our set-up After the bottom
plate reaches its maximum temperature (around 150 ºC),, it will gradually begin to
cool as the top plate begins to heat up. In reality, you need to reduce the plate
temperature variation between the runs. Experiment warning: Timing for appropriate

4
ME 512: Experiments in Fluid Mechanics and Heat Transfer The Ohio State University
Winter 2011 Department of Mechanical and Aerospace Engineering
Shaurya Prakash Michelle Wilson
Laboratory Manual

experimental data collection is essential. Follow instructions by TA and instructors

carefully.

5. If the engine does not start working by itself, push the flywheel gently. Experiment
warning: The engines are delicate – please do not use excessive force and damage
the engine. Your data collection depends on the proper working of the engines.

6. Do not power the torque meter. At these conditions, the electrical motor in the torque
meter is idling, and no load is applied to the engine shaft (except for friction in the
bearings, viscous drag on displacer piston, etc.). Note that the load scale should show
non-zero offset.

7. Start data acquisition in LabVIEW. The data will automatically collect for 10
seconds. On this short time scale, the hot plate and cold plate temperatures would
remain nearly constant (they may change by 1-2 degrees). Write down the operating
conditions and the data file name.

8. Data should now be taken by applying the load on the torque meter. Adjust the load
on the torque meter to “30” and start data acquisition. The torque meter will apply the
retarding torque to the engine shaft and slow it down. This load is not applied until
the data collection button is pressed. It may take a few seconds until steady state is
reached after the load is applied. You should be reducing the data after it has reached
steady state. At steady state conditions, the reading on the load scale times the torque
arm will be equal to the retarding torque applied to the engine. Write down the
operating conditions and the data file name.

9. Increase the load on the torque meter to “60” and repeat Step 8. Repeat the run at
“90” as well. You will use these results to obtain the RPM – torque curve when
reducing the data. When the load becomes too high, the engine may stall.

10. Repeat the previous runs (steps 6-10) to make sure the results are reproducible, and
that steady state is reached after the load is applied. In total for air, you should have 2
sets of data collected for each specified load setting and 2 sets of data for the zero
load case.

11. Now the same data should be taken with Helium instead of air. Connect the intake
line to the helium tank. Open the exhaust clamp. Bend the exhaust nozzle on the
helium tank slightly and gradually replace the air in the cylinder with Helium. This
requires fairly low Helium flow rate through the engine. Note: The TA will
demonstrate correct operation of valves to allow control over He flow rates. High
flow rate would adversely affect the motion of the displacer and may stop it for a few
seconds. After the engine is flushed with Helium, close the clamp.

5
ME 512: Experiments in Fluid Mechanics and Heat Transfer The Ohio State University
Winter 2011 Department of Mechanical and Aerospace Engineering
Shaurya Prakash Michelle Wilson
Laboratory Manual

12. You are now ready to take the measurements with Helium. To take these
measurements, repeat steps 6 through 10. An important point to note is that you may
need to refill the engine with Heluim before each run since the engine will have a
slight leak due to imperfections in machining a real system and Helium in the
cylinder will be gradually diluted with room air. In this experiment, we do not
quantify the leak rate. If you notice that your engine is slowing down when no load is
applied to the torque meter, add more Helium.

13. During the measurements, if you notice that the hot and cold plate temperature have
changed significantly (due to heat transfer from the hot plate to the cold plate), you
may need to turn on the hot plate. Ideally, the measurements should be taken with
same temperature differential between the hot and cold plate. Remember, if you do
need to turn on the hot plate, record the amount of time the hot plate is on.

14. To start the next part of the experiment, set the load on the torque meter to “0.” Open
and close the exhaust clamp such that the engine fills with air.

15. At this point in the experiment, the bottom plate temperature has likely dropped
below 150ºC. In order to complete the last portion of the experiment, the bottom plate
temperature should be approximately 165ºC. Again, remembering to start your
stopwatch, turn on your hot plate. Only leave your hot plate on for short increments
of time (no more than one minute at a time), since even after your turn it off, the
bottom plate temperature will still rise.

16. Once your bottom plate temperature has reached 160ºC, engage the belt connecting
the engine shaft and the transmission. You will probably need to adjust the position of
the transmission stand in order to tighten the belt. The tension in the belt should not
be so loose that the belt continuously “chatters,” but it should not be so tight that the
it causes the engine to stall. See your TA if you need further guidance for adjusting
the belt.

