Simple-II: A new numerical thermal model for predicting thermal performance of Stirling engines

A new thermal model called Simple-II was presented based on modification of the original Simple analysis. First, the engine was modeled considering adiabatic expansion and compression spaces, in which effect of gas leakage from cylinder to buffer space and shuttle effect of displacer were implemented in the basic differential equations. Moreover, non-ideal thermal operation of the regenerator and the longitudinal heat conduction between heater and cooler through the regenerator wall were considered. Based on the magnitudes of pressure drops in heat exchangers, values of pressure in the expansion and compression spaces were corrected. Furthermore, based on the theory of finite speed thermodynamics (FST), the corresponding power loss due to the piston motion and also the mechanical friction were considered. Simple-II was employed for thermal simulation of a prototype Stirling engine. Finally, result of the new model was evaluated by comprehensive comparison of experimental results with those of the previous models. The output power and thermal efficiency were predicted with +20.7% and +7.1% errors, respectively. Also, the regenerator was demonstrated to be the main source of power and heat losses; nevertheless, other loss mechanisms have reasonable effects on output power and/or thermal efficiency of Stirling engines. (C) 2014 Elsevier Ltd. All rights reserved.