MECE4240U Solar Powered Stirling Engine For A Rural Water Pump

FACULTY OF ENGINEERING AND APPLIED SCIENCE
MECE4240U
Solar Powered Stirling Engine
For a Rural Water Pump
GROUP #6 PROJECT REPORT
Course Instructor: Dr. Brendan MacDonald

Teaching Assistant: Mostasim Mahmud
Project Report Submitted On: April 4, 2016
# Last Name First Name ID

1 Bower Lowell 100500898
2 Hinton Joshua 100535179
3 Karanwal Tushar 100481186
4 Mikhail Maher 100484631
5 Pandya Devarsh 100455628
MECE4240U - Solar Powered Stirling Engine For a Rural Water Pump
Table of Contents
List of Figures ................................................................................................................................. 2
List of Tables .................................................................................................................................. 2
1.0 Introduction ............................................................................................................................... 3
1.1 Problem Statement ................................................................................................................ 4
1.2 Project Objectives ................................................................................................................. 4
2.0 Teamwork ................................................................................................................................. 4
3.0 Design Details ........................................................................................................................... 5
3.1 Project Assumptions ............................................................................................................. 5
3.3 Proposed Design ................................................................................................................... 6
4.0 Analysis and Discussion ........................................................................................................... 7
4.1 Component Selection ............................................................................................................ 7
4.2 System Analysis .................................................................................................................. 10
4.3 Safety and Environment ...................................................................................................... 13
5.0 Conclusion .............................................................................................................................. 14
6.0 Nomenclature .......................................................................................................................... 15
7.0 Appendix ................................................................................................................................. 16
7.1 Figures................................................................................................................................. 16
7.2 Sample Calculations............................................................................................................ 21
7.3 EES Code ............................................................................................................................ 27
References ..................................................................................................................................... 28
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List of Figures
Figure 1: T-s diagram and P-v diagrams for the Stirling cycle [1, p. 504] ..................................... 3
Figure 2: Proposed system diagram ................................................................................................ 6
Figure 3: Alpha-type Stirling engine .............................................................................................. 7
Figure 4: T-s and P-v diagram for proposed Stirling cycle .......................................................... 10
Figure 5: Performance parameters for various Stirling engine working fluids ............................ 11
Figure 6: Full scale proposed system diagram .............................................................................. 16
Figure 7: Initial system design ...................................................................................................... 17
Figure 8: Micropump GC-Series external gear pump [10] ........................................................... 18
Figure 9: s-power HP20-2000 heat pipe collector [6] .................................................................. 18
Figure 10: Pacer S-series centrifugal pump [11] .......................................................................... 19
Figure 11: Micropump GC-series performance parameters [10] .................................................. 19
Figure 12: Efficiency graph for various low-flow, high-head centrifugal pumps [18, p. 159] .... 20
Figure 13: Moody chart relating relative roughness and Reynolds number [16, p. 140] ............. 22
List of Tables
Table 1: Project task allocation ....................................................................................................... 5
Table 2: Performance Parameters of Stirling Engine: .................................................................... 8
Table 3: s-power HP20-2000 Performance Power Plus parameters ............................................... 8
Table 4: Micropump GC-series external gear pump parameters .................................................... 9
Table 5: Pacer S-series centrifugal pump parameters [11] ........................................................... 10
Table 6: Mass flow rates for various Stirling engine working fluids ........................................... 12
Table 7: State parameters for Stirling engine calculations ........................................................... 25
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1.0 Introduction
Unlike conventional internal combustion engines, the Stirling cycle operates as an external
combustion engine. Along with the Ericsson cycle, these engines can be run by any external source
of energy allowing for greater freedom in energy sources. The Stirling cycle is defined by the
following processes [1] which are illustrated in Figure 1:
Process 1-2: Isothermal heat addition and expansion

Process 2-3: Constant volume regeneration
Process 3-4: Isothermal heat rejection and compression
Process 4-1: Constant volume regeneration
Both of these cycles make use of regenerator to yield greater net work. Essentially, a regenerator
functions by utilizing a medium with high thermal conductivity to transfer both kinetic and thermal
energy from the heat source to the heat sink and back again. In Process 2-3 the regenerator accepts
energy from the hot working fluid. In Process 4-1 the heat transfer occurs from the regenerator
back to the working fluid.
Figure 1: T-s diagram and P-v diagrams for the Stirling cycle [1, p. 504]
Energy supply to a Stirling cycle can be provided by nearly any type of heat source; making it a
prime candidate for sustainable development. Solar thermal energy can easily provide the
appropriate temperature if concentrators are used. The collected thermal radiation transfers energy
to a working fluid which can act as an excellent heat source; all at minimal cost to the environment.
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1.1 Problem Statement
A well water pump for a rural residential home needs to be powered by a Stirling engine that uses
solar energy. It is now evident that climate change and sustainability are existing issues and this
design approaches a solution by developing a clean energy system that can perform effectively.
Traditionally, residential environments depend on local power grids to operate the water pumps,
so this project aims to displace this electricity demand by employing this system that can operate
reliably despite the lack of a local electricity source or power outages.
1.2 Project Objectives
 Identify all components required to accompany the Stirling engine

 Determine load requirements expected of the system
 Calculate operating parameters of system components
 Select appropriate components from vendors where possible
 Analyze output and efficiency of system
 Consider safety and environmental concerns
2.0 Teamwork
The group conducted multiple meetings over the span of this project. The first meeting was an
initial planning and a work session in which a rough system diagram was created (see Figure 7 in
the Appendix). After the feasibility of basic design was agreed upon the team divided the work
into modules for the initial research phase. Assumptions were also formulated in order to limit the
project scope and ensure the entire team was working within the same constraints.
The proposed design went through a number of iterations before a satisfactory system was created.
The team determined that some form of concentrated solar energy would be required to power the
Stirling engine and a parabolic trough was initially specified. However after calculating the
required power input to the pump it was determined that a lower temperature source could be used
such as a vacuum tube array. Another idea that was not used from the original design was to have
the high-temperature pump for the solar array be powered by a flywheel that would store
mechanical energy from the Stirling engine. Although interesting, it was realized that a solar
photovoltaic (PV) module and battery would be a more practical solution. Throughout the design
process, issues of efficiency, cost, safety, and the environment were at the forefront of the design
considerations.
In order to ensure that the all team members were updated on design developments an online
Google document was created. This allowed for the entire team to see the status of the report and
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provided a forum for team queries. Additionally, work meetings were conducted so that the team
could work in close proximity to tro1ubleshoot issues and determine critical design criteria. Each
team member was given ownership of a portion of the report and the breakdown is summarized in
Table 1: Project task allocation
Team Member Tasks

