COMMUNICATION PROJECT

Lab Report:
Title: Stirling engine
Lecturer: Dr. Chew Bee Teng
Group: M13
Members:
Yap Carlwin _ (KEM 140069)
Seyed Mehrdad Yamani (KEM140707)
Yap Ee Teng _ (KEM140070)
Yit Jing Ee _ (KEM140072)
Zulkarnain bin hairolkasmi _(KEM140073)
Golam Rassel

Abstract:

The purpose of this project is to determine the efficiency of a Stirling

Engine. Stirling Engine is a type of heat engine which was invented by Stirling,
a Scottish in 1918. The engines working principles are based on the laws of thermodynamics
and ability of volume expansion of ideal gases at different temperatures. In this project we
study the simplest type of Stirling engine which is the can Stirling engine and we determine
efficiency of the engine by measuring the input energy and the output energy.

Introduction:
A Stirling engine is a heat engine which is based on gas properties and thermodynamic laws
and principles.
The engine uses an external heat source. The gas is expanded and compressed cyclically and
continuously to produce motion to transform heat energy to mechanical energy. Fluid gas
remains inside the system and it is displaced from the hotvside to the coolvside and vice
versa when the engine is operating. The type of compressible gas depends on the design of
the engine but the possible gases to use are air, Hydrogen, Helium. Any source of heat can be
used to power the engine, for example alcohol, solid coal or even solar energy. Stirling
Engine has many applications but it is most suitable in where:

Low speed operation is needed.

Quiet operation is needed.

Constant power output is needed.

Operating principles of Stirling engine:

Stirling engines usually consist of a compressible gas, a displacer piston and a flywheel.
When the gas is heated up, its temperature rises and it expands, when it expands it pushes the
displacer piston up. As the piston goes up the volume of the gas increases and pressure
decreases so the gas is compressed and the piston moves back to the bottom. This cycle
continues until the source of heat is present. The movement of the piston will move the
flywheel.
To find the efficiency of a Stirling engine there is a theorem called Carnots
theorem which is

=1

where T is the temperature of the cold part

T is the temperature of the hot part.
But since we are using a simple can Stirling engine we are not able to use
the Carnots theorem, therefore we have to calculate the energy input of
the engine and also energy output and calculate the efficiency using :

Efficiency

= 100
We use alcohol spirit burner as the source of heat, therefore to calculate the energy input,
a known amount of alcohol is burnt to heat up a known mass of water and using the
equation =,

the energy input is calculated, where

m= mass of water in kg
c= specific heat capacity of water
=change in temperature of water
To calculate the energy output we have connected an electric generator (dynamo) to the
flywheel. Flywheel rotates the generator and generator produces current and voltage, the
current and voltage are measured by connecting a multimeter to the generator and the
power output is calculated by the formula :

P=IVt
Where I= current in amps
V= Voltage in volts
t= time taken to get the maximum voltage.

Objective:
To determine the efficiency of a can Stirling engine.

Experimental apparatus:

Handmade cup Stirling engine

Alcoholic spirit burner

Thermometer

Electronic balance

Electric generator

Ammeter

Voltmeter

Stopwatch

Procedure:
1. 100 cm3 of water (100g) was measured and poured into the
calorimeter.
2. The spirit burner contained the fuel ethanol ('alcohol') was weighed
and recorded.
3. After burning, it is weighed again and the temperature of the water
was recorded.
4. Heat given out by burning the ethanol calculated by using the
formula (mass of water x Cwater x temperature).

5. The remaining ethanol is measured and placed under the Stirling

engine and lighted up.
6. The multimeter was connected to the electric generator
7. The engine and stopwatch were started at the same time.
8. The stopwatch is stopped when the multimeter shows the maximum
value for the voltage.
9. The readings of voltage, current and time were recorded.
10.

The energy input was calculated by using the formula

=, the energy output was calculated by using the formula

P = I V t, and the efficiency was calculated by using the formula
Efficiency = / .

RESULTS: