Renewable Energy: Chin-Hsiang Cheng, Ying-Ju Yu
Renewable Energy: Chin-Hsiang Cheng, Ying-Ju Yu
Renewable Energy: Chin-Hsiang Cheng, Ying-Ju Yu
Renewable Energy
journal homepage: www.elsevier.com/locate/renene
a r t i c l e i n f o a b s t r a c t
Article history: This study is aimed at development of a numerical model for a beta-type Stirling engine with rhombic-
Received 4 January 2009 drive mechanism. By taking into account the non-isothermal effects, the effectiveness of the regenerative
Received in revised form channel, and the thermal resistance of the heating head, the energy equations for the control volumes in
7 February 2010
the expansion chamber, the compression chamber, and the regenerative channel can be derived and
Accepted 5 April 2010
solved. Meanwhile, a fully developed flow velocity profile in the regenerative channel, in terms of the
Available online 7 May 2010
reciprocating velocity of the displacer and the instantaneous pressure difference between the expansion
and the compression chambers, is derived for calculation of the mass flow rate through the regenerative
Keywords:
Numerical model
channel. In this manner, the internal irreversibility caused by pressure difference in the two chambers
Stirling engine and the viscous shear effects due to the motion of the reciprocating displacer on the fluid flow in the
Rhombic drive regenerative channel gap are included. Periodic variation of pressures, volumes, temperatures, masses,
Beta type and heat transfers in the expansion and the compression chambers are predicted. A parametric study of
the dependence of the power output and thermal efficiency on the geometrical and physical parameters,
involving regenerative gap, distance between two gears, offset distance from the crank to the center of
gear, and the heat source temperature, has been performed.
Ó 2010 Elsevier Ltd. All rights reserved.
1. Introduction (3) g-type e this type of configuration has a piston and a displacer,
each in its own cylinder.
Stirling engines are power machines that operate over a closed,
regenerative thermodynamic cycle, with cyclic compression and In addition, a double-acting Stirling engine has multiple cylin-
expansion of the working fluid at different temperature levels, as ders and elongated power pistons, and can be considered as
described by Walker [1]. The working fluid in the Stirling engines a coupled a engines with thermodynamic cycle taking place
might be air, nitrogen, helium, or hydrogen. In theory, ideal Stirling between the top of one piston and the bottom of the next piston.
engines features high thermal efficiency, low emissions, and Stirling engine technology has come a long way in the past
quietness. Most importantly, a variety of heat sources can be several decades. However, new concepts and designs continue to
utilized, including solar energy, waste heat, and fossil fuels. In appear, according to the review of Ross [4]. Among all, the
particular, the solar dish power systems (for example, the SES 25- domestic-scale Stirling electric power generator [5] is particularly
kW SunCatcher [2]) typically consisting a solar dish concentrator, of great market potential.
a sun tracker, and a Stirling engine have received great attention In an ideal Stirling engine, compression and expansion cham-
from the energy-related researchers in recent years. bers were assumed to be maintained at constant volume or
In general, the Stirling engines are classified into three types of isothermal conditions during the heating and the cooling
configuration [3] as follows: processes. However, in 1859 Rankine [6] already mentioned that
neither the heating nor the cooling takes place exactly at constant
(1) a-type e this type of configuration features two pistons, each in volumes or at constant temperatures. A simple second-order
its own cylinder; analysis of the ideal Stirling engine cycle was proposed by
(2) b-type e this type of configuration has a piston and a displacer G. Schmidt in 1871 [7]. The Schmidt analysis has been used widely
in the same cylinder; and as an approximation of Stirling engine performance, and Bercho-
witz and Urieli [8] gave a detailed description of it. The Schmidt
* Corresponding author. Tel.: þ886 6 2757575x63627; fax: þ886 6 2389940. analysis takes the isothermal analysis of Stirling engines one step
E-mail address: [email protected] (C.-H. Cheng). further by assuming that the volume of the expansion and the
0960-1481/$ e see front matter Ó 2010 Elsevier Ltd. All rights reserved.
doi:10.1016/j.renene.2010.04.002
C.-H. Cheng, Y.-J. Yu / Renewable Energy 35 (2010) 2590e2601 2591
compression space vary sinusoidally. However, it does not take into driving mechanism by means of a lever. By means of nodal ther-
account non-isothermal effects and internal irreversibility caused modynamic and kinematic analysis, the instantaneous temperature
by fluid friction and the pressure difference in different spaces of distribution of working fluid, through the heatingecooling passage,
the engine. As a result, it is not capable of dealing with the ther- conducting the cold space to hot space, was studied. Parlak, et al.
modynamic phenomena in a real engine. [13] performed a thermodynamic analysis of a g-type Stirling
Recently, the present authors built a 10-W b-type Stirling engine engine by using a quasi steady flow model. In addition, Mahkamov
with a rhombic drive (Model 10ST1), of which the photographs are [14] performed an axisymmetric computational fluid dynamics
shown in Fig 1. According to the experiences learned from the approach to the analysis of the working process of a solar Stirling
development of the engine, it is recognized that major fundamental engine. de Boer [15] tried to find the aximum attainable perfor-
problems that the designers of the Stirling engines have to face mance of Stirling engines and refrigerators. Andersen, et al. [16]
were the time consumption in the design process and the cost of presented a control-volume-based modeling in one space dimen-
fabrication. In most of the cases the determination of the geomet- sion of oscillating, compressible flow in the reciprocating machines.
rical parameters of the engines is merely based on the experience of Reinalter et al. [17] provided detailed performance analysis of
the designers or on insufficient costly experimental information. a 10 kW dish/Stirling system.
Therefore, the improvement of the engine can only be carried out in It has been recognized that these models give a certain amount
a relatively high-cost time-consuming trial-and-error process. In of information that are not easily obtained by the experiments. In
this regard, modeling the engines is expected to be one of the addition, modeling costs much lower since it can be readily used to
alternative solutions to these issues. A number of numerical models evaluate the performance of the engine design before the design is
and simulation methods for different types of the Stirling engines submitted for fabrication. The present model is referred to as the
have been proposed. The Stirling cycle machines under non- second-order model. Herein the three-dimensional CFD model is
isothermal working condition were firstly analyzed by Finkelstein not adopted because it is an expensive method. Though the three-
[9] in 1960s. His analysis was recognized as one significant devel- dimensional CFD model might provide detailed information
opment in the past several decades. His model, by means of regarding the flow pattern and temperature and pressure distri-
introducing the heat transfer coefficient, the finite heat transfer in butions, it requires much more computation efforts than the
the working space was derived. The temperature variation of the present model.
gas in the working chambers was investigated. Schulz and The rhombic drive, which is frequently used on a b-type Stirling
Schwendig [10] proposed a general simulation model for Stirling engine [18], utilizes a jointed rhomboid to convert linear motion of
cycles. A thermodynamic analysis of a Stirling engine including a reciprocating piston to a rotational of fly wheel. In the rhombic
dead volumes of hot space, cold space and regenerator was per- drive mechanism, one rigid rod is installed connecting the piston to
formed by Kongtragool and Wongwises [11]. Most recently, Kar- the top corner of the jointed rhomboid, and another rigid rod
abulut, et al. [12] presented a b-type Stirling engine with a displacer connecting the displacer to the bottom corner of the rhomboid. In
2592 C.-H. Cheng, Y.-J. Yu / Renewable Energy 35 (2010) 2590e2601
Fig. 1. A 10-W b-type Stirling engine with rhombic-drive (Model 10ST1) and its parts [from Power Engines and Clean Energy Laboratory (PEACE Lab.), National Cheng Kung
University].
addition, two symmetric gears of equal diameter are connected to account the non-isothermal effects, the effectiveness of the
the right and the left corners of the rhomboid fixed on the gears at regenerative channel, and the thermal resistance in the heating
an offset distance from gears center. The two gears are in contact head. Meanwhile, the internal irreversibility caused by pressure
and rotate in opposite directions. When gas pressure is applied to difference in the two chambers and the viscous shear effects due to
the piston, the top corner of the rhomboid is pushed downward; the motion of the reciprocating displacer on the fluid flow in the
the rhomboid is flattened in the direction of the piston axis; and regenerative channel gap are also included.
then it pushes on the gear wheels and causes them to rotate. At the
same time, as the gear wheels rotate, the rhomboid progresses its
change of shape and drives its bottom corner and the displacer to 2. Numerical model
move upward.
The purpose of the present study is aimed at development of A schematic diagram of the engine is illustrated in Fig. 2. The
a numerical model for predicting thermodynamic cycle and effi- working fluid contained in the engine is air. The applied model has
ciency of the b-type Stirling engine with the rhombic drive, in been divided into three control volumes: (1) expansion chamber,
which the annual gap around the displacer acts as a regenerator, so (2) regenerative channel, and (3) compression chamber. Each of the
as to evaluate the thermodynamic performance of the engine and three control volumes can be treated as an open system. It is
predict the periodic variation of pressures, specific volumes, assumed that the working fluid is an ideal gas and that the volumes
temperatures, masses, and heat transfers in the expansion and the of the chambers as well as the pressures, temperatures, and masses
compression chambers. Note that the present model takes into of the air in the expansion and the compression chambers are
C.-H. Cheng, Y.-J. Yu / Renewable Energy 35 (2010) 2590e2601 2593
Ve ðtÞ ¼ p$r22 lt Yp ðtÞ (3)
Gas velocity
Displacer Cylinder
profile
Vc ðtÞ ¼ p$r22 Yd ðtÞ ld Yp ðtÞ (4)
vd
where r2 is the core radius of cylinder. Furthermore, differentiating
Yp(t) and Yd(t) of Eqs. (1) and (2) with respect to t yields the
Regenerative velocities of the piston and the displacer, vp(t) and vd(t), respec-
channel tively, as
Expansion
8 "
chamber TH < 2 #1=2
L l1
vp ðtÞ ¼ Rd u cos q sin q l2
2
Rd cos q
d2(=2r2) : 2 2
9
=
L l1
Rd cos q ð5Þ
2 2 ;
Yd
8 "
d1(=2r1)
< 2 #1=2
L l4
vd ðtÞ ¼ Rd u cos q þ sin q l23 Rd cos q
: 2 2
9
=
L l4
TL Compression Rd cos q ð6Þ
2 2 ;
chamber
me RTe
Pe ¼ (8)
Ve
Fig. 2. Schematic of b-type Stirling engine with rhombic drive. where me is the mass and Te is the temperature of the air contained
in the expansion chamber, and R is the gas constant..
Next, the air temperature in the expansion chamber (Te) is
varying with time transiently. However, all the time-varying
calculated based on the energy conservation law:
properties are uniform inside the chambers at any time instant.
Displacements of the piston and displacer connected with the 2
dU _ out;e dm h þ v
¼ Q_ in;e W (9)
2 e
rhombic-drive mechanism, Yp(t) and Yd(t), are given as:
dt e dt
" 2 #1=2
L l1 where the values of h and v is chosen in accordance with the
Yp ðtÞ ¼ Lpt þ Rd sin q þ l22 Rd cos q (1) direction of the mass flow. Here, the mass flowing out of the
2 2
expansion chamber is prescribed to be positive. Therefore:
For mass leaving the expansion chamber and entering the
" 2 #1=2
L l4 regenerative channel:
Yd ðtÞ ¼ Ldt þ Rd sin q l23 Rd cos q (2)
2 2
dm
> 0; h ¼ he ; v ¼ ve (10a)
where q is the crank angle; Rd is the offset distance from gear dt
centers to the joints between the rhomboid and the gears; l1, l2, l3, where he is the specific enthalpy of the air contained in the
and l4 represent lengths of the linkages of the rhombic-drive expansion chamber, and ve is the average velocity of the air leaving
mechanism; Ldt denotes the length from the linkage l1 to the top the expansion chamber calculated with ve ¼ jdmdt
j=½re pðr22 r12 Þ.
surface of the displacer; and Lpt is the length from the linkage l4 to For mass entering the expansion chamber from the regenerative
the top surface of the piston. channel:
The volumes of the expansion and the compression chambers,
Ve(t) and Vc(t), can be calculated, respectively, in terms of Yp(t), dm
< 0; h ¼ hj ; v ¼ vj (10b)
Yd(t), and the cross-sectional area of the cylinder: dt
2594 C.-H. Cheng, Y.-J. Yu / Renewable Energy 35 (2010) 2590e2601
where hj is the specific enthalpy of the air exiting the regenerative where the coefficients, C1 and C2 are determined based on the
channel, and vj is the average velocity of the air calculated with following boundary conditions:
vi ¼ jdm
dt
j=½rj pðr22 r12 Þ. Let
B:C 1 : r ¼ r1 ; vz ¼ vd ðtÞ (15a)
dU .
j ¼ me Cv Tenþ1 Ten Dt (11)
dt e B:C 2 : r ¼ r2 ; vz ¼ 0 (15b)
where me ¼ ðmnþ1 e þ mne Þ=2 and Dt is the time step used in the where the reciprocating velocity of the displacer, vd(t), is deter-
time marching computation. In this study, Dt is typically assigned to mined by Eq. (6). Then, the velocity profile in the regenerative
be 1 106 s. channel is carried out as
With the help of Eqs. (10) and (11), Eq. (9) can be discretized into
" 2 #
the finite-difference form as 1 dP 2 r2 r12 r vd ðtÞ
2
vZ ¼ r r2 ln ln r
" nþ1 n
4m dz lnðr2 =r1 Þ r2 lnðr2 =r1 Þ
Dt Dt TH Pe Ve Ve
Tenþ1 ¼ 1 Ten þ vd ðtÞ
me Cv Rt1 me Cv Rt1 Dt þ ln r2 (16)
lnðr2 =r1 Þ
#
dm v2 dm
he þ e ; for >0 ð12aÞ In the above equation, it is noticed that the effects of pressure
dt 2 dt difference in the two chambers and the viscous shear effects due to
the motion of the reciprocating displacer on the fluid flow in the
or
regenerative channel gap are included. The volumetric flow rate Q
" can then be calculated as
nþ1 n
Dt Dt TH Pe Ve Ve
Tenþ1 ¼ 1 Ten þ Zr2 " 2 2 #
me Cv Rt1 me Cv Rt1 Dt p dP r2 r12
!# Q ¼ vZ ð2prÞ dr ¼ 4 4
r2 r1
dm vj2
dm 8m dz lnðr2 =r1 Þ
hj þ ; for <0 ð12bÞ r1
dt 2 dt 2pvd ðtÞ 1 2 1
the geometry of the heating head. Hence, for a specific case, further
r2 ln r2 r12 ln r1 r22 r12
experiments or numerical simulation should be required to deter- lnðr2 =r1 Þ 2 4
mine the value of Rt1. Eqs. (12a) and (12b) are employed to calculate vd ðtÞr 1 2 1 2
the air temperature in the expansion chamber. þ 2p ln r2 r2 r1 (18)
lnðr2 =r1 Þ 2 2
where dP/dZ has been approximated with ðPe Pc Þ=ld . Using the
2.2. Regenerative channel
obtained value of dm/dt, the masses of the air contained in the
expansion and the compression chambers can be updated as
In the present model, the gap between the outer surface of the
displacer and the inner surface of the cylinder is referred to as the
dm n
regenerative channel. The model of regenerator used here is mnþ1
e ¼ mne j Dt (19a)
dt
a simplified model which assumes that the gas is incompressible
throughout the interior chambers. The gas in the regeneration
dm n
channel enters at one end and exits at another, and the direction mnþ1
c ¼ mnc þ j Dt (19b)
and the mass flow rate of the gas flow in the regeneration channel dt
is dependent on the reciprocating velocity of the displacer and the where the superscripts n and n þ 1 represent two consecutive time
instantaneous pressure difference between the expansion and the steps.
compression chambers. Since the regenerative channel is usually The mass conservation principle requires that the mass flow rate
rather small, it is reasonable to approximate the fluid flow in the through the entire regenerative channel will remain constant. That
channel as a fully developed flow. It implies that vr ¼ vf ¼ 0, is,
vZ ¼ vZ ðrÞ. For a quasi-steady, fully developed, incompressible
annular flow, the momentum equation can be simplified as follows. dm
_ in;r ¼ m
m _ ¼
_ out;r ¼ m (20)
dt
1 dP 1 v vvz
¼ r (13) Applying energy conservation principle to the regenerative
m dz r vr vr
channel, one has
Integrating the above equation yields the velocity inside the
2
channel. vin v2out
Q_ in;r ¼ mðh
_ in hout Þjr m
_ (21)
2 2 r
r 2 dP
vZ ¼ þ C1 ln r þ C2 (14)
4m dz Due to the upwind effects, the inlet and outlet temperatures of
the regenerative channel are different as the air flows in different
C.-H. Cheng, Y.-J. Yu / Renewable Energy 35 (2010) 2590e2601 2595
Start
Te Expansion chamber Te
Tj Initial
conditions
t=t+ t
Update
Yd(t), Yp(t), Vd(t),
vd Vp(t) , vd(t), vp(t)
Stop
Calculate
Pe, Pc
Calculate Wout, No
t tmax? Calculate
Yes
dm n +1 n +1
, me , mc
Tc dt
Eq. (21) is used to determine the heat transfer rate (Q_ in;r ) Table 2
between the air flow and the walls of the regenerative channel. As Operating variables of the base-line case (model 10ST1).