- Well pump and reservoir sizing and calculations
Bower, Lowell
- Compilation and editing
- Solar thermal array and high-temperature pump sizing and
calculations
Hinton, Joshua
- Project assumptions
- Introduction
- Stirling engine sizing and calculations
- Design diagram
Karanwal, Tushar
- System analysis
- Conclusion
- Problem statement and project objectives
Mikhail, Maher - Teamwork
- Safety and environment
- Stirling engine sizing and calculations
Pandya, Devarsh
- System analysis
3.0 Design Details
3.1 Project Assumptions
The home is assumed to be an average rural Ontarian household of four people. The average
Canadian requires 335 L per day [2] and rural homes generally have a higher domestic water usage
[3]. Therefore the water consumption of the household was assumed to be 400 L per day per person
for a total of 1600 L per day. Since the Stirling engine will run off solar energy, the system needs
to be designed to work with an intermittent energy supply. Therefore a reservoir of 4800 L was
sized for approximately three days supply of water and the pump was designed to fully fill the
reservoir in three hours. This will allow the system to operate the cycle once every few days when
solar energy is available. The well was assumed to be shallow with a depth of 7.5 m and provide
an infinite supply of water. The inlet velocity of the water was assumed to be 1.0 m/s in order to
avoid cavitation due to excessive suction line pressures. Generally the suction line velocity should
be below 1.2 m/s in order avoid cavitation within the pump [4]. The output pressure at the reservoir
was assumed to be 40 psi (344.7 kPa) [5] which is at the lower end of residential water system
pressures.
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The Stirling cycle will be powered by a passive thermal solar collector. The rated values for this
unit assume a solar irradiance of 985 W/m2 at a radiation angle of 15° [6]. The system was assumed
to operate at the maximum temperature of 158 C and the average of the upper and lower for the S-
SOL-VT50 working fluid. The pump circulating the solar collector working fluid will be powered
by a solar photovoltaic module which is assumed to meet the power requirements in conjunction
with a small battery.
The design of a Stirling engine can become extremely sophisticated and depends on assumptions
and requirements from the designer. The cycle for this project is to be approximated by the ideal
cycle and considered to be completely closed (the working gas does not leave the system). The
heat transfer processes assumed that the working fluid behaved as an ideal gas. The high
temperature set point was taken assuming constant heat transfer from the solar array working fluid
(glycol-water dilution) corresponding to a pressure of approximately 5 bar. The low temperature
set point was taken at the ambient conditions specified as 25° C corresponding to a pressure of 1
atm. The regenerator was not approximated to be ideal in the calculations since the range of the
effectiveness should be approximately 0.9 to 0.95 at minimum and should not create a major
difference in the resultant thermal efficiency. An actual effectiveness of the regenerator can be
analyzed for the designed Stirling engine for comparison.
3.3 Proposed Design
Figure 2: Proposed system diagram
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The proposed system can be seen in Figure 2 above and has the following main components. The
Stirling engine provides the mechanical power output for the low-flow, high-head well pump. This
well pump transfers water from the shallow well to the water reservoir. A gate valve is placed
within the line to isolate the pump from the reservoir. The heat input into the Stirling engine is
provided by a vacuum tube solar thermal collector which uses glycol-water as a thermal transport
medium. The glycol-water is heated in the solar thermal array, circulated through the heat
exchanger at the Stirling engine and then returned to the array completing the cycle. A high-
temperature pump is used to circulate the thermal fluid and is powered by a small photovoltaic
array with a battery backup. In this way the power sources for the well pump and solar array pump
are separate and the system can begin circulating thermal fluid before the Stirling engine is
functioning. In the actual system a temperature sensor would be used to turn on the high-
temperature pump when the solar array had reached operating temperature.
4.0 Analysis and Discussion
4.1 Component Selection
Stirling Engine
The prime mover for the pump was an alpha-type Stirling Engine (see Figure 3). This engine has
a piston in both the hot and cold side of the engine. There is a regenerator between the two which
acts as a thermal energy storage device. It transfers heat from one process of the cycle to another,
essentially utilizing heat which would normally be expelled on the cold side.
Figure 3: Alpha-type Stirling engine
This engine is designed to be powered with solar power. A passive solar thermal collector using a
propylene glycol water dilution provides thermal energy to the hot side of the engine. Though a
flame would normally heat the hot side of the engine, a heat exchanger (indicated by the patterned
section in the figure) was theorized to be used for this application. As the liquid dilution flows
through its piping it enters a chamber enclosing the hot side of the engine. Essentially, this is a
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component which will utilize a high thermal mass material, like the regenerator, to allow the hot
side of the engine to be maintained at 150°C. The material chosen for the regenerator was Inconel-
600 based on its heat capacity of 0.456 kJ/kg·K, thermal conductivity of 15 W/m·K, and density
of 8498 kg/m3 [7]. The table below summarizes the various performance and thermodynamic
parameters.
Table 2: Performance Parameters of Stirling Engine:
Regenerator
Heat Input Rate Heat Output Rate Net Work Rate Thermal Efficiency
Heat Rate
𝑄̇𝑖𝑛 (kW) 𝑄̇𝑜𝑢𝑡 (kW) 𝑊̇𝑛𝑒𝑡 (kW) 𝜂𝑡ℎ𝑒𝑟𝑚𝑎𝑙 (%)
𝑄̇𝑟𝑒𝑔𝑒𝑛 (kW)
1.01 0.775 0.391 0.325 29.55%
Passive Thermal Heat Pipe Solar Collector
Solar thermal radiation is an effective energy source to power a low power Stirling cycle. A
thermal heat pipe (HP) solar collection system has been selected to act as the heat source to the
engine and was sized based on the 1.1 kW heat input requirement for the Stirling engine. The
HP20-2000 collector manufactured by s-power (see Figure 9) consists of 20 vacuum tubes to
encourage maximum radiative heat transfer. The working fluid is S-SOL-VT 50 which is a mixture
of 45% S-SOL-VT 100 and 55% distilled water. S-SOL-VT 100 has a melting point of 185 C, a
density of 1.052 g/cm3, and a specific heat of 2.5 kJ/kg·K [8]. With a freezing point of -40 C this
fluid is an ideal thermal medium for outdoor use in Ontario.
The relevant parameters for the Performance Power Plus model of the collector are summarized
in Table 3. As mentioned in the assumptions these rated values are for an irradiance (𝐼𝑟𝑎𝑑 ) of 985
W/m2 with a radiation angle of 15°. This is not an entirely unrealistic value; using the Clear Sky
Calculator from Apogee Instruments [9] with a location at UOIT (latitude 43.9°, longitude 78.9°,
elevation of 106 m), the irradiance at 12:00 was estimated to be 912 W/m2 for a horizontal plane.
However 5 hours later at 15:00, the irradiance has decreased to 630 W/m2. When the irradiance is
estimated for January 1 at 12:00 an even lower 𝐼𝑟𝑎𝑑 value of 395 W/m2 is estimated. Given the
amount of fluctuation in solar irradiance over the course of the day and year it was decided that a
larger system with a 2.0 kW output would be specified for the 1.1 kW Stirling engine.
Table 3: s-power HP20-2000 Performance Power Plus parameters
Maximum Power Out Collector Area Maximum Pressure Maximum Temperature

