Applied Thermal Engineering 83 (2015) 16e30

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Applied Thermal Engineering

journal homepage: www.elsevier.com/locate/apthermeng

Research paper

Development and validation of a thermodynamic model for the

performance analysis of a gamma Stirling engine prototype
Joseph A. Araoz a, b, *, Evelyn Cardozo a, b, Marianne Salomon a, Lucio Alejo b,
Torsten H. Fransson a
a
b

Department of Energy Technology, School of Industrial Technology and Management (ITM), Royal Institute of Technology (KTH), 100 44 Stockholm, Sweden
Facultad de Ciencias y Tecnologa (FCyT), Universidad Mayor de San Simon (UMSS), Cochabamba, Bolivia

h i g h l i g h t s

A numerical model for a Stirling engine was developed.

A mechanical efciency analysis was included in the model.

The model was validated with experimental data of a novel prototype.

The model results permit a deeper insight into the engine operation.

a r t i c l e i n f o

a b s t r a c t

Article history:
Received 20 August 2014
Accepted 4 March 2015
Available online 14 March 2015

This work presents the development and validation of a numerical model that represents the performance of a gamma Stirling engine prototype. The model follows a modular approach considering ideal
adiabatic working spaces; limited internal and external heat transfer through the heat exchangers; and
mechanical and thermal losses during the cycle. In addition, it includes the calculation of the mechanical
efciency taking into account the crank mechanism effectiveness and the forced work during the cycle.
Consequently, the model aims to predict the work that can be effectively taken from the shaft. The model
was compared with experimental data obtained in an experimental rig built for the engine prototype.
The results showed an acceptable degree of accuracy when comparing with the experimental data, with
errors ranging from 1% to 8% for the temperature in the heater side, less than 1% error for the cooler
temperatures, and 1 to 8% for the brake power calculations. Therefore, the model was probed
adequate for study of the prototype performance. In addition, the results of the simulation reected the
limited performance obtained during the prototype experiments, and a rst analysis of the results
attributed this to the forced work during the cycle. The implemented model is the basis for a subsequent
parametric analysis that will complement the results presented.
2015 Elsevier Ltd. All rights reserved.

Keywords:
Stirling engine
Simulation and modelling
Thermodynamic analysis
Energy technology

1. Introduction
Actual energy demand and environmental problems require
intensive research for the development of efcient and sustainable
energy solutions. In this scenario, the Stirling engine technology
appears as a renewed solution [1], with the potential to meet the

* Corresponding author. Department of Energy Technology, School of Industrial

Technology and Management (ITM), Royal Institute of Technology (KTH), 100 44
Stockholm, Sweden. Tel.: 46 704014380; fax: 46 (0)8 790 7477.
E-mail address: araoz@kth.se (J.A. Araoz).
http://dx.doi.org/10.1016/j.applthermaleng.2015.03.006
1359-4311/ 2015 Elsevier Ltd. All rights reserved.

requirements at small-scale [2] thanks to its known theoretical

capabilities. However actual designs are far from meeting the efciency requirements needed to be commercially viable as shown by
Thomas [3], Dong [4], and Gonzales-Pino [5]. This heightened the
need for engineering tools, like numerical simulation, that could
assess design improvements together with test measurements in
order to optimize the engine performance before implementing
them in the engine.
Different prototypes have been developed guided by simulation
analysis. The simulation studies varied in complexity from simulation based on rst order [6]; second order analysis as reported by
Cheng [7], Mehdizadeh [8], Parlak [9], Strauss [10] and Tlili [11]; and

J.A. Araoz et al. / Applied Thermal Engineering 83 (2015) 16e30

Nomenclature
A
Ao
Cf
Cfd
Csf
Cp
Cpwater
Cv
d
dhy
E
Err
Error1
Error2
Error3
f
freq
FR
h
hr
hwater
k
K
m
n
mwater
M
NTU
P
Pch
Pbr
Q
Qhc
Qkc
Qrc
Qht
Qkt
Qlossr
Qlk
Qlsh
R
Rci
R
Rfo
Rhi
t
T
Tad
TfM
Tratio
Twi
Two

area (m2)
external wet area of the tube (m2)
non-dimensional friction coefcient
form drag coefcient
skin friction coefcient
constant pressure specic heat (J/kg K)
constant pressure specic heat for inlet water (J/kg K)
constant volume specic heat (J/kg K)
diameter (m)
hydraulic diameter (m)
crank mechanism effectiveness
error tolerance
absolute error calculated for Tc and Te
absolute error calculated for Tk and Th
absolute error calculated for Twk and Twh
friction factor coefcient
engine frequency (Hz)
view factor
convective heat transfer coefcient (W/m2 K)
radiation heat transfer coefcient (W/m2 K)
water lm heat transfer coefcient (W/m2 K)
thermal conductivity (W/m K)
piston to displacer swept volume ratio length (m)
mass (kg)
number of ow resistance layers
mass ow of the inlet water (kg/s)
total mass of the working gas (kg)
number of transfer units
pressure level (Pa)
engine charging pressure (bar)
engine brake power (W)
heat transfer rate (W)
heater heat transfer rate by cycle (J/cycle)
cooler heat transfer rate by cycle (J/cycle)
regenerator heat transfer rate by cycle (J/cycle)
total heating requirement for the engine (W)
total cooling requirement for the engine (W)
heat loss due to imperfect regenerator (W)
heat loss due to internal conduction (W)
heat loss due to shuttle conduction (W)
gas constant (J/kg K)
conductive thermal resistance for tubes wall(K/W)
fouling thermal resistance inside the tubes (K/W)
fouling thermal resistance outside the tubes (K/W)
convective thermal resistance inside the tubes (K/W)
time (s)
temperature (K)
adiabatic ame temperature of the fuel (K)
measured ame temperature (K)
cold to heat temperature ratio
temperature at the internal wall of the tubes (K)
temperature at the outer wall of the tubes (K)

computer uid dynamics (CFD) analysis that include the works of

Mahkamov [12], Ibrahim [13], and Wilson [14]. Among these
methods, rst order methods are simple and limited to estimate the
power output and engine efciency under ideal assumptions. On
the other extreme, CFD analyses are very complex and require
intensive computing resources [6]. Therefore, second order analyses have been preferred for rst design and optimization studies
of the engine considering a compromise between prediction

Twater_in
v
V
Vde
Vswe
Vswc
W
Wi
Ws
Wploss
W
X

17

inlet temperature of the water (K)

mean velocity (m/s)
volume (m3)
total dead volume (m3)
expansion space swept volume (m3)
compression space swept volume(m3)
work ow per cycle (J/cycle)
engine indicated work (J/cycle)
engine shaft work (J/cycle)
energy loss due to pressure drop (J/cycle)
engine forced work (J/cycle)
dead volume ratio

Acronyms
ACM
Aspen Custom Modeller
CHP
Combined Heat and Power
SE
Stirling Engine
Subscripts
b
buffer space
c
compression space
d
displacer
e
expansion space
f
nal value
h
heater space
hous
regenerator housing space
i
inside section in
in
let ow
k
cooler space
M
measured values
o
outside section
out
outlet ow
r
regenerator space
w
wall
whe
heater wall
wk
cooler wall
0
initial value
Superscripts

positive variation

negative variation
Greek symbols
phase shift angle (rad)
surface absorptivity
adiabatic constant
brake efciency
mechanical efciency
thermal efciency
StefaneBoltzmann constant (W/m2 K4)
3
regenerator effectiveness
r
uid density (kg/m3)
4
Crank rotational angle (rad)
m
viscosity (kg/m s)

a
as
g
hb
hb
hb
s

accuracy and computational requirements. These second order

methods include the mass and energy balances through the
different spaces of the engine and also evaluate the friction and
thermal losses using a decoupled approach.
Different studies have guided the development of Stirling engines prototypes. These include, novel congurations in the
regenerator [15], the heat exchangers [16], the crank mechanism
[17] and optimization studies [10]. However, there is still a need to

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J.A. Araoz et al. / Applied Thermal Engineering 83 (2015) 16e30

Fig. 1. Block diagram for the Stirling model.

develop improved engines that should present higher efciency

levels, fuel exibility, and should also be easy to integrate within
combined heat and power systems (CHP). It is especially important
the mentioned integration capability, because of the great potential
that combined heat and power systems presents as decentralized
solutions based on renewable energy [18]. Some works that
explored this integrations include Plsson and Carlsen [19], Nishiyama [20], and Sato [21].
In this sense, the objective of this paper is the development of a
thermodynamic-numerical model of a Stirling engine that should
represent the performance of a new 1 kW gamma engine prototype
built by GENOA Stirling Company in Italy. This model aims to assess
through numerical simulation analysis the performance improvement of the GENOA engine prototype, and it is centred on a second
order thermodynamic analysis implemented in Aspen Custom
Modeller. The numerical model is based on Urielli approach [22],
it considers ideal adiabatic working spaces; limited internal and
external heat transfer through the heat exchangers; and mechanical and thermal losses during the cycle. In addition, it includes the
numerical evaluation of the mechanical efciency taking into account the crank mechanism effectiveness and the forced work
during the cycle, according to Senft methodology [23]. Therefore,
the model combines Urielli and Senft approaches into a restructured numerical analysis that computes the work that can be
effectively taken from the shaft. The model was validated with data
obtained from an experimental rig built for the engine. The details
about the methods used for the measurements are reported in
Cardozo et al. [24].
2. Mathematical model
A mathematical model for the simulation of Stirling engine
systems was developed in a previous work [25]. This consisted on
four main modules named ideal adiabatic, internal heat transfer,
external heat transfer, and energy losses. This paper improves the
model by adding the evaluation of the mechanical efciency of the
system, thus the improved model contains 5 modules. The rst
module corresponds to an ideal Stirling engine adiabatic model,
which assumes ideal adiabatic compression and expansion spaces
to estimate the main engine variables. The derivation of the
equations that govern this system are explained in Urielli [22]. The
outputs of this module are coupled to the internal heat transfer
module, which through appropriate correlations evaluate the heat
transfer, the temperature, and the thermodynamic properties of the
working uid inside the heat exchangers. The variation of the
thermodynamic properties with the temperature is considered at

