Performance Appraisal of a Gamma-Type Stirling Engine

The demand for energy is expanding due to increase in population and fast industrialization which started in the 20th century. As domestic and industrial systems make use of the accessible energy produced by energy systems, technological headway is critical for these systems to maximally use the accessible energy sources available in the world. Thus, interest in Stirling engine technology is growing once again. This paper utilizes a third order quasi-steady flow model to predict the performance of an experimental gamma type Stirling engine at the heater temperature of 1145K by simulating in MATLAB environment. A prediction error of 8.24% was obtained after comparing simulated performance with the experimental values. Empirical methods such as Beale and West analysis were also used to predict the performance of the Stirling engine. The quasi-steady flow model showed better accuracy when compared to other methods such as Beal and West analysis.