17. Once the tension in the belt is properly set, every 746 turns of the input drive results
in one turn of the output drive. The output drive is connected to a pulley that is lifting
a weight. There should be some slack in the pulley that is lifting the weight, so the
weight should not lift off the base immediately. As soon as the weight lifts off the
base, you should start your stopwatch and the data collection in LabVIEW. Record
the distance the weight travels each minute for 3 minutes. During the 3 minutes, you
should also be acquiring data in LabVIEW at the following specified times: t = 0
minutes, t = 1 minute, and t = 2 minutes, and t = 3 minutes.

6
ME 512: Experiments in Fluid Mechanics and Heat Transfer The Ohio State University
Winter 2011 Department of Mechanical and Aerospace Engineering
Shaurya Prakash Michelle Wilson
Laboratory Manual

18. Measure the length of the torque arm, L.

19. All data files will be automatically saved in “My Documents” > “LabVIEW data.”
Inside the lvm files, the first column of data is the time, the second and third columns
are the plate temperatures, the fourth column is the absolute pressure in psi, the fifth
column is the voltage from the photodiode, and the sixth column is the load on the
load scale in grams. The voltage from the photodiode can be used to determine the
engine’s RPM. The downward spike in voltage occurs when the power piston is at top
dead center.

Data Analysis
Steps 1 through 13 should be done for both Air and Helium. All results should be
stated in SI units, unless the questions specifies otherwise.
No load applied to the torque meter
1. Plot hot plate and cold plate temperatures measured without the load, determine the
time-averaged temperature of the hot and cold plate during the run. Calculate the
average temperature of the working fluid inside the engine as the arithmetic average
of the hot and cold plate temperatures.

2. From the photodiode signal, determine an instant when the power piston is at the top
dead center, t* (this occurs at the instant when the photodiode generates a signal
pulse). From the same signal, determine the engine rotation period, τ, and the RPM
(by simply counting the number of pulses over several seconds). When you evaluate
t*, the engine rotation period, and the RPM, be sure that you are only considering
the data after the engine has reached steady state.

3. Calculate the time-dependent volume of the working fluid inside the engine using Eq.
(2). Plot the time dependent pressure, volume, and photodiode signal on the same
plot. An example of this is shown below. On the plot, also denote the value of t* that
you used in your volume equation. Make another plot showing the time vs.
photodiode signal/max(photodiode signal) and time vs. volume/max(volume). An
example of this plot is also shown below. Calculate the time-averaged volume and
pressure during the run. Calculate the mass of the working fluids using the first of
Eqs. (1).
Further information for understanding your data: The plot shown below is a
sample of the volume, pressure, and photodiode signal versus time.

7
ME 512: Experiments in Fluid Mechanics and Heat Transfer The Ohio State University
Winter 2011 Department of Mechanical and Aerospace Engineering
Shaurya Prakash Michelle Wilson
Laboratory Manual

To further understand your data, let’s take a closer look at the photodiode signal
and the volume. When no load is applied to the torque meter, the data collected
should be relatively steady. In the following plot, the volume has been divided by
the maximum volume and the photodiode signal has been divided by the
maximum photodiode signal to show how well the downward spikes in the
photodiode signal align with the maximum volume. The downward spikes occur
when the power piston is at top dead center, so the volume should be maximum at
the downward voltage spikes.

8
ME 512: Experiments in Fluid Mechanics and Heat Transfer The Ohio State University
Winter 2011 Department of Mechanical and Aerospace Engineering
Shaurya Prakash Michelle Wilson
Laboratory Manual

In contrast, when a given load is applied (this happens at the start of data
collection), it takes the engine some time to respond. The plot below shows an
instance of this. The frequency of the engine is higher at the beginning of the run
than it is at the end of the run, so the period, τ , is shorter at the beginning of the
run. As seen below, the maximum volumes do not align with the downward
spikes in the photodiode signal at the beginning of the run. This is because the
period, τ , used in Eq. (2) was found by considering the average period after the
engine had reached steady state, and the t* value used in Eq. (2) was also chosen
after the engine had reached steady state.