𝐸̇𝐻𝑃 (W) 𝐴𝐻𝑃 (m2) 𝑝𝐻𝑃 (MPa) 𝑇𝐻𝑃 (C)
2000 2.974 1.0 158
Flow Rate Overall Efficiency Fluid Volume
Fluid Type
𝑄𝐻𝑃 (L/min) 𝜂𝐻𝑃 (%) 𝑉𝐻𝑃 (L)
1.37 to 1.66 68% S-SOL VT 50 0.94
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High Temperature Pump
In order to circulate the thermal fluid from the solar collector to the Stirling engine, a high-
temperature, low-flow pump was needed. Given the requirements of the s-power HP collector, the
GC Series External Gear pump from MicroPump was selected as it met all of the required
temperature, pressure, and flow rate limits (see Figure 8).
This external gear pump uses a magnetic drive gear system to provide the pressure differential. An
advantage of gear pumps is that they require little maintenance and are easy to repair if required.
Lubrication for the pump is intended to be taken care of by the pumped fluid however it is uncertain
if the S-SOL VT 50 used in the HP solar array would provide adequate lubrication. The thermal
fluid has a dynamic viscosity (𝜇) of 56 centipoise [8] which is within the range for the pump (0.5
to 1500 cps) [10] however it is in the lower range of acceptable values. For the proposed system,
the M23 gear set was be specified as it is in the lower range of flow rates (see Figure 11). The
pump parameters are detailed in Table 4.
Table 4: Micropump GC-series external gear pump parameters
Flow Rate Maximum Pressure Temperature Maximum Speed