every time step of the system. The next module, external heat
transfer module, couples the heat transfer between the external
walls at the hot and cold side of the engine. This is done through
energy balances and heat transfer correlations, described in detail
in Araoz et al. [25]. The following module, energy losses module,
evaluates the losses due to pressure drop, axial conduction, shuttle
heat transfer, and imperfect regeneration once the cyclic steady
state conditions were reached. Finally, the mechanical efciency
module permits to estimate the effect of forced work during the
cycle and the effect that the design for the crank mechanism have
on the performance of the engine.
The main variables that connect the modules are described
below.
- External heat transfer module. This module considers the
adiabatic ame temperature and the inlet temperature of the
cooling uid on the hot and cold side respectively. Therefore, the
heat source (Qh) and the heat sink (Qk) are used to estimate the
wall temperatures (Twoh, Twok). This approach is proposed to
couple the Stirling engine within the external heat and cooling
sources respectively.
- Internal heat transfer module. The internal working gas temperatures (Th, Tk) in the heater and cooler respectively are
calculated using heat transfer correlations for steady state internal forced convective ow [26]. On the other hand, the
regenerator analysis proposes the use of cyclic ow heat transfer
correlations, which are more suitable for the ow conditions on
this space [27]. Therefore, with these correlations the effect of
limited heat transfer inside the engine is introduced in the
model.
- Ideal adiabatic module. The main operative variables such as
net shaft work (Ws), heat and cooling demands (Qh, Qk), are
calculated considering the internal working uid, temperature
distribution, and the engine geometric characteristics following
Urielli's [22] approach.
- Energy losses module. The losses inside the engine are estimated to correct the ideal adiabatic outputs. This module considers the losses due to pressure drop, axial conduction, shuttle
heat transfer, and imperfect regeneration.
- Mechanical efciency module. The losses due to forced
compression and expansion are evaluated, considering the
buffer pressure (Pb), the shape of the cycle and the crank
mechanism effectiveness (E)
The relationships between the modules are shown in Fig. 1. The
loops represent the iterative calculations to achieve the steady state
cyclic conditions. The detailed report of the rst four modules can
be found in Araoz et al. [25], and the detailed description of the new
mechanical efciency module, is presented in the next section.
2.1. Governing equations

Fig. 2. Control volumes for Stirling engine, based on Urielli [22].

The equations included in the model are based in the mass,

energy balances, and the equation of state for the working gas.
These balances were applied to the control volumes shown in Fig. 2.

J.A. Araoz et al. / Applied Thermal Engineering 83 (2015) 16e30

19

Fig. 3. Genoa Stirling scheme.

The mass balance is expressed as:

min  mout

dm
d4

(1)

The energy balance neglecting the energy kinetic terms:

dQ
dW
dmT
cpin Tin min  cpout Tout mout
cv
d4
d4
d4

(2)

The equation of state for the gas in the control volume:

PV mRT

(3)

The balances were applied to each control volume to obtain a set

of algebraic differential equations. This set was complemented with
correlations for the heat transfer in the heat exchangers, and the
losses of the engine. The details of the model development are
presented in Araoz [25]. However, a summary of the equations is
presented in Appendix B.

2.2. Mechanical efciency and shaft work

The mechanical efciency of an engine measures the amount of
the work produced by the thermodynamic cycle (indicated work
Wi), that can be effectively taken from the shaft, shaft work (Ws)
[23].

hm

Ws
Wi

(4)

The mechanical efciency is evaluated with the fundamental

efciency theorem, considering a constant mechanism effectiveness (E) as developed by Senft [23].

hm E 

 
1
W
E
E
Wi

(5)

where, W represents the forced work. This is the work that the
crank mechanism must deliver to the piston to make it move in
opposition to the pressure difference across it [23]. For example
during the expansion process, when the pressure of the gas inside
the working space is lower than the opposite buffer pressure, then
the expansion process is forced. In a similar way, during the
compression process, when the pressure inside the working space
is higher than the opposite buffer pressure, then the compression is
forced. Therefore, this forced work depends mainly on the cycle
shape, and the buffer pressure level (Pb) and its calculated with the
following expression [23].

W

P  Pb dV

P  Pb  dV

(6)

The superscripts difference the two types of forced work, the

rst one during the compression (dV) when the buffer pressure is
below the working space pressure (P  Pb), and the second during
the expansion (dV) when the buffer pressure is above the working
space pressure (P  Pb).
The modied model includes a numerical integration of Eq. (6),
and the evaluation of both: the mechanical efciency from Eq. (5),
and the shaft work from Eq. (4).

2.3. Brake thermal efciency

The overall efciency or brake thermal efciency is dened as
the ratio of the shaft work, Ws, and the net heat input of the engine,
Qhc. This can be calculated by the product of the thermal efciency
and the mechanical efciency as shown in Eq. (7). The additional
module includes the estimation of the mechanical efciency and
the brake efciency.

hb

Ws
Wi Ws

ht hm
Q hc Q hc Wi

(7)

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J.A. Araoz et al. / Applied Thermal Engineering 83 (2015) 16e30

Fig. 4. Heat exchangers of the engine prototype.