Q_ in;r > 0, it means that heat is transferred from the regenerative Engine speed, u 2000 rpm
channel walls to the air, and on the contrary, as Q_ in;r < 0, it means Compression ratio 1.7420
that heat is rejected from the air to the channel walls. Heat source temperature, TH 800 K
Heat sink temperature, TL 300 K
Initial pressure, PH, PL 101.3 kPa
Thermal resistance, Rt1 0.5 C/W
2.3. Compression chamber Thermal resistance, Rt2 0.4 C/W
Regenerative effectiveness, 3 0.45
Introducing Eqs. (1) and (2) to Eq. (4) leads to the volume of the
compression chamber:
8"
< 2 #1=2 dU .
L l4 j ¼ mc Cv Tcnþ1 Tcn Dt
Vc ¼ pr22 Ldt þ Rd sinq Rd cos q
l23 dt c
(29)
: 2 2
" 9 where mc ¼ ðmnþ1 þ mnc Þ=2. Note that the input heat transfer rate
2 #1=2 = c
L l1 is defined by Q_ in;c ¼ ðTL Tc Þ=Rt2. Since TL < Tc usually, the value of
Lpt þ Rd sin q þ l2
2
Rd cos q ld
2 2 ; Q_ in;c is negative in most of the time. The output power is deter-
mined by W _ out;c ¼ ðP c ðV nþ1 V n ÞÞ=Dt. Thus, Eq. (27) reduces to
c c
(25)
"
Pc Vcnþ1 Vcn
From the ideal-gas equation of state, the pressure in the Dt Dt TL
Tcnþ1 ¼ 1 Tcn þ
compression chamber is mc Cv Rt2 mc Cv Rt2 Dt
!#
mc RTc dm v2 dm
Pc ¼ (26) þ hi þ i ; for >0 ð30aÞ
Vc dt 2 dt
and, the gas temperature in the compression chamber (Tc) is
or
calculated from energy equation
"
dU 2 Dt Dt TL Pc Vcnþ1 Vcn
¼ _
Q _ out;c þ dm h þ v j
W (27) Tcnþ1 ¼ 1 Tn þ
dt c in;c
dt 2 c mc Cv Rt2 c mc Cv Rt2 Dt
#
where the values of h and v is chosen in accordance with the dm v2c dm
þ hc þ ; for <0 ð30bÞ
direction of the mass flow. Please be reminded that the mass dt 2 dt
flowing into the compression chamber is prescribed to be positive.
Therefore: where TL is the heat sink temperature; mc ¼ ðmnþ1 c þ mnc Þ=2 and
nþ1 n
P c ¼ ðPc þ Pc Þ=2; and Rt2 is thermal resistance of the cooling
For mass entering the compression chamber from the regener-
ative channel: jacket, which is assigned to be 0.4 C/W. Eqs. (30a) and (30b) are
used to calculate the air temperature in the compression chamber.
dm
> 0; h ¼ hi ; v ¼ vi (28a)
dt 2.4. Network output and thermal efficiency
where hi is the specific enthalpy of the air entering the compression
The network output per cycle is further determined by inte-
chamber from the regenerative channel, and vi is the average
grating P with respect to V for a cycle in accordance with the PeV
velocity calculated with vi ¼ jdm
dt
j=½rj pðr22 r12 Þ.
relations taken in the expansion and the compression chambers.
For mass leaving the expansion chamber and entering the
That is,
regenerative channel:
0 þtp
tZ 0 þtp
tZ
dm
< 0; h ¼ hc ; v ¼ vc (28b) Wout ¼ Pe dVe þ Pc dVc (31)
dt
t0 t0
where hc is the specific enthalpy of the air contained in the
compression chamber, and vc is the average velocity of the air The net heat transfer into the air per cycle is a summation of the
calculated with vc ¼ jdm
dt
j=½rc pðr22 r12 Þ. Again, the time derivative heat transfers in the expansion chamber, the compression chamber,
term on the right-hand side of equation is approximated by and the regenerative channel, which are obtained by integrating
the heat transfer rates with respect to time for a cycle:
Table 1
Geometrical variables of the base-line case (Model 10ST1).