𝑄𝑔𝑙𝑦𝑐𝑜𝑙 (L/min) 𝑝𝑔𝑙𝑦𝑐𝑜𝑙 (MPa) 𝑇𝐻𝑃 (C) 𝑁 (rpm)
~2.0 10.3 -46 to 177 4000
This pump is easily capable of providing the required mass flow rate to ensure exceptional heat
transfer at both heat exchangers within the solar thermal system, and is functional well within the
temperature range specified by the hot working fluid and thermal radiation.
Well Pump and Reservoir
The well pump and reservoir were sized based on the initial assumptions for flow rate and water
use in the household. The requirement of a reservoir that would hold three days worth of water
and be filled in three hours resulted in an estimated flow rate (𝑄𝑤 ) of 4.44·10-4 m3/s (7.04 gpm)
and a reservoir size (𝑉𝑟𝑒𝑠𝑒𝑟𝑣𝑜𝑖𝑟 ) of 4800 L. Based on this flow rate and a maximum fluid velocity
(𝑉𝑤 ) of 1 m/s the minimum inner diameter for the pipe was calculated at 23.79 mm. The closest
standard size was for a 1 inch nominal steel pipe with an inside diameter of 26.6 mm and an
absolute roughness (𝜀) of 0.046 mm [4, p. 169]. For a total of 17.5 m of pipe with a 90° elbow and
fully open gate valve, the head loss was calculated at approximately 0.322 m. The Bernoulli
equation was applied to the system with the bottom of the well at State 1 and the reservoir at State
2. In this way the required pump head was calculated at 35.95 m for an operating pump pressure
of 352 kPa.
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Given the calculated parameters for the pump, an S-series centrifugal pump from Pacer was
selected (see Figure 10). This pump satisfied all of the fluid flow requirements although it was
slightly under the maximum total head at 35.05 m. The overall efficiency for this pump and other
low-flow, high-head centrifugal pumps was difficult to find. Based on efficiency graphs for this
type of pump from literature (see Figure 12) an overall efficiency (𝜂𝑜 ) of 50% was estimated. The
resulting power output (𝑃𝑝𝑢𝑚𝑝,𝑜𝑢𝑡 ) and power input (𝑃𝑝𝑢𝑚𝑝,𝑖𝑛 ) were 157 W and 313 W
respectively.
Table 5: Pacer S-series centrifugal pump parameters [11]
Maximum Total Head Maximum Suction Lift Maximum Pressure Maximum Flow Rate
𝐻𝐿 (m) 𝑍2 (m) 𝑝𝑤 (kPa) 𝑄𝑤 (L/min)
35.05 7.62 337.8 605.7
4.2 System Analysis
Model Approach
To simplify the theoretical design of the Stirling engine, many parameters were assumed. The high
temperature of the system was taken to be 150°C. This is slightly lower than the 158°C that the
high temperature glycol-water dilution from the solar thermal collector provides due to the
temperature gradient required to drive the heat transfer. The low temperature was assumed to be
25°C. The high and low pressures were arbitrarily taken as 500 kPa and 1 atm, respectively.
Helium inside of the closed system was also assumed to behave as an ideal gas. The specifications
required for the pump also include the speed of rotation. Due to the advanced design knowledge
required to perform kinematic analysis on a Stirling engine, it is assumed that this engine provides
adequate rotation for the pump. The figures below are for the actual 𝑇 − 𝑠 and 𝑃 − 𝜈 diagram for
the cycle using the calculated values.
Figure 4: T-s and P-v diagram for proposed Stirling cycle
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Performance
The Stirling engine being thermodynamically analyzed needs to provide enough energy to run a
325 W for the well pump. This was a design constraint that was considered when initially designing
the engine. Further exploring the various state parameters, the various heat transfer processes were
quantified. The heat input for the engine was found to be 1.1kW. This is lower than the maximum
thermal power of approximately 2.0 kW provided by the HP solar array. The heat being expelled
from the cold side of the engine was computed to be 0.77 kW. The mass of helium flowing through
the system per second is approximately 0.001 kg/s. Assuming that all the processes in this cycle
are reversible, the thermal efficiency is approximately equal to the Carnot efficiency. This engine
calculate for the proposed Stirling engine is approximately 29.6%. Another important performance
parameter to mention is Process 2-3, or the heat transfer due to the regenerator. Assuming that the
regenerator is fully reversible, the heat transfer due to the regenerator is found to be 0.39 kW. It
should be noted that many of the aforementioned assumptions are not realistic due to losses, a
more realistic approach is discussed in the Improvements section.
Variation of Working Fluid
2500
Specific Energy [ kJ/kg]
2000
1500
Specifc Heat Input
Specific Heat Out
1000
Specific Regenerator Heat
500 Specific Net Work
0
Helium Hydrogen Nitrogen
Working Fluid Type
Figure 5: Performance parameters for various Stirling engine working fluids
The Stirling engine can operate on various working fluids. There are four typical working fluids
and they are: compressed air, Hydrogen, Helium, and Nitrogen as observed from the operated
Stirling cycles [1]. It is important to note that the role of this working fluid is to transfer the heat
as efficiently as possible between the high and low temperature zones. The working fluid’s
properties on heat recovery from the high temperature zone is what makes it the ideal candidate.
Quantitatively, this is observed in the 𝑘 value which is a ratio of the 𝑐𝑝 and 𝑐𝑣 values for the
selected working fluid but there are additional factors that influence this performance [1]. This is
observed to decrease from helium, hydrogen, nitrogen, and air. The 𝑘 ratio in decreasing order is
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for helium at 1.667, hydrogen at 1.405, nitrogen at 1.400, and air at 1.400 [1]. Since the ratio is
greatest for helium, it should be able to perform most efficiently in our system.
The calculations performed indicate that Hydrogen is in fact the gas that performs the heat transfer
most efficiently as the mass flow rate required is nearly half the mass flow rate of Helium. It is
important to note that the specific work changes per unit mass flow of each working fluid but the
total work is constant since the net magnitude of work required by the pump drives this calculation
and design. However, the resulting heat input and output were found to be constant with varying
heat transfer to the regenerator due to each working fluid. There may be a discrepancy in this
calculation since the heat output should be consistent with the heat input and the heat taken by the
regenerator.
Table 6: Mass flow rates for various Stirling engine working fluids
Mass Flow
Working Fluid
𝑚̇ (kg/s)
Helium 0.0010
Hydrogen 0.0005
Nitrogen 0.0070
Improvements
The Stirling cycle closely follows a Carnot cycle, aside from the two constant volume processes.
However, the fundamental efficiency of the cycle depends on the difference between the upper
and lower temperature limits. The high and low temperature set points of this particular engine are
150 °C and 25°C, respectively. These are somewhat realistic values the proposed system due to
the high temperature being limited from the method of heat transfer. The solar thermal collector
sized for this system provides fluid at 158°C, which was reduced to factor in the temperature
gradient required to drive heat transfer. Raising the high temperature and lowering the low
temperature would result in gains of thermal efficiency from Carnot principles.
The discrepancy mentioned above for the energy balance with respect to the heat input, heat
transfer at the regenerator, and the heat rejection was analyzed. The initial specific heat output was
computed using the entropy generation in the process 3-4 and the corresponding low temperature.
Alternatively, the specific heat rejection can be computed by taking a difference between the inlet
and the regenerator. The second computation reflects the importance of the regenerator. However,
it conflicts with the Carnot efficiency of the system. The thermal efficiencies were found to be
ranging from 35.6% to 59.3% for the second theoretical approach where the Carnot efficiency was
approximately 29.6% so the entropy generation approach was finalized despite a discrepancy with
the inlet, regenerator, and rejection magnitudes.
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4.3 Safety and Environment
The Stirling engine is unique compared to other types of engines due to the fact that it does not
depend on combustion as a source of energy. The process only requires there to be a temperature
difference between the surfaces enclosing the working fluid. The most common fluids used in
these engines are air, helium, and hydrogen. The chosen gas (helium) is subjected to heating and
cooling, allowing it to expand and contract thereby actuating the displacement cylinder. The
absence of combustion insures that no harmful greenhouse gases (CO, CO2) are being emitted into
the environment. Leakages in the system are not cause for concern as helium is an inert gas [12].
This means that it won’t react with other elements to cause harmful products [13]. Additionally
helium is non-flammable reducing the risk of fire. Leakages should be controlled however as the
world’s helium supply is finite shortages of this gas may become an issue. Therefore as long as
leakages are minimized, or avoided altogether, these engines do not cause harm to the
environment.
The system will depend on a passive thermal solar collector as a source of heat. Solar radiation is
used to heat up the working fluid, which is then used to exchange heat at the high temperature side
of the Stirling engine. The working fluid used in the heat exchanging process is a mixture of 45%
propylene glycol and 55% distilled water. It should be noted that this fluid should be used at
temperatures less than 371°C to avoid auto-ignition. These thermal solar collectors have no direct
negative effect on environment however this is only the case with a well maintained unit under
normal operating conditions.
A possible environmental concern for the solar array is due to the leakage of propylene glycol. It
is recommended that any operator making contact with the glycol water is wearing the appropriate
protective gloves, eyewear, and gloves [14]. Inhaling the fluid may cause slight irritation in the
throat. Due to the very low toxicity, ingesting small amounts is not harmful. Skin and eye contact
will cause slight irritation and it is not likely that any corneal injury will occur. Symptoms of
prolonged skin exposure are flaking skin. Although unlikely, repeated exposure of propylene
glycol may cause damage to the central nervous system.
Propylene glycol-water is biodegradable and completely soluble [15], and as a result can be
removed by sewage treatment plants. In the case of environmental spillages, efforts should be
made to avoid the contamination of surrounding soil and groundwater sources. Once introduced
into water it has the tendency to remain there if untreated. That being said, propylene is nontoxic
to fish and any other aquatic life. Additionally there is no danger in the chemical accumulating
within the food chain.
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5.0 Conclusion
This report has detailed a proposal for a solar powered Stirling engine which is used to run a well
water pump for a rural home. A pump with a flow rate of 26.7 liters per minute was specified
requiring 325 W of energy. A passive solar thermal collector delivering 158°C propylene glycol
water dilution was used to heat the Stirling engine with means of a heat exchanger. The 1.1 kW
engine was sized to circulate 0.001 kg of helium per second, in order to provide the mechanical
energy required for the pump. The engine has an estimated thermal efficiency of 29.55%, which
assumes that the processes are fully reversible.
The pump was used to transfer the well water into a 4800 L reservoir and was sized for a shallow
well. A total pumping length of 17.5 m was required, with a corresponding pressure head of
35.95 m (324.4 kPa) factoring in frictional losses due to piping and fittings. This pump would fill
the 4800 L reservoir in 3 hours, which would provide enough water for a 4-person family for 3
days.
In the System Analysis portion of this report, two additional working fluids for the Stirling engine
were compared for a constant net work requirement. Nitrogen and hydrogen were compared to the
helium control scenario. It was found that nitrogen required the largest mass flow, with 0.007
kg per second. Difficulties from the larger mass flow rate would be due to the larger engine size
and increased system pressures. This would be costly due to increased losses which are more likely
to occur at high pressures. Hydrogen required a mass flow of 0.0005 kg per second. Although
this was the lowest mass flow rate of the three gases, there are dangers associated with the
combustibility of hydrogen when used with fast moving parts and high temperatures.
The final proposed system has met the requirements specified in the original problem statement
and the project objectives have been met. This system would be well suited to an off-grid rural
home requiring an independent water source powered by renewable energy. A potential issue with
the system is that the team has assumed that the solar thermal array can satisfy the energy
requirements of the Stirling engine both in the summer and winter seasons. A more thorough
proposal would require that the worst case scenario for solar irradiance be considered. Since water
supply for a home is a necessity, a supplemental energy source would likely be recommended to
ensure a constant supply. Additionally, a more comprehensive model for the Stirling engine design
would be needed to ensure that the well pump would have a reliable source of mechanical energy.
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6.0 Nomenclature
General
𝑘𝐽
𝑐𝑝 − 𝐶𝑜𝑛𝑠𝑡𝑎𝑛𝑡 𝑝𝑟𝑒𝑠𝑠𝑢𝑟𝑒 𝑠𝑝𝑒𝑐𝑖𝑓𝑖𝑐 ℎ𝑒𝑎𝑡 𝑐𝑎𝑝𝑎𝑐𝑖𝑡𝑦 (𝑘𝑔·𝐾)
𝑘𝐽
𝑐𝑣 − 𝐶𝑜𝑛𝑠𝑡𝑎𝑛𝑡 𝑣𝑜𝑙𝑢𝑚𝑒 𝑠𝑝𝑒𝑐𝑖𝑓𝑖𝑐 ℎ𝑒𝑎𝑡 𝑐𝑎𝑝𝑎𝑐𝑖𝑡𝑦 (𝑘𝑔·𝐾)
𝐷𝑖 − 𝐼𝑛𝑠𝑖𝑑𝑒 𝑑𝑖𝑎𝑚𝑒𝑡𝑒𝑟 𝑜𝑓 𝑝𝑖𝑝𝑒 (𝑚)
𝐻𝐿 − 𝐻𝑒𝑎𝑑 𝑙𝑜𝑠𝑠 (𝑚)
𝐻𝑃 − 𝑃𝑢𝑚𝑝 ℎ𝑒𝑎𝑑 (𝑚)
𝐻𝑃 − 𝐻𝑒𝑎𝑡 𝑝𝑖𝑝𝑒 𝑠𝑜𝑙𝑎𝑟 𝑡ℎ𝑒𝑟𝑚𝑎𝑙 𝑐𝑜𝑙𝑙𝑒𝑐𝑡𝑜𝑟
𝑊
𝐼𝑟𝑎𝑑 − 𝑆𝑜𝑙𝑎𝑟 𝑖𝑟𝑟𝑎𝑑𝑖𝑎𝑛𝑐𝑒 (𝑚2 )
𝑘 − 𝑆𝑝𝑒𝑐𝑖𝑓𝑖𝑐 ℎ𝑒𝑎𝑡 𝑟𝑎𝑡𝑖𝑜 (𝑑𝑖𝑚𝑒𝑛𝑠𝑖𝑜𝑛𝑙𝑒𝑠𝑠)
𝑘𝑔
𝑚̇ − 𝑀𝑎𝑠𝑠 𝑓𝑙𝑜𝑤 𝑟𝑎𝑡𝑒 ( 𝑠 )
𝑝 − 𝑃𝑟𝑒𝑠𝑠𝑢𝑟𝑒 (𝑘𝑃𝑎)
𝑃 − 𝑃𝑜𝑤𝑒𝑟 (𝑊)
𝑘𝐽
𝑞 − 𝑆𝑝𝑒𝑐𝑖𝑓𝑖𝑐 ℎ𝑒𝑎𝑡 (𝑘𝑔)
𝑚3
𝑄 − 𝑉𝑜𝑙𝑢𝑚𝑒𝑡𝑟𝑖𝑐 𝑓𝑙𝑜𝑤 𝑟𝑎𝑡𝑒 ( )
𝑠
𝑄̇ − 𝑇𝑜𝑡𝑎𝑙 ℎ𝑒𝑎𝑡 𝑟𝑎𝑡𝑒 (𝑘𝑊)
𝑘𝐽
𝑅 − 𝐺𝑎𝑠 𝑐𝑜𝑛𝑠𝑡𝑎𝑛𝑡 (𝑘𝑔·𝐾)
𝑅𝑒 − 𝑅𝑒𝑦𝑛𝑜𝑙𝑑𝑠 𝑛𝑢𝑚𝑏𝑒𝑟 (𝐷𝑖𝑚𝑒𝑛𝑠𝑖𝑜𝑛𝑙𝑒𝑠𝑠)
𝑇 − 𝑇𝑒𝑚𝑝𝑒𝑟𝑎𝑡𝑢𝑟𝑒 (°𝐶, 𝐾)
𝑚
𝑉 − 𝑉𝑒𝑙𝑜𝑐𝑖𝑡𝑦 ( 𝑠 )
𝑉 − 𝑉𝑜𝑙𝑢𝑚𝑒 (𝐿)
𝑘𝐽
𝑤 − 𝑆𝑝𝑒𝑐𝑖𝑓𝑖𝑐 𝑤𝑜𝑟𝑘 (𝑘𝑔)
𝑊̇𝑛𝑒𝑡 − 𝑁𝑒𝑡 𝑤𝑜𝑟𝑘 𝑟𝑎𝑡𝑒 (𝑘𝑊)
𝑍 − 𝐸𝑙𝑒𝑣𝑎𝑡𝑖𝑜𝑛 ℎ𝑒𝑎𝑑 (𝑚)
Greek Letters
𝑘𝑁
𝛾 − 𝑆𝑝𝑒𝑐𝑖𝑓𝑖𝑐 𝑤𝑒𝑖𝑔ℎ𝑡 (𝑚3 )
𝜀 − 𝐴𝑏𝑠𝑜𝑙𝑢𝑡𝑒 𝑟𝑜𝑢𝑔ℎ𝑛𝑒𝑠𝑠 (𝐷𝑖𝑚𝑒𝑛𝑠𝑖𝑜𝑛𝑙𝑒𝑠𝑠)
𝜂 − 𝐸𝑓𝑓𝑖𝑐𝑖𝑒𝑛𝑐𝑦
15
7.0 Appendix
7.1 Figures
Figure 6: Full scale proposed system diagram
16
Figure 7: Initial system design
17
Figure 8: Micropump GC-Series external gear pump [10]
Figure 9: s-power HP20-2000 heat pipe collector [6]
18
Figure 10: Pacer S-series centrifugal pump [11]
Figure 11: Micropump GC-series performance parameters [10]
19
Figure 12: Efficiency graph for various low-flow, high-head centrifugal pumps [18, p. 159]
20
7.2 Sample Calculations
Well Pump and Reservoir
All equations are from Munson et al. [16] unless otherwise indicated.
Water Use Per Person: 400 𝐿/𝑑𝑎𝑦