3. Simulation of the Genoa engine

3.1. System description
The Genoa Stirling is a two cylinder gamma type engine built as
a prototype for research studies by GENOA Stirling S.R.L. company
from Italy [28]. According to its specications, it is capable to produce up to 1 kW electrical output with air as working uid at

Table 1
Main parameters for the engine simulation.
Parameter

Value

Denition

Description

freq
X
K
Tratio
Pch

5 Hz
1.3353
0.3684
0.23
12.5 bar

Vde/Vswe
Vswc/Vswe
Tad/Twater_in
e

Frequency of the engine

Dead volume ratio
Piston to displacer swept volume ratio
Cold to heat temperature ratio
Engine charging pressure

600 rpm rotational speed and with the heater temperature around
750  C [28]. The main components of the engine such as the
crankcase, the crank mechanism with the balancing ywheel, the
heat exchangers and the generator of the engine are shown in Fig. 3.
Additional pictures for the heater cooler and regenerator heat
exchangers are shown in Fig. 4.
The gamma Stirling engine consists of two identical pistondisplacer cylinders, connected to a common shaft, under similar
operational conditions. Therefore, it is assumed that both cylinders
present similar thermodynamic cycles and consequently the double cylinder thermodynamic analysis is simplied to one cylinder
analysis. The validity of the similarity on both cylinders is a common approach on Stirling simulation studies [11,29e32]. In addition, the model assumes adiabatic expansion and compression
spaces, and that the steady state cyclic conditions are reached.
The Stirling engine was used in an experimental rig, built at the
Energy department, Royal Institute of Technology (KTH), Stockholm, Sweden. This rig consisted on the engine coupled to a pellet

J.A. Araoz et al. / Applied Thermal Engineering 83 (2015) 16e30

Fig. 5. Calculation scheme for the Stirling engine model.

21

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J.A. Araoz et al. / Applied Thermal Engineering 83 (2015) 16e30

Fig. 6. Layout Stirling engine model in ACM.

Table 2
Description of the blocks for the ACM model.
Block name

Description

Comp-Exp

The block contains the data that describes the volume variation inside the engine. The swept, dead volumes, crank mechanism and the
characteristics of the pistons.
The block contains the geometrical data for the cooler heat exchanger.
The block contains the geometrical data for the heat exchanger.
The block contains the geometrical data for the regenerator and the details of the matrix porosity and material.
The characteristics of the external heat source are contained in this block.
The block contains the parameters for the calculation of the engine mechanical efciency.
The characteristics of the external cooling uid are contained in the block.
The block contains the parameters for the calculation of the properties for the working gas inside the engine.
This is the main block, and contains the main equations that describe the thermodynamic analysis of the engine.

Cooler
Heater
Regenerator
Ext-heat
Mech_Efciency
CoolingFluid
WorkingGAS
Stirling

Fig. 7. a) Schematic set-up of the Stirling engine integrated with a combustion chamber and a boiler [27]. b) Temperature measurement points for the working gas in the Stirling
engine T2: hot side; T10: cold side; T11, T12: hot and cold side of the regenerator [24].

J.A. Araoz et al. / Applied Thermal Engineering 83 (2015) 16e30

23

Fig. 8. Measurement points for the CHP-Stirling experimental rig [24].

Table 3
Comparison of the measured and predicted temperatures along the engine.
Time (s)

TfM (K)

ThM (K)

Th (K)

Error %

TkM (K)

Tk (K)

Error%

TrM (K)

Tr (K)

Error %

3780e3900
3900e4020
4020e4140
4140e4200
4200e4380
4380e4560
4560e4680
4680e4800
4800e4980

1387.8
1382.9
1393.1
1377.8
1383.5
1377.7
1385.7
1384.4
1366.9

816.4
819.6
823.2
830.8
837.4
851.8
853.6
846.4
843.3

818.4
807.5
814.2
798.1
806.3
795.7
807.1
802.1
770.8

0.25
1.47
1.09
3.94
3.71
6.59
5.45
5.23
8.59

322.4
321.8
321.6
321.6
322.4
321.8
321.7
321.6
322.1

321.1
321.4
321.5
321.6
321.4
321.7
321.5
321.7
322.3

0.41
0.12
0.04
0.01
0.31
0.03
0.07
0.01
0.05

601.8
600.6
601.2
603.6
607.5
614.2
615.4
613.5
612.9

531.6
527.7
530.2
524.3
527.2
523.4
527.6
525.8
514.4

11.6
12.15
11.8
13.14
13.21
14.78
14.26
14.3
16.07

burner in order to produce heat and power simultaneously as

shown in Fig. 7a. This conguration had technical limitations that
are still being studied in order to improve both power and thermal
outputs. But, despite of these limitations experimental results were
obtained and these were compared with the model.

Ve Vcle

Vswe
1 cos4 a
2

Vc Vclc Vswe  Ve
3.2. Inputs for the model
The main inputs for the engine simulation are shown in Table 1.
Supplementary inputs that include the design and operational
characteristics of the engine are presented in Appendix A.
The model also needs to consider the relation of the crank
mechanism and the variation of the volumes inside the working
spaces. Therefore, considering that the engine has gamma type
conguration, the following relations for the expansion and
compression spaces were included [23]:

Vswc
1 cos4
2

(8)

(9)

Furthermore, the following volume derivatives were evaluated.

Vswe
*sin4 a
dVe 
2

dVc dVe 

Vswc
*sin4
2

Fig. 9. Temperature variation along the heat exchangers and regenerator temperature assumed by the model (Tr).

