Effects of mean piston speed, equivalence ratio and cylinder wall temperature on performance of an Atkinson engine

The performance of an air standard Atkinson cycle is analyzed using finite-time thermodynamics. In the model, the linear relation between the specific heat ratio of the working fluid and its temperature, the friction loss computed according to the mean velocity of the piston, the internal irreversibility described by using the compression and expansion efficiencies and the heat transfer loss are considered. The relations between the power output and the compression ratio and between the power output and the thermal efficiency are derived by detailed numerical examples. The results show that if the compression ratio is less than a certain value, the power output decreases with increasing mean piston speed, while if the compression ratio exceeds a certain value, the power output first increases and then starts to decrease with increasing mean piston speed. With further increase in the compression ratio, the increase of mean piston speed results in decreasing the power output. Throughout the compression ratio range, the power output increases with increasing cylinder wall temperature while it first increases and then starts to decrease with the increase of equivalence ratio. The conclusions of this investigation are of importance when considering the designs of actual Atkinson engines. (C) 2010 Elsevier Ltd. All rights reserved.