Number of Occupants: 4 𝑝𝑒𝑟𝑠𝑜𝑛𝑠
Number of Days of Supply Held in Reservoir: 3 𝑑𝑎𝑦𝑠
Time to Fill Reservoir: ∆𝑡 = 3 ℎ𝑜𝑢𝑟𝑠
Maximum Water Velocity: 𝑉𝑤 = 1 𝑚/𝑠
Dynamic Viscosity of Water: 𝜇𝑤 = 1.79 · 10−5 𝑁 · 𝑠/𝑚2 [16]
Density of Water: 𝜌𝑤 = 999 𝑘𝑔/𝑚3 [16]
Specific Weight of Water: 𝛾𝑤 = 9.80 𝑘𝑁/𝑚3
Total Length of Pipe: 𝐿 = 17.5 𝑚
Suction Height: 𝑍2 = 7.5 𝑚
Estimated total water use per day.
𝐿 𝐿
𝑉𝑤 = (400 𝑑𝑎𝑦) (4 𝑝𝑒𝑟𝑠𝑜𝑛𝑠) = 1600 𝑑𝑎𝑦
Estimated reservoir size.
𝐿
𝑉𝑟𝑒𝑠𝑒𝑟𝑣𝑜𝑖𝑟 = (1600 𝑑𝑎𝑦) (3 𝑑𝑎𝑦𝑠) = 4800 𝐿
Water flow rate.
𝑉𝑟𝑒𝑠𝑒𝑟𝑣𝑜𝑖𝑟 (4800 𝐿) 1 𝑚3 1 ℎ𝑜𝑢𝑟 𝑚3