(10)

(11)

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J.A. Araoz et al. / Applied Thermal Engineering 83 (2015) 16e30

Table 4
Measured and predicted brake power.
Time (s)

TfM (K)

Measured frequency (Hz)

Measured pressure (bar)

Brake power (W) experimental

Brake power (W) calculated

Error %

3780e3900
3900e4020
4020e4140
4140e4200
4200e4380
4380e4560
4560e4680
4680e4800
4800e4980

1387.8
1382.9
1393.0
1377.8
1383.5
1377.7
1385.7
1384.3
1366.9

5.17
5.26
5.27
5.33
5.28
5.36
5.29
5.34
5.56

12.50
12.50
12.50
12.50
12.50
12.50
12.50
12.50
12.54

54.72
55.39
55.61
46.35
53.59
50.91
50.96
55.9
47.13

53.59
52.08
53.49
50.03
51.97
50.33
51.63
51.53
46.13

2.06
5.97
3.81
7.94
3.02
1.14
1.31
7.82
2.12

3.3. Numerical solution

4. Model validation

The system consists of a set of algebraic differential equations,

which are shown in Appendix B. These consider as boundary conditions that the temperatures of the working gas at the end of the
cycle must be equal to the temperatures at the beginning of the
cycle, once cyclic steady state conditions are reached. Therefore, an
iterative shooting method [33], using a fourth order Runge Kutta
scheme for the time discretization, was implemented for the numerical solution. The iteration process was done until cyclic steady
state conditions, which is numerically reached when the difference
between the assumed initial values and the values calculated at the
end of the cycle are lower than a dened error. After the cyclic
steady state solution was reached, the energy losses and the forced
work were evaluated. The forced work was calculated using the
classical Simpson 3/8 numerical integration rule [34]. The scheme
in Fig. 5 summarizes the iterative steps for the solution.
The numerical solution was implemented in Aspen Custom
Modeller (ACM) [35], which is a product from Aspen Plus that
permits the elaboration of customized models [36]. This software
has its own modelling language and can also be coupled with C
procedures. The layout of the model in ACM is shown in Fig. 6. The
blocks were programmed with the equations shown in the
Appendix B and then the solution of the system was obtained with
the algorithm previously described.
The descriptions of the blocks are shown in Table 2. Additional
details of the block inputs are given in Appendix A.

The geometrical and operational characteristics for the Genoa

engine are described in Table 1 and Appendix A. The engine was
mounted in the experimental rig shown in Fig. 7a. In addition, the
temperatures of the working gas were measured at the different
points of the engine shown in Fig. 7b.
The experimental rig used wood pellets as fuel. Additional
temperatures measured for the validation were: The temperature
close to the ame (T1), the water inlet temperature (T8), the water
outlet temperature (T9). Other measurements are also as shown in
Fig. 8.
The temperature T1 was measured using a type K 1.5 mm
Inconel 600 thermocouple. The additional temperatures shown in
Fig. 8 were measured using type K 1.0 mm thermocouples.
Considering the type of thermocouples the expanded uncertainty
was 3.2  C with a coverage factor of 2. The speed of the engine
crankshaft was monitored by a pulse sensor and a frequency to
analog converter (OMROM E2A, and Red Lion IFMA) with an uncertainty 0.2%. The pressure inside the engine was measured with
a pressure transducer (RS type 46) with analog signal and an uncertainty of 0.1 bar. All the measurements were recorded from the
beginning to the end of the test using a data logger. Additional
details of the measurements are reported in Cardozo et al. [24].
The engine was run during long periods and the data was
measured constantly. However for the validation purposes, only the
periods were stability is reached were considered. In this case the
steady state condition was difcult to reach due to the constant
variation of the ame temperature [24]. Therefore, average values
for the measurements within certain stability periods were taken.
These are compared with the values calculated by the model at the
different values measured for the ame temperature shown in
Table 3.

Fig. 10. Temperature variation along the engine, ame temperature Tad 1388 K.

Fig. 11. Volumes variation during the engine cycle.

J.A. Araoz et al. / Applied Thermal Engineering 83 (2015) 16e30

25

5.1. Temperature variation

Fig. 10 shows the temperature variation in the different spaces of
the engine cylinder, once the cyclic steady state conditions are
reached. This gure displays the sinusoidal variation of the temperatures inside the compression (Tc) and expansion (Te) spaces. It
can also be seen that the expansion space presents periods with
elevated temperatures, which results into a high thermal stress for
the material and therefore further engine deterioration. In addition,
the gure also shows that the mean temperatures for the working
uid inside the heater (Th) and cooler (Tk) are close to the heat
exchangers wall's temperature (Twk, Twhe). This indicates a good
heat transfer rate on both heat exchangers, and consequently a
good thermal performance based on the model assumptions.
However, it is important to notice that this performance will
decrease with the time due to the fouling on the heat exchangers
which is not accounted for in the engine model.

5.2. Mass distribution and volumes variation

Fig. 12. Mass variation inside the engine spaces during a complete cycle.