Table 3
r2 (m) 0.0205 Computation results for the base-line case (Model 10ST1).
r1 (m) 0.02
G (m) 0.0005 Work output in expansion chamber (kJ/cycle) 1.236 103
l1(¼l2 ¼ l3 ¼ l4) (m) 0.018 Work input in compression chamber (kJ/cycle) 7.335 104
L (m) 0.042 Heat transfer in expansion chamber (kJ/cycle) 3.826 103
Rd (m) 0.0036 Heat transfer in compression chamber (kJ/cycle) 3.288 103
Lpt (m) 0.05093 Heat transfer in regenerative channel (kJ/cycle) 3.623 105
Ldt (m) 0.16374 Net heat input Qin (kJ/cycle) 5.025 104
ld (m) 0.07946 Network output Wout (kJ/cycle) 5.025 104
lh (m) 0.158 Thermal efficiency 0.131
Piston stroke (m) 0.01 Power output (W) 16.75
C.-H. Cheng, Y.-J. Yu / Renewable Energy 35 (2010) 2590e2601 2597
Fig. 8. Pressure difference between the expansion and the compression chambers. Fig. 10. Heat transfer rate in the expansion and the compression chambers.
C.-H. Cheng, Y.-J. Yu / Renewable Energy 35 (2010) 2590e2601 2599
Fig. 12. PeV diagrams for the expansion and the compression chambers.
2600 C.-H. Cheng, Y.-J. Yu / Renewable Energy 35 (2010) 2590e2601
Fig. 14. Effects of heat source temperature (TH). Fig. 16. Effects of the offset distance from the crank to the center of gear (Rd).
18.286 to 15.3 W, and the thermal efficiency from 0.1377 to 0.123, as 4. Concluding remarks
the value of L is increased from 0.040 to 0.044 m.
Fig. 16 shows the power output and the thermal efficiency as A theoretical model which is applied to simulation of thermo-
functions the offset distance from the crank to the center of gear dynamic cycle and performance of a beta-type Stirling engine with
(Rd). It is found that as Rd becomes larger, the power output and the rhombic-drive mechanism has been proposed in this study. Peri-
thermal efficiency are both increased. Power output can be varied odic variation of pressures, volumes, temperatures, masses, and
from 10.139 to 24.137 W with Rd changing from 0.0027 to 0.0045 m, heat transfers in the expansion and the compression chambers are
while thermal efficiency from 0.106 to 0.150. Obviously, both the predicted, and a parametric study of the dependence of the power
power output and the thermal efficiency monotonically increase output and thermal efficiency on the geometrical and physical
with Rd. parameters for a base-line case is performed.
It is interesting to mention that the distance between the Results show that by adjusting the influential parameters
centers of the gears (L) and the offset distance from the crank to the including regenerative gap, distance between two gears, offset
center of gear (Rd) exhibit opposing effects on the performance of distance from the crank to the center of gear, and the heat source
engine according to Figs. 15 and 16 These two parameters greatly temperature, the performance of the base-line case can be
affect the strokes of the piston and the displacer. In accordance with improved. The power output of the base-line case reaches a peak
the obtained results, it is noted that the combination of these two value of 16.75 W at G ¼ 0.0005 m, accompanied by a thermal effi-
parameters should be carefully designed for different requirements ciency of only 13.1%. If the thermal efficiency is of major concern,
in engine performance. the thermal efficiency can be elevated to a peak value of 16.5% at
G ¼ 0.0003 m.
It is also observed that the power output of the base-line case
can be increased from 7.96 to 32.78 W as TH is elevated from 600 to
1200 K. However, the value of TH is strictly restricted by the induced
thermal stress that the materials can endures.
Meanwhile, an increase in the distance between the center of
the gears (L) leads to a decrease in the power output and the
thermal efficiency. On the other hand, it is found that the power
output and the thermal efficiency both increase with the offset
distance from the crank to the center of gear (Rd). The two
parameters, L and Rd, exhibit opposing effects on the performance
of engine.
Acknowledgement
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