T-F Lecture 7.

Stirling Cycle Numerical Example

To solve the Stirling cycle, we must solve for all the state variables and the processes that make
up the cycle.

A summary of the energy equations developed in the last lecture is represented on the p-v
diagram below.

p Isothermal expansion
3 ∆u34 = 0
Heating at constant v
q34 = w34 = RT3 ln 4
volume. w23 = 0 v3
q23 = ∆u23 = cv(T3 – T2)

2 Cooling at constant
volume. w41 = 0
Isothermal compression 4 q41 = ∆u41 = cv(T1 – T4)
∆u12 = 0 = – cv(T3 – T2)
v 1
q12 = w12 = RT1 ln 2
v1

v3 = v2 v1 = v4 v

Before beginning with an actual numerical calculation example let us review the variables and
available equations for the cycle.

There are twelve (12) p, v, T variables and twelve (12) energy variables, a total of 24 variables:

p1, v1, T1; p2, v2, T2; p3, v3, T3; p4, v4, T4;

∆u12, q12, w12; ∆u23, q23, w23; ∆u34, q34, w34; ∆u41, q41, w41;

There are four (4) state equations, and four (4) process equations among the state variables:

p1v1 = RT1, p2v2 = RT2, p3v3 = RT3, p4v4 = RT4,

T1 = T 2, v2 = v3, T 3 = T 4, and v1 = v 4.

Additionally there are twelve equations for the energy variables, three equations for each
process. These equations are summarized in the p-v diagram above.

1
In summary we have 24 variables and 20 equations. To solve the system we must specify four
independent variables. In our example we shall specify an initial state, say p1 and T1, and any
two additional independent variables.

Consider the following given four pieces of information:

Initial pressure, p1 =100 kPa

Initial temperature, T1 = 25oC,
Volume compression ratio, v1 = 6 v2, and
Maximum cycle temperature, T3 = 1100oC.

The working fluid is air with the following properties:

R = 0.287 kJ/kgּK and cv = 0.718 kJ/kgּK

The cycle is solved with the aid of the Mathcad mathematics software below.

2
Stirling Cycle Calculation Example

Consider an ideal Stirling cycle with the following given information:

3
Initial temperature T1 := ( 25 + 273) ⋅ K Initial pressure, let kPa := 10 ⋅ Pa p 1 := 100kPa

v1
Volume compression ratio 6 Maximum cycle temperature T3 := 1373⋅ K
v2

Heating at constant Isothermal expansion

volume

2
4
Cooling at constant
volume
1
Isothermal
compression

V3 = V2 V1 = V4 V

Start the cycle calculation from the initial ambient state 1.

State 1: Using the ideal gas equation of state, pv = RT, calculate the inital volume, v1:

R ⋅ T1 3
3 kJ m
Let kJ := 10 ⋅ J The gas constant R for air is R := 0.287⋅ v 1 := v 1 = 0.855
kg⋅ K p1 kg

Process 1 - 2: Isothermal compression process. T2 := T1

v1 3
m
State 2: From the given compression ratio we have: v 2 := v 2 = 0.143
6 kg

The isothermal process, T2 := T1 , can alternatively be expressed as p 1⋅ v 1 p 2⋅ v 2 for an ideal gas.

⎛ v1 ⎞
The pressure at state 2 is thus p 2 := p 1⋅ ⎜ p 2 = 600kPa
⎝ v2 ⎠
2 R ⋅ T1
⌠
The expression for work is w12 := ⎮ p dv with p :=
⌡ v
1

3
 v
⌠ 2 ⎛ R ⋅ T1 ⎞
w12 := ⎮ ⎜ dv kJ
⎮ ⎝ v ⎠ w12 = −153.242
⌡v kg
1

Note that alternatively, one can calculate the work from the evaluated integral, which is:

⎛ v2 ⎞ kJ
w12 := R⋅ T1⋅ ln⎜ w12 = −153.242
⎝ v1 ⎠ kg

kJ
Calculate the change in internal energy, assuming constant specific heat cv := 0.718⋅
kg⋅ K
kJ
∆u 12 := cv⋅ ( T2 − T1) ∆u 12 = 0
kg