From Table 3, the model presents good accuracy for the prediction of the cooler temperatures (Tk), with the maximum error of
the order of 0.41%. In addition, the calculations for the heater
temperatures (Th) present reasonable accuracy at initial times, but
then the error increases. This growth may be explained with the
thermal inertia that constantly increments the measured temperature, even on periods where the ame temperature decreases. This
thermal inertia is neglected by the model, since it assumes steady
state heat transfer conditions. On the other hand, the prediction of
the mean temperature in the regenerator space (Tr), presents
higher differences. This is analysed with the Fig. 9 below, which
shows the variations of the temperatures inside the heat exchangers assumed by the model.
From Fig. 9, it can be seen that the model assumes that the
temperatures at the interfaces heater-regenerator and coolerregenerator were equal to the temperatures at the cooler (Tk) and
heater (Th) spaces respectively. Therefore, the average temperature
at the regenerator (Tr) was calculated with these values. This
assumption neglects the axial temperature variation along the
heater and cooler, which is reected on the measurements taken at
the exact interfaces positions T11 and T12.This explains the difference between the average regenerator temperature calculated with
the measured temperatures (TrM) and the calculated with the estimations of the model Tr as it is shown in Table 3. However,
considering that the model was capable to calculate within a good
degree of accuracy the power output measured during the experimental runs, it can be inferred that the error for the regenerator
temperature estimation have little inuence on the brake power
calculation. This is shown in Table 4, where the values for the
measured and calculated brake power are compared at different
operating conditions. The percentage error ranges from 1.31% to
7.94%, which is an acceptable approximation for rst design
calculations.

5. Results and discussion

This section presents additionally results for the simulation of
the engine under the experimental conditions described before.
This aims to completely describe the thermodynamic performance
of the engine and thus identify the main limitations that the engine
presents.

The mass distribution and volumes variation for the engine

during a complete cycle are shown in Figs. 11 and 12 respectively.
These variations permit to analyse the engine dynamics during the
compression and expansion processes.
Fig. 11, permits to identify the following processes: the
compression, characterized by the decrease in the total volume,
from the time around t 0.01 to t 0.04; the heating process,
when the total volume variation is not pronounced and the temperatures increase, around t 0.04 to t 0.06; the expansion
process when the total volume increases around t 0.06 to
t 0.09; and the cooling process when the volume stays almost
constant and the temperatures decrease, at the times around
t 0.09 to t 0.10 and t 0 to t 0.01.
The compression period starts with the increment of the mass in
the compression space, and a decrease of the mass in the expansion
space as shown in Fig. 12. The decreasing mass in the expansion
space indicates a good dynamic for the compression process,
because it is desirable to keep low the hotter portion of the mass
during this period. However, the mass on the compression space is
too high, which is not desirable, since this will be reected in a large
negative compression work. In addition, the expansion process also
presents a reduced performance due to the low values for the mass
in the expansion space during the expansion process. This represents an expansion with low hotter mass and thus a low working
output to the shaft. Furthermore, the low mass in the expansion
space during the heating period might be the main cause for the
high temperatures reached. Therefore, the volumes and mass ow
dynamics of the reference case should be improved to reach higher
work outputs and avoid the overheating of the expansion chamber.
Fig. 12, also shows that the mass in the heater and cooler are
really small compared with the mass in the regenerator during the

Table 5
Engine work ow per cycle.
Model output per cycle

Aspen Custom Modeller (ACM)

Expansion Work (We, J/cycle)

Compression Work (Wc, J/cycle)
Pressure drop lost heater (J/cycle)
Pressure drop lost cooler (J/cycle)
Pressure drop lost regenerator (J/cycle)
Total lost due to pressure drop (J/cycle)
Net indicated work (Wi, J/cycle)
Forced work (W, J/cycle)
Brake Work Output (Wbr, J/cycle)

52.62
23.39
0.21
0.07
0.28
0.56
28.67
23.49
5.18

26

J.A. Araoz et al. / Applied Thermal Engineering 83 (2015) 16e30

Table 6
Heat ow and heat loses during the cycle.
Heat ow (J/cycle)

Fig. 13. Pressureevolume diagram and forced work during the cycle.

complete cycle. This reects the high importance of the regenerator

efciency for the engine performance.

5.3. Work ow
Table 5, shows the simulation results for the compression and
expansion work during a single cycle. This table also presents the
different work losses estimated for the system.
The temperatures measured and the temperatures calculated
show a good thermal performance of the engine. But, the measured
brake power was very low. Different problems on the engine
design, and operational conditions may explain these very low
results. However, additional experimental instrumentation is
needed for a detailed design study. For this reason, the present
analysis considers a theoretical approach that may be later complemented with experimental studies. This theoretical approach
considers Eq. (7). From this equation, and considering that the
thermal performance was found acceptable, the main losses should
correspond to a low mechanical efciency of the prototype. This

Fig. 14. Work ow during the engine cycle.

Heat exchanger space

Heater ow (Qhc,J/cycle)
Cooler ow (Qkc, J/cycle)
Regenerator ow (Qrc, J/cycle)

52.82
23.56
0.05

Heat losses
Internal conduction losses (Qlkc, J/cycle)
Shuttle conduction losses (Qlshc, J/cycle)
Regenerator losses during heating (Qlossrc, J/cycle)
Regenerator losses during cooling (Qlossrc, J/cycle)

26.98
80.04
18.62
18.62

Total heat requirements

Heating requirements (Qhtc, J/cycle)
Cooling requirements (Qktc, J/cycle)