4. Calculate the work done by the working fluid ( W thermal ) and the power produced by
the working fluid ( WÝthermal ) using Eq. (3). The integral in Eq. (3) should be evaluated
over several periods and divided by the number of periods sampled. In order to
evaluate this integral, you will need to use a technique such as the trapezoidal rule. Be
sure that you are evaluating this integral after the engine has reached steady state (the
downward spikes in your photodiode signal should align with the maximum volumes
over the cycles you are evaluating). Include a plot of pressure vs. volume (P(t) vs.
V(t)) for the periods which you are calculating the integral over.

5. Calculate and plot the time-dependent temperature inside the engine using the second
of Eqs. (1). A sample plot is shown below:

9
ME 512: Experiments in Fluid Mechanics and Heat Transfer The Ohio State University
Winter 2011 Department of Mechanical and Aerospace Engineering
Shaurya Prakash Michelle Wilson
Laboratory Manual

6. Plot the time-depended offset load on the load scale. Calculate the time-averaged load
offset. Be sure you are calculating this average after the engine has reached steady
state.

With load applied to the torque meter

7. Repeat steps 1-5. You only need to make plots discussed in steps 1-5 above for the
“60” value of the torque meter load. You should write a MATLAB code to reduce the
data obtained during multiple runs. You do not need to show plots for the “30” and
“90” load settings for questions 1-6. If a question solicits a numeric answer, display
the answers for each load setting (0, 30, 60, and 90) in a table.

8. Plot the time-depended load on the load scale (again, you only need to do this for the
“60” value of the torque meter load). Calculate the time-averaged load and subtract
the load offset. Calculate the time-averaged torque, ℑ , by multiplying the load by g
and by the torque arm, L. Estimate the uncertainty of the torque. The uncertainty in
the mass measurement is δm = 0.25grams .

9. Calculate the power generated by the engine ( WÝmechanical ) from Eq. (4) for each load
setting (30, 60, and 90), and display your answers in a table.

10. Determine the ratio of efficiencies between mechanical power and work. We can
𝑊̇𝑡ℎ𝑒𝑟𝑚𝑎𝑙
consider thermal efficiency to be 𝜂𝑡ℎ𝑒𝑟𝑚𝑎𝑙 = and the mechanical efficiency
℘𝑖𝑛

10
 ME 512: Experiments in Fluid Mechanics and Heat Transfer The Ohio State University
Winter 2011 Department of Mechanical and Aerospace Engineering
Shaurya Prakash Michelle Wilson
Laboratory Manual

𝑊̇𝑚𝑒𝑐ℎ𝑎𝑛𝑖𝑐𝑎𝑙
to be 𝜂𝑚𝑒𝑐ℎ𝑎𝑛𝑖𝑐𝑎𝑙 = . We can determine the ratio of efficiencies between
℘𝑖𝑛
𝑊̇𝑚𝑒𝑐ℎ𝑎𝑛𝑖𝑐𝑎𝑙
mechanical power and thermal power, . Do this for each load setting (30,
𝑊̇𝑡ℎ𝑒𝑟𝑚𝑎𝑙
60, and 90), and display your answers in a table.

11. Based on the results of the measurements with different loads on the torque meter,
plot RPM vs. torque. This means that you must calculate the RPM and the torque for
each of the different torque meter load settings (0, 30, 60, and 90). After you have a
plot of RPM vs. torque, extrapolate to zero to estimate the stalling torque. Show error
bars on your plot.

12. Based on the results of the measurements with different loads on the torque meter,
plot RPM vs. the mechanical output power, 𝑊̇𝑚𝑒𝑐ℎ𝑎𝑛𝑖𝑐𝑎𝑙 , and determine the
maximum power. This means that you must calculate the RPM and the mechanical
output power for each of the different torque meter load settings (0, 30, 60, and 90).

13. Based on the results of the measurements with different loads on the torque meter, plot
RPM vs. the ratio of efficiencies and determine the maximum efficiency. This means that
you must calculate the RPM and the ratio of efficiencies for each of the different torque
meter load settings (0, 30, 60, and 90).

Results summary
1. Plot torque vs. RPM, output power vs. RPM, and power conversion efficiency vs.
RPM in air and in helium. Show error bars.

2. Compare the results and discuss the similarities and the differences. What do you
think is the most significant factor that controls the engine performance? How does is
change when air is replaced with helium?

3. Calculate the potential energy gained by the block each minute as it rises off the base
plate.

4. At each minute, calculate the efficiency of converting the energy gained by the gas to
potential energy of the block. Can you provide an estimate of how much heat is lost
as waste heat?

11