Thermodynamic analysis of a gamma type Stirling engine in non-ideal adiabatic conditions

In this study, a thermodynamic analysis of a gamma type Stirling engine is performed by using a quasi steady flow model based on Urieli and Berchowitz's works. The Stirling engine analysis is performed for five principal fields: compression room, expansion room, cooler, heater and regenerator. The conservation law of the mass and the energy equations are derived for the related sections. A FORTRAN code is developed to solve the derived equations for all process parameters like pressure, temperature, mass flow, dissipation and convection losses for the different spaces (compression space, cooler, regenerator, heater and expansion space) as a function of the crank angle. The developed model gave more precise results for the pressure profile than the models available in the literature. (C) 2008 Elsevier Ltd. All rights reserved