178.47
42.18

mechanical efciency is reduced by the presence of forced work

during the cycle, and mechanical friction on the crank mechanism.
Fig. 13, presents the evaluation of the forced work in a pressure
volume diagram for the gas cycle inside the gamma prototype.
From this it can be seen that the forced work (W) is mainly due to
the forced expansion process. This means that at the experimental
conditions, large part of the cyclic work may have been used to
complete the forced expansion process and thus the real engine
output is smaller than expected.
The results discussed above, are complemented with the variation of the compression (Wc), expansion (We), and net indicated
work (Wi) during the cycle shown in Fig. 14.
Fig. 14 shows that during the rst part of the cycle, from t 0 to
t 0.045, the compression and expansion spaces present
exchanged roles. This means that an increment of the volume is
presented in the compression space and a decrement of the volume
is present in the expansion one. This reduced the engine performance, but it cannot be avoided since the gas needs to pass from
one space to another. Regarding the second part of the cycle, from
t 0.045 to t 0.095, the expansion and compression are shaped
as expected and thus indicate a better dynamic during this period.
However, considering that large part of the expansion process is
forced, the net brake work is low as reported in Table 5.
From the previous analysis it can be concluded that a detailed
evaluation of the volumes dynamics, the cranks mechanism effectiveness, and the forced work during the cycle, must be considered

Fig. 15. Heat ow variation during the engine cycle.

J.A. Araoz et al. / Applied Thermal Engineering 83 (2015) 16e30

27

Table 7
Power output and efciency of the engine.
Brake power (W)

Heat requirement (W)

Thermal efciency (%)

Mechanical efciency (%)

Brake efciency (%)

53.58

1845.35

16.10

18.10

2.90

in order to re-design the engine for a better performance. This will

be covered on a detailed parametric study to be reported on a next
article.
5.4. Heat ow
Table 6, presents the results for the heat ow and corresponding
heat losses through the heat exchangers calculated at the end of a
single cycle [25]. As it can be seen, the total heat requirements are
almost three times the requirements calculated without considering the losses. It can also be seen that the shuttle conduction
losses represent the main heat loss during the cycle. These correspond to the losses due to the oscillation of the hot displacer across
the temperature gradient in the working spaces of the engine.
The cyclic variation for the heat ow is additionally shown in
Fig. 15.The heat requirements for the heater and cooler present
slight variations during the entire cycle. On the other hand, the
regenerator presents high variations, managing large quantities of
heat. This conrms the large importance of this heat exchanger on
the engine performance.
5.5. Brake power and brake efciency
The engine brake power is dened as the net brake work per
cycle (Ws), times the engine frequency (freq).

Pbr Ws  freq

(12)

The net brake work, and the total heat requirement, presented
on Tables 5 and 6 respectively are doubled considering the double
cylinder engine. These values are reported on Table 7, which also
reports the thermal and brake efciencies for the engine.
The results reect the low performance of the engine under the
experimental conditions. This was mainly attributed to the forced
work and the mechanical efciency as it was analysed in the previous section. In addition, complementary works will broad this
analysis with the aim of propose improvements on the engine
design and operational parameters.

values. However, additional experimental work should be performed to obtain data to validate the calculation of the different
losses through the engine.
According to the results obtained, the thermal performance of
the engine was found acceptable, and thus the low power output
measured is preliminary attributed to a reduced mechanical efciency of the system. The possible reasons for this low performance
were further analysed with the different results for the temperatures variation, mass and volume variation, pressure drops, and the
pressure volume diagrams obtained with the model. According to
these analyses, the dynamics of the volumes variation and the
crank mechanism may also be improved, in order to obtain higher
network during the cycle. In addition, it was found that the engine
performance is very sensitive to the effect of the buffer pressure.
These results will be extended with a sensitivity analysis for the
system on a complementary work that aims to identify better the
effect of the different parameters on the engine performance.
Acknowledgements
This work was possible thanks to the nancial support of the
Swedish International Development Cooperation Agency; the division of Heat and Power Technology, Department of Energy
Technology at Royal Institute of Technology (KTH), in Sweden; and
Universidad Mayor de San Simon (UMSS) in Bolivia.
Appendix A. Detailed Stirling engine parameters

Table A1
Inputs for the cooler in ACM.
Variable

Value

Units

Description

do
di
kw
L
num
sl

0.005
0.003
14,200
0.032
162
0.005

m
m
W/m K
m
e
m

Tubes external diameter

Tubes internal diameter
Material conductivity
Tubes length
Number of tubes
Space between tubes

6. Conclusions
In the present work a thermodynamic model for a Stirling engine was improved, by including the numerical evaluation of the
forced work and the mechanical efciency, then validated against
experimental data, and nally implemented for the simulation of
an engine prototype. The numerical model developed considered
the analytic approach proposed by Senft [23], but extended its
application for the case of the more realistic adiabatic working
spaces assumptions. Consequently, the effective work taken from
the shaft is better estimated and thus used for a more complete
analysis of the thermal and mechanical performance of an engine.
For this article, the analysis considered a novel gamma engine
prototype, under the experimental conditions of a micro scale
combined heat and power system fuelled by wood pellets.
The simulation results were compared with the experimental
data measured during long time runs of the system. The model
performance was very good for the prediction of the temperatures
in the different spaces of the engine. In addition, the estimations for
the net brake power also presented results similar to the measured

Table A2
Inputs for the heater in ACM.
Variable

Value

Units

Description

de
di
kw
len
num
sl

0.005
0.0031
14.2
0.149
36.0
0.005

M
M
W/m K
m
e
m

Tubes external diameter

Tubes internal diameter
Material conductivity
Tubes length
Number of tubes
Space between tubes