𝑄𝑤 = = (3 ℎ𝑜𝑢𝑟𝑠) (1000 𝐿) ( 3600 𝑠 ) ≈ 4.444 · 10−4
∆𝑡 𝑠
Estimated inside diameter of pipe.
𝑚3
4𝑄 4(4.444·10−4 )
𝐷𝑖 = √𝜋𝑉 = √
𝑠
𝑚 ≈ 0.02379 𝑚
𝜋(1 )
𝑠
The next closest inside diameter in a standard size is schedule 40 1 inch steel pipe with an inside
diameter of 26.6 mm [4, p. 622].
21
The Bernoulli equation in terms of head for the flow can be written as:
𝑝 𝑉2 𝑝 𝑉2
𝑍1 + 𝛾 1 + 2𝑔
1
− 𝐻𝐿 + 𝐻𝑃 = 𝑍2 + 𝛾 2 + 2𝑔
2
[4]
𝑤 𝑤
Where the subscript 1 denotes the entrance to the pipe inside the well and subscript 2 denotes the
end of the reservoir. By assigning State 1 as the reference point at atmospheric pressure and
assuming that both the well and reservoir have a large surface area relative to the pipe area, the
equation can be simplified to solve for pump head as:
𝑝
𝐻𝑃 = 𝑍2 + 𝛾 2 + 𝐻𝐿
𝑤
The elevation at State 2 is assumed to be the height of a shallow well (7.5 m or 24 ft) [17] and the
output pressure to be 40 psi (344.7 kPa) [5]. Therefore the only unknown variable is the head loss
due to friction inside the pipe.
Calculate the Reynolds number for the flow.
𝑘𝑔 𝑚
𝜌𝑤 𝑉𝑤 𝐷𝑖 (999 3 )(1 )(0.0266 𝑚)
𝑠
𝑅𝑒 = = 𝑚
𝑁·𝑠 ≈ 23,726
𝜇𝑤 (1.12·10−3 )
𝑚2
Figure 13: Moody chart relating relative roughness and Reynolds number [16, p. 140]
22
Since the flow is turbulent the friction factor must be calculated for the pipes. The pipes will be
assumed to be wrought iron with an absolute roughness (𝜀) of 0.046 mm [4, p. 169]. Calculate the
relative roughness for the pipes.
𝜀 (0.046 𝑚𝑚)
= ≈ 0.001729
𝐷𝑖 (26.6 𝑚𝑚)
Calculate the friction factor using the Moody chart (see Figure 13) which is approximately 0.029.
The total length of pipe is estimated at 17.5 m (7.5 m from the well to the pump and 10 m to the
reservoir). The 𝐾 factor for the regular 90° threaded elbow and fully open gate valve or 1.5 and
0.15 respectively [16]. The total head loss including the pipe length and fittings can now be
calculated:
𝐿 𝑤 𝑉2
𝐻𝐿 = [𝑓 (𝐷) + 𝐾𝑒𝑙𝑏𝑜𝑤 + 𝐾𝑔𝑎𝑡𝑒 𝑣𝑎𝑙𝑣𝑒 ] (2𝑔 ) [4]
𝑚 2
(17.5 𝑚) (1 )
𝑠
∴ 𝐻𝐿 = [(0.029) (0.0266 𝑚) + 1.5 + 0.15] 2(32.2 𝑚/𝑠2 ) ≈ 0.3219 𝑚
The required pump head can now be solved for using the Bernoulli equation.
𝑝 (275.7 𝑘𝑃𝑎)
𝐻𝑃 = 𝑍2 + 𝛾 2 + 𝐻𝐿 = (7.5 𝑚) + 𝑘𝑁 + (0.3219 𝑚) ≈ 35.95 𝑚
𝑤 (9.80 3 )
𝑚
For sizing purposes the required pump pressure can be calculated.
𝑘𝑁
𝑝𝑝𝑢𝑚𝑝 = 𝐻𝑃 𝛾𝑤 = (35.95 𝑚) (9.80 𝑚3 ) ≈ 352.4 𝑘𝑃𝑎
The required power the pump must impart to the fluid can then be found.
𝑚3
𝑝𝑝𝑢𝑚𝑝,𝑜𝑢𝑡 = 𝑝𝑝𝑢𝑚𝑝 𝑄𝑤 = (352.4 𝑘𝑃𝑎) (0.0004444 ) ≈ 156.6 𝑊
𝑠
Due to the difficulty in finding overall efficiency values for a low-flow, high-head centrifugal
pump a value of 50% was assumed [18]. The required pump input power can be found.
𝑝𝑝𝑢𝑚𝑝,𝑜𝑢𝑡 (156.6 𝑊)
𝑝𝑝𝑢𝑚𝑝,𝑖𝑛 = = ≈ 313.2 𝑊
𝜂𝑜 (0.50)
This value is taken as 325 W to allow for losses due to friction in mechanism.
23
Stripling Engine Calculations
It is assumed that the Stirling engine runs between the following temperatures,
𝑇𝐻 = 150 ℃ → 423 𝐾
𝑇𝐿 = 25 ℃ → 298 𝐾
The high and low pressure of the system is also assumed to be the following,
𝑝𝐻 = 500 𝑘𝑃𝑎
𝑝𝐿 = 101.325 𝑘𝑃𝑎
The ideal gas properties of helium are then found [19],
𝑘𝐽
𝑅ℎ𝑒𝑙𝑖𝑢𝑚 = 2.0769 𝑘𝑔·𝐾
𝑘𝐽
𝑐𝑣 ℎ𝑒𝑙𝑖𝑢𝑚 = 3.1156 𝑘𝑔·𝐾
𝑘𝐽
𝑐𝑝 ℎ𝑒𝑙𝑖𝑢𝑚 = 5.1926 𝑘𝑔·𝐾
Figure 1 depicts the P-v and T-s diagrams of the Stirling Cycle. Notice the two constant volume
(4-1 and 2-3) and constant temperature processes (1-2 and 3-4)
With the assumed pressures and temperatures above, the following states are now known,
𝑇1 = 𝑇𝐻 = 150 ℃ → 423 𝐾
𝑇2 = 𝑇1 = 150 ℃ → 423 𝐾
𝑇3 = 𝑇𝐿 = 25 ℃ → 298 𝐾
𝑇4 = 𝑇𝐿 = 25 ℃ → 298 𝐾
𝑝1 = 𝑝𝐻 = 500 𝑘𝑃𝑎
𝑝3 = 𝑝𝐿 = 101.325 𝑘𝑃𝑎
Assuming helium behaves as an ideal gas, the various pressures of the cycle can be found.
Pressure at state 4 is then,
𝑝1 𝑉1 𝑝4 𝑉4 𝑝𝑇4
= → 𝑝4 =
𝑇1 𝑇4 𝑇1
500 𝑘𝑃𝑎·298 𝐾
𝑝4 = = 352.2586 𝑘𝑃𝑎
423 𝐾
Pressure of the helium at state 2 is then found by,
24
𝑝2 𝑉2 𝑝3 𝑉3 𝑝3 𝑇2
= → 𝑝2 =
𝑇2 𝑇3 𝑇3
101.325 𝑘𝑝𝑎·423 𝐾
𝑝2 = = 143.827 𝑘𝑃𝑎
298 𝐾
The table below depicts the temperature and pressures at every state of the cycle,
Table 7: State parameters for Stirling engine calculations
State1 State2 State3 State4