Heat transfer is calculated from the First Law expression ∆u := q − w

kJ
Hence q 12 := ∆u 12 + w12 q 12 = −153.242
kg

Process 2 - 3: Constant volume process v 3 := v 2

State 3: From the ideal gas equaton of state and a constant volume process
T3 3
p 3 := p 2⋅ p 3 = 2.764 × 10 kPa
T2

3
⌠ R⋅ T
The expression for work is w23 := ⎮ p dv with p :=
⌡ v1
2

kJ
Since dv = 0 w23 := 0⋅
kg

kJ
Change in internal energy: ∆u 23 := cv⋅ ( T3 − T2) ∆u 23 = 771.85
kg

Heat transfer is calculated from the First Law expression

kJ
q 23 := ∆u 23 + w23 q 23 = 771.85
kg

3
Process 3 - 4: Isothermal expansion process, T4 := T3 T4 = 1.373 × 10 K

State 4: Expansion occurs from state 3 to state 4. Since the last process is at constant vole
the expansion is from v3 to v4, and

v 4 := v 1

⎛ v3 ⎞
From the ideal gas equation of state: p 4 := p 3⋅ ⎜ p 4 = 460.738kPa
⎝ v4 ⎠

4
 4 R ⋅ T3
⌠
The expression for work is w34 := ⎮ p dv with p :=
⌡ v
3
v
⌠ 4 ⎛ R ⋅ T3 ⎞
w34 := ⎮ ⎜ dv kJ
⎮ ⎝ v ⎠ w34 = 706.045
⌡v kg
3
kJ
Calculate the change in internal energy, assuming constant specific heat cv := 0.718⋅
kg⋅ K
kJ
∆u 34 := cv⋅ ( T4 − T3) ∆u 34 = 0
kg

Heat transfer is calculated from the First Law expression ∆u := q − w

kJ
Hence q 34 := ∆u 34 + w34 q 34 = 706.045
kg

Process 4 - 1: Constant volume process. v 4 := v 1

State 4 is known since v 4 := v 1 and T4 := T3 and the pressure at state 4 is

⎛ T4 ⎞
p 4 := p 1⋅ ⎜ p 4 = 460.738kPa
⎝ T1 ⎠

1
⌠ R⋅ T
The expression for work is w41 := ⎮ p dv with p :=
⌡ v4
4

kJ
Since dv = 0 w41 := 0⋅
kg

kJ
Change in internal energy: ∆u 41 := cv⋅ ( T1 − T4) ∆u 41 = −771.85
kg

Heat transfer is calculated from the First Law expression

kJ
q 41 := ∆u 41 + w41 q 41 = −771.85
kg

Cycle summation: q net := q 12 + q 23 + q 34 + q 41 wnet := w12 + w23 + w34 + w41

kJ kJ
q net = 552.803 wnet = 552.803 Note qnet = w net , as expected for a cycle
kg kg

kJ
∆u net := ∆u 12 + ∆u 23 + ∆u 34 + ∆u 41 ∆u net = 0 As expected for a cycle
kg

5
 wnet
Cycle efficiency: η :=
q in

The net work has been calculated above. Consider next the heat input to the cycle. Examine the
heat terms for each processand and remember that our sign convention for heat is: heat into the
system is positive, and heat out of the system is negative. List the heat transfer for each process:

kJ kJ kJ kJ
q 12 = −153.242 q 23 = 771.85 q 34 = 706.045 q 41 = −771.85
kg kg kg kg

From the above listing it is clear that the heat input to the system is represented by:

3 kJ
q in := q 23 + q 34 q in = 1.478 × 10
kg
wnet
Hence the thermal efficiency becomes: η := η = 0.374
q in

Notice in the above heat transfer values, the heat rejected by process 4-1 is equal to the heat input to
process 2-3. If we take the heat rejected from process 4-1 and use it to supply process 2-3, then the
only heat input to the cycle become just the heat input to process 3-4. This is called regeneration .

Thus, with regeneration the cycle efficiency becomes

wnet
q in := q 34 η := η = 0.783
q in