Table A3
Inputs for the regenerator in ACM.
Variable

Value

Units

Description

Din
dout
dwire
kwr
Lr
Porosity

0.078
0.107
2.1e-004
27.0
0.07
0.87

m
m
m
W/m K
m

Regenerator housing internal diameter

Regenerator housing external diameter
Wire diameter of the matrix
Thermal conductivity of the matrix material
Length of the regenerator housing
Matrix porosity

28

J.A. Araoz et al. / Applied Thermal Engineering 83 (2015) 16e30

Table A4
Inputs for the expansion-compression spaces and crank mechanism
Variable

Value

Units

Description

vclc
vcle
vswc
vswe
dispd
displ
effmek
freq
jgap
kpist
pbuff
phase
pmean
strk
dispd

4.4e-006
2.6e-005
9.26e-005
2.5134e-004
0.062
0.07
0.8
5
0.006
16.27
1.2e006
90.0
1.25e006
0.035
0.062

m3
m3
m3
m3
m
m
e
Hz
M
W/m K
Pa
deg
Pa
m
m

Compression space clearance volume

Expansion space clearance volume
Compression space swept volume
Expansion space swept volume
Displacer diameter
Displacer length
Mechanism effectiveness
Frequency
Gap between cylinder displacer and wall
Piston conductivity
Buffer pressure
Phase angle advance
Mean operating pressure
Displacer stroke
Displacer diameter

dmc

d4

 Vc
c

P vV
v4

Units

Description

Working Fluid
Cooling FLUID
Tcooling

Air
Water
288

e
e
K

Working uid inside the engine

Cooling uid through the engine cooler
Inlet temperature of the cooling uid

Value

Units

Description

Tad
absorp

1387
0.70

K
e

Flame temperature in the combustion chamber

Absorptivity of the heater material

Conditional temperatures
If mck > 0 then Tck Tc else Tck Tk
If mhe > 0 then The Th else The Te
Temperatures

vP
v4

B
dTe
Te B
@ P
d4

Vc

vVe
v4

Ve



vmc
v4

mc

1

vme
v4

C
C;
A
1

C
C
me A

dQ k

d4

Vk


vP
v4 Cv

R


vP
Vr v4 Cv
R

 Cp Tck mck  Tkr mkr ;

 Cp Tkr mkr  Trh mrh

vP
v4 Cv
dQ h

 Cp Trh mrh  The mhe ;

d4
R






dWc
vVc dWe
vVe
P
;
P
d4
v4
d4
v4

VTrr VThh VTee

Internal heat transfer module
Heat transfer from the heater wall to the working gas

Pressure variation

0

B
gPB
@

vVc
v4

Tck

1

vVe
v4

The

C
C
A

Qh

dP

d4
Vc

Qk

Mass of the working gas in the different spaces

1
T
 Th
Rcih Rhih Rfih woh

Heat transfer from the cooler wall to the working gas




Vk
Vh
Vr
Ve

Tck
Tk
Tr
Th The

Vh

Stirling engine module

Mean pressure

vVc
v4



Main equations for the Stirling engine model

MR

0


dQ r

d4

Appendix B

Vk
Tk

RThe

Energy

Variable

Vc
Tc

mck dmc ; mhe dme ; mkr mck  dmk ;

Table A6
Fouling factors and external combustion inputs in ACM

P

dme

d4

vP
v4

mrh mhe dmh

B
dTc
Tc B
@ P
d4

Value



Mass ow

vP
v4

Variable

 Ve
e

P vV
v4

vP
v4

RTck

0

Table A5
Working and cooling uid inputs in ACM.



Vc
Vk
Vr
; mk p
; mr p
;
RTc
RTk
RTr






Vh
Ve
; me p
mh p
RTh
RTe
mc p

Mass accumulation






dmk mk vP
dmh mh vP
dmr mr vP
;
;

d4
P v4
d4
P v4
d4
P v4

1
T
 Tk
Rcik Rhik Rfik wik

Heat loss during the regenerator process

Q lossr 1  3  Q r
Regenerator effectiveness
3

NTU
1 NTU

External heat transfer module

Heat transfer from the ame to the external wall of the heater

J.A. Araoz et al. / Applied Thermal Engineering 83 (2015) 16e30

Qh

1
hrh Aoh

1
Tad  Twoh
Rfoh

hb



hrh as sAoh FR Tad Twoh T2ad T2woh

Twok Twater

hok

1
hwater

in

Qk

1
1

hok Aok 2mwater Cpwater

1
Rfok

Energy losses
Pressure drop in the heat exchangers

f 1 2
rv l
dhy 2

DP

Pressure drop in the regenerator: based on the correlations of

Thomas and Pittman [37]

r
DP Cf n u2
2
Cf Cfd

Csf
Re

Csf 68:556
Csf 70:035

Cfd 0:5274
Cfd 0:9307

wire screens
metal felts

Total pumping losses

Wploss

Z2p X
i3

DPi 

i1

!
dVe
$dq
dq

Energy losses due to shuttle conduction

Q lsh 0:4

Z2 Kpist Dd
Te  Tc
JLd

Mechanical efciency module

Mechanical efciency

hm

Ws
Wi

Mechanical efciency considering the mechanism effectiveness

and forced work

hm E 


1
W
E
E
Wi

Forced work

I
W

P  Pb dV

Brake efciency

P  Pb  dV

Ws
Wi Ws

ht hm
Q ht Q ht Wi

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Estimation of the outlet temperature of the cooling uid

29

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