T [C] 150 150 25 25
T [K] 423 423 298 298
P [kPa] 500 143.827 101.325 352.245
Now, the various energy transfers interacting within the engine must be found. Due to the heat
input and output processes happening at a constant temperature, a product of the respective
temperature and the entropy generation is used.
First, the heat input into the engine is found by the following,
𝑃1
𝑞𝑖𝑛 = 𝑇𝐻 (𝑆𝑔𝑒𝑛 ) = 𝑇𝐻 [𝑅ℎ𝑒𝑙𝑖𝑢𝑚 · ln ( )]
1−2 𝑃2
𝑘𝐽 500 𝑘𝑝𝑎
𝑞𝑖𝑛 = 423 𝐾 [2.0769 𝑘𝑔·𝐾 · ln (143.827𝑘𝑝𝑎 )]
𝑘𝐽
𝑞𝑖𝑛 = 1094.643
𝑘𝑔
Then the heat output is found using the same method,
𝑃
𝑞𝑜𝑢𝑡 = 𝑇𝐻 (𝑆𝑔𝑒𝑛 ) = 𝑇𝐿 [𝑅ℎ𝑒𝑙𝑖𝑢𝑚 · ln (𝑃4 )]
3−4 3
𝑘𝐽 352.245 𝑘𝑃𝑎
𝑞𝑜𝑢𝑡 = 298 𝐾 [2.0769 𝑘𝑔·𝐾 · ln ( )]
101.325
𝑘𝐽
𝑞𝑜𝑢𝑡 = 771.166 𝑘𝑔
The heat transfer due to the regenerator is then found,
𝑞𝑟𝑒𝑔𝑒𝑛𝑒𝑟𝑎𝑡𝑜𝑟 = (𝑢1 − 𝑢4 ) = 𝑐𝑣 ℎ𝑒𝑙𝑖𝑢𝑚 (𝑇1 − 𝑇4 )
25
𝑘𝐽
𝑞𝑟𝑒𝑔𝑒𝑛𝑒𝑟𝑎𝑡𝑜𝑟 = 3.1156 𝑘𝑔·𝐾 (423𝑘 − 298𝑘)
𝑘𝐽
𝑞𝑟𝑒𝑔𝑒𝑛𝑒𝑟𝑎𝑡𝑜𝑟 = 389.45 𝑘𝑔
The net work from the engine is then found by,
𝑤𝑛𝑒𝑡 = 𝑞𝑖𝑛 − 𝑞𝑜𝑢𝑡

