ISOTHERMAL SIMULATION WITH DECOUPLED LOSSES FOR KINEMATIC STIRLING ENGINE DESIGN

Dimensional analysis has been employed to review the isothermal or quasi-static simulation of kinematic Stirling engines and to study the influence of the engine and drive mechanism types, and other parameters, on the thermodynamic engine cycle. The use of isothermal simulation with decoupled losses to obtain reliable predictions at practical levels of rpm is experimentally justified. The method seems to be an adequate tool to study a large number of configurations, which the engineer needs at the initial design stage. At the same time it provides a intuitive knowledge of and similarity criteria for the thermodynamic engine performance.