Performance of endoreversible Atkinson cycle

The performance of an air standard Atkinson cycle with heat transfer loss and variable specific heats of working fluid is analysed by using finite time thermodynamics. The relationships between the work output and the compression ratio and between the thermal efficiency and the compression ratio, as well as the optimal relationship between the work output and the efficiency of the cycle, are derived from detailed numerical examples. Moreover, the effects of heat transfer loss and variable specific heats of working fluid on the cycle performance are analysed. The results show that these effects are obvious and they should be considered in practice cycle analysis. The results obtained in the present paper may provide guidance for the design of practical internal combustion engines.