𝑘𝐽 𝑘𝐽
𝑤𝑛𝑒𝑡 = 1094.643 𝑘𝑔 − 771.167 𝑘𝑔
𝑘𝐽
𝑤𝑛𝑒𝑡 = 323.476 𝑘𝑔
The mass of helium circulating inside of the engine is then found by dividing the work needed to
run the pump by the net-work of the cycle,
𝑊̇𝑝𝑢𝑚𝑝
𝑚̇ℎ𝑒𝑙𝑖𝑢𝑚 =
𝑤𝑛𝑒𝑡
𝑘𝐽
0.325𝑘𝑊 0.325
𝑚̇ℎ𝑒𝑙𝑖𝑢𝑚 = 𝑘𝐽 = 𝑠
𝑘𝐽
323.476 323.476
𝑘𝑔 𝑘𝑔
𝑘𝑔
𝑚̇ℎ𝑒𝑙𝑖𝑢𝑚 = 0.0010047 𝑠
Now that the mass of the helium is known, the resultant heat interactions can be computed using
their specific counterparts.
The total heat input,
𝑄̇𝑖𝑛 = 𝑞𝑖𝑛 𝑚̇ℎ𝑒𝑙𝑖𝑢𝑚

𝑘𝐽 𝑘𝑔
𝑄̇𝑖𝑛 = 1094.643 𝑘𝑔 · 0.0010047 𝑠
𝑄̇𝑖𝑛 = 1.0998 𝑘𝑊
The total heat output,

𝑄̇𝑜𝑢𝑡 = 𝑞𝑜𝑢𝑡 𝑚̇ℎ𝑒𝑙𝑖𝑢𝑚
𝑘𝐽 𝑘𝑔
𝑄̇𝑜𝑢𝑡 = 771.167 𝑘𝑔 · 0.0010047 𝑠
𝑄̇𝑖𝑛 = 0.7748 𝑘𝑊
The total regenerator heat transfer

𝑄̇𝑟𝑒𝑔𝑒𝑛𝑒𝑟𝑎𝑡𝑜𝑟 = 𝑞𝑟𝑒𝑔𝑒𝑛𝑒𝑟𝑎𝑡𝑜𝑟 𝑚̇ℎ𝑒𝑙𝑖𝑢𝑚
𝑘𝐽 𝑘𝑔
𝑄̇𝑟𝑒𝑔𝑒𝑛𝑒𝑟𝑎𝑡𝑜𝑟 = 389.45 𝑘𝑔 · 0.0010047 𝑠
𝑄̇𝑟𝑒𝑔𝑒𝑛𝑒𝑟𝑎𝑡𝑜𝑟 = 0.3912 𝑘𝑊
26
7.3 EES Code
"System Pressures"
P[1] = 500 [kPa]
P[2] = 143.827 [kPa]
P[3] = 101.325 [kPa]
P[4] = 352.245 [kPa]
P[5] = 500 [kPa]
"System Temperatures"
T[1] = 150 [C]
T[2] = 150 [C]
T[3] = 25 [C]
T[4] = 25 [C]
T[5] =150 [C]
"System Entropy"
s[1]=Entropy(He,T=T[1],P=P[1])
"System Volumes"
v[1]=Volume(He,T=T[1],P=P[1])
27
References
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29

MECE4240U Solar Powered Stirling Engine For A Rural Water Pump

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MECE4240U Solar Powered Stirling Engine For A Rural Water Pump

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FACULTY OF ENGINEERING AND APPLIED SCIENCE

Course Instructor: Dr. Brendan MacDonald

# Last Name First Name ID

Process 1-2: Isothermal heat addition and expansion

1.1 Problem Statement

1.2 Project Objectives

 Identify all components required to accompany the Stirling engine

Table 1: Project task allocation

Team Member Tasks

3.0 Design Details

3.1 Project Assumptions

3.3 Proposed Design

Figure 2: Proposed system diagram

4.0 Analysis and Discussion

4.1 Component Selection

Figure 3: Alpha-type Stirling engine

Table 2: Performance Parameters of Stirling Engine:

Passive Thermal Heat Pipe Solar Collector

Table 3: s-power HP20-2000 Performance Power Plus parameters

Maximum Power Out Collector Area Maximum Pressure Maximum Temperature

High Temperature Pump

Table 4: Micropump GC-series external gear pump parameters

Flow Rate Maximum Pressure Temperature Maximum Speed

Well Pump and Reservoir

Table 5: Pacer S-series centrifugal pump parameters [11]

4.2 System Analysis

Figure 4: T-s and P-v diagram for proposed Stirling cycle

Variation of Working Fluid

Figure 5: Performance parameters for various Stirling engine working fluids

4.3 Safety and Environment

Figure 6: Full scale proposed system diagram

Figure 7: Initial system design

Figure 8: Micropump GC-Series external gear pump [10]

Figure 9: s-power HP20-2000 heat pipe collector [6]

Figure 10: Pacer S-series centrifugal pump [11]

Figure 11: Micropump GC-series performance parameters [10]

7.2 Sample Calculations

Well Pump and Reservoir

Water Use Per Person: 400 𝐿/𝑑𝑎𝑦

Estimated total water use per day.

Estimated reservoir size.

Water flow rate.

𝑉𝑟𝑒𝑠𝑒𝑟𝑣𝑜𝑖𝑟 (4800 𝐿) 1 𝑚3 1 ℎ𝑜𝑢𝑟 𝑚3

Estimated inside diameter of pipe.

Calculate the Reynolds number for the flow.

For sizing purposes the required pump pressure can be calculated.

Stripling Engine Calculations

The ideal gas properties of helium are then found [19],

Table 7: State parameters for Stirling engine calculations

State1 State2 State3 State4

Then the heat output is found using the same method,

The heat transfer due to the regenerator is then found,

𝑞𝑟𝑒𝑔𝑒𝑛𝑒𝑟𝑎𝑡𝑜𝑟 = (𝑢1 − 𝑢4 ) = 𝑐𝑣 ℎ𝑒𝑙𝑖𝑢𝑚 (𝑇1 − 𝑇4 )

The net work from the engine is then found by,

𝑤𝑛𝑒𝑡 = 𝑞𝑖𝑛 − 𝑞𝑜𝑢𝑡

𝑄̇𝑖𝑛 = 𝑞𝑖𝑛 𝑚̇ℎ𝑒𝑙𝑖𝑢𝑚

The total heat output,

The total regenerator heat transfer

7.3 EES Code

[1] Y. A. Çengel and M. A. Boles, Thermodynamics: An Engineering Approach (5th